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Chris Brown featuring T.I. & Rick Ross

William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known by his stage name Rick Ross (often stylized as RICK RO$$), is an American hip hop recording artist. Ross founded the record label Maybach Music Group, on which he released his studio albums Deeper Than Rap (2009) Teflon Don (2010) and God Forgives, I Don't (2012). Ross was also the first artist signed to Diddy's management company Ciroc Entertainment. In early 2012, MTV named Ross as the Hottest MC In The Game.

William Leonard Roberts II was born in Coahoma County, Mississippi, and raised in Carol City, Florida, near Miami. After graduating from Miami Carol City Senior High School, he later attended the historically black college Albany State University on a football scholarship. He derived his stage name from the drug trafficker "Freeway" Rick Ross, to whom he has no connection. Ross worked as a correctional officer for 18 months between December 1995 until his resignation in June 1997.