Rick Ross used his latest sales victory to question whether superstar features guarantee commercial success.

Rick Ross recently pointed out that his latest album, Set in Stone, sold more units than The Game’s The Documentary 3. Rozay also offered what sounded like a compliment, telling The Game that the West Coast needs him and encouraging him to keep making music.

There are several ways to interpret this. In one sense, I think Ross was arguing that having major features from artists such as Drake and Ye—two names people often claim are needed to make an album pop—does not guarantee strong sales. Of course, that theory becomes more interesting when you remember that Ross has been beefing with Drake for the past two years.

However, Ross also recruited plenty of big-name guests for Set in Stone; they simply were not Drake or Ye. The Game also dissed Ross during his feud with Drake, releasing an entire diss record that Rozay barely acknowledged. With that history in mind, comparing their album sales can easily be read as a delayed shot.

As crazy as it sounds, it remains unclear whether Ross was intentionally shading The Game or merely using him to make a larger point about features and commercial success. The compliment at the end only makes his message more confusing. Once you add 50 Cent and all the surrounding history to this equation, my head starts to hurt.

Quincy

Quincy is the creator of Ratings Game Music. He loves writing about music, taking long walks on beaches, and spaghetti that fights him back.