THROWBACK (2002): Rick Ross “Listen (The Original Doing My Job)” & photo of him without the beard + history tidbits…

Photo By DRO – DavidRosario.Com 

Rick Ross & Kanye – Listen (“Doin My Job” original)
Produced By Kanye West
[audio:http://www.the305.com/0904-kanyerossb.mp3]
Download via NahRIght: Click Here

Here’s a song Ross recorded back in 2002, produced by Kanye West. It was actually recorded for the 2002 version of Port Of Miami over a beat that later became T.I.’s for his 2003 Trap Musik album. From what I know, this is one of the reasons that sparked a small beef between T.I. and Ross for a little while (I could be wrong because that’s hearsay) because T.I. eventually ended up snatching the beat. Either way, I remember this song got leaked on a DJ EFN mixtape - and I remember that Slip-N-Slide was fuming and mad that the song leaked a little prematurely. And also, you hear in the song “99 Jamz show me some love.” This was at a time when Ross and 99 Jamz were at odds and had a little bit of a scuffle over airplay issues and if I remember correctly, 99 Jamz made it a point to NOT play any Ross records at that time. Later that changed as “Hustlin’”, Ross’ breakthrough single, was debuted on 99 Jamz via DJ Khaled’s nightshow and the rest is history.

But yeah, the photo above is Ross without his trademark beard. I took that photo when I was like 18 and was chillin’ with Ross at Poe Boy studios back in early 2003 with Brisco, E-Class, Gunplay and the entire Poe Boy fam. At that time, Ross had already done a little bit of ghostwriting around the industry and was patiently waiting for his album to come out. The 2002 version of Port Of Miami was AMAZING! I got to listen to it at Slip-N-Slide’s offices one day. But that version never saw the light of day. It took four years for the actual retail version of Port Of Miami (2006) to come out and that was a completely different album from the one in 2002. But I guess things happen for a reason and it was worth the wait as Ross went on to be one of Miami’s top selling artists.

BONUS / UPDATE: Thanks to Dre over at Nahright, you can listen to the T.I. version of “Doin’ My Job” recorded after the beat was picked up for Trap Musik. Click here to listen/download