Rick Ross has a different take on the viral”dinner with Jay-Z or $500k” debate. He disagrees with the Roc Nation mogul’s preference for the cash, and points to a personal experience that he believes brought him even greater financial success.
Back in 2008, before releasing his album “Trilla,” Ross had a pivotal meeting with Jay-Z at Philippe Chow in NYC. During this encounter, the rap billionaire advised him to approach songwriting with a strategic mindset, focusing on crafting tracks for maximum impact rather than just rapping over any beats he liked.
“I’ma take the dinner and I’ma tell you why,” Rick Ross explained on Instagram. “In ’08, before I turned in my second album, I had a meeting with Hov. We went to lunch … He said, ‘Rozay, versus writing to every beat you like, write to every record you could make work.’ He told me a quick story about ‘Big Pimpin.’ I said, ‘OK, bet.’ So, I went from writing one record to every 80 beats I like to writing 40 records out of every 80 beats I could make work.”
This shift significantly reduced his workload while amplifying his success. It became evident that working smarter, not harder, was the key.
“It took me to another level as a writer, another level as an artist. The amount of work I was putting out was next level. So, you gotta ask yourself: are you ready to digest the knowledge or you just wanna look at his watch at the table?”
Watch the clip below.
The “$500K or dinner with JAY-Z?” debate initially took over social media in 2021, with fans and personalities alike joining in on the fun. Jay-Z himself has weighed in on the debate, advising fans to take the money.
“You gotta take the money,” Jay-Z said during an interview with Gayle King on CBS News. “What I’ma say? You got all that [wisdom] in the music for $10.99! That’s a bad deal. I wouldn’t tell you to cut a bad deal. Take the $500,000, go buy some albums and listen to the albums — it’s all there!
“If you piece it together and really listen to the music for the words, for what it is, it’s all there. Everything that I said was gonna happen, happened. Everything that I said I wanted to do, I’ve done. There’s the blueprint. The blueprint, literally, to me and my life and my journey is there already.”
Nevertheless, Ross believes Hov’s response comes from a place of humility. “I would tell you to get the money too,” Ross said. “But if you’re ready to digest the knowledge that he gon give you. I’m talking from topic to topic is priceless.”
Would you still take the $500K?
