Black Market (Rick Ross album)

Black Market
Studio album by Rick Ross
Released	December 4, 2015
Recorded	2015
Genre	Hip hop
Length	60:16
Label	Maybach Def Jam Slip-n-Slide
Producer	Rick Ross (exec.) 8 Bars Julian Rivera Antman Wonder Black Metaphor Ben Billions Beat Billionaire Calvo da Gr8 D. Rich Dreek DP Beats DJ Khaled DJ Mustard Jake One J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League Jahlil Beats J.R. Rotem JP Did This 1 StreetRunner Scott Storch Isiah Salazar
Rick Ross chronology
Black Dollar (2015) Black Market (2015) Rather You Than Me (2017) Singles from Black Market "Foreclosures" Released: September 23, 2015 "Sorry" Released: October 9, 2015

Black Market is the eighth studio album by American rapper Rick Ross. The album was released on December 4, 2015, by Maybach Music Group, Def Jam Recordings and Slip-n-Slide Records.^[1][2] The album features guest appearances from John Legend, CeeLo Green, Nas, DJ Premier, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown, Future and The-Dream.

Background

In November 2015, in an interview with Billboard, he spoke about the album, saying: "You know, this album is, I feel like, most definitely gonna be a Rozay on a higher, intellectual level, just discussing a different array of things. When you listen to records like "Foreclosure," that's like me sitting in a room by myself just rapping about things that's running across my mind and things that have been bothering me. And during my incarceration, that was the type of music I created. Just in that short moment of time, I really just sat there... I'm a muthafucka that flies six million miles a year and just to halt one day, out of the blue, for three weeks? It's just, "Woah." There's a lot of shit that I wrote and a lot of shit that I thought about. I came back out and scrapped a lot of music and I recorded some dope songs, but my first day home I recorded six records. So that's why I was able to put out the Black Dollar record and have been releasing a slew of freestyles, just feeding the fans and everybody that's been asking for that Rozay music."^[3]

Singles

The album's lead single, "Foreclosures" was released on September 23, 2015.^[4] The album's second single, "Sorry" was released on October 9, 2015. The song features guest vocals from American recording artist Chris Brown and is produced by Scott Storch.^[5] On November 12, 2015, the music video was released for "Sorry".^[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	61/100[7]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
HipHopDX	[9]
Pitchfork Media	7.0/10[10]
PopMatters	[11]
Rolling Stone	[12]
Tiny Mix Tapes	[13]

Black Market received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 61, based on 9 reviews, which indicates "generally positive reviews".^[7] David Jeffries of AllMusic said, "This Miami Don remains an unapologetic and indefensible brute -- and he says as much on this very LP -- but this rough, honest, and ambitious work is like his Raging Bull, taking the listener on a compelling, dirty journey that's also a connectable character study, and then letting some slick Chris Brown ("Sorry") and Future ("D.O.P.E") features play while the credits roll."^[8] Scott Glaysher of HipHopDX said, "All in all, Black Market does its job. It doesn’t hit as hard as some previous albums, but it surely proves just how good Rick Ross can be as a songwriter and collaborator. It also proves how sharp he has become as a rapper. There may not be a thundering single that the album is built around, but, for the most part, Ross’s consistency fills that gap quite nicely."^[9] Julian Kimble of Pitchfork Media stated, "The motivated, slightly weary Ross heard on Black Market—which has no MMG features—is a better fit for the moment than the bulletproof supervillain of old. Ross has proven his resilience in the past; maybe carefully controlled doses of reality are just what he needs to move forward."^[10]

Commercial performance

In the United States, the album debuted at number 6 on the Billboard 200, with 65,000 album-equivalent units (54,000 copies of pure sales) in its first week.^[14]

Track listing

Black Market – Standard version
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Free Enterprise" (featuring John Legend)	William Roberts II Kevin Cossom John Stephens Nicholas Warwar Tarik Azzouz Khaled Khaled	StreetRunner Azzouz DJ Khaled	4:19
2.	"Smile Mama, Smile" (featuring CeeLo Green)	Roberts II Thomas Callaway Jacob Dutton	Jake One	4:01
3.	"One of Us" (featuring Nas)	Roberts II Nasir Jones Calvin Kenon, Jr.	Calvo da Gr8	3:13
4.	"Silk Road"	Roberts II Ben Diehi	Ben Billions	4:21
5.	"Color Money"	Roberts II Dwayne Richardson	D. Rich	3:06
6.	"Dope Dick"	Roberts II Dutton	Jake One	4:44
7.	"Crocodile Python"	Roberts II Orlando Tucker	Jahlil Beats Antman Wonder	4:40
8.	"Ghostwriter"	Roberts II Richardson	D. Rich	4:27
9.	"Black Opium" (featuring DJ Premier)	Roberts II Byron Forest II Christopher Martin	Black Metaphor	3:55
10.	"Can't Say No" (featuring Mariah Carey)	Mariah Carey Roberts II Jonathan Rotem Walter Afanasieff	J.R. Rotem	3:30
11.	"Peace Sign"	Roberts II Dijon McFarlane Isiah Salazar	DJ Mustard Salazar	4:50
12.	"Very Best" (featuring Mary J. Blige)	Roberts II Mary Jane Blige Earl Johnson	JP Did This 1	4:56
13.	"Sorry" (featuring Chris Brown)	Christopher Brown Roberts II Scott Storch Diego Avendano	Scott Storch	5:30
14.	"D.O.P.E." (featuring Future)	Roberts II Don Paschall Jermaine Denny Nayvadius Wilburn Quavious Marshall Kirsnick Ball Kiari Cephus	DP Beats	4:44
Total length:				60:16

Black Market – Deluxe version (bonus tracks)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
15.	"Foreclosures"	Roberts II Erik Ortiz Kevin Crowe Kenny Bartolomei Jason Carr	J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League 8 Bars	4:14
16.	"Money Dance" (featuring The-Dream)	Roberts II Terius Nash Dutton	Jake One	7:37
17.	"Carol City"	Roberts II Shamann Cooke Rodrickus HIll	Beat Billionaire · Dreek	4:13
Total length:				76:20

Charts

Chart (2015)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[15]	6
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[16]	2

References

1. "Black Market (Deluxe) by Rick Ross on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. 1976-01-28. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
2. Harling, Danielle (2015-10-29). "Rick Ross' "Black Market" To Possibly Be "The Pinnacle Album" Of His Career". HipHopDX. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
3. "Rick Ross Reveals 'Black Market' Album Art, Wants to Record With Adele: Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
4. "Foreclosures - Single by Rick Ross on iTunes". Web.archive.org. 2015-09-23. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
5. "Sorry (feat. Chris Brown) - Single by Rick Ross on iTunes". Web.archive.org. 2015-10-09. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
6. "Video: Rick Ross feat. Chris Brown – 'Sorry'". Rap-Up. 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
7. "Reviews for Black Market by Rick Ross". Metacritic. 2015-12-04. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
8. David Jeffries (2015-12-04). "Black Market - Rick Ross | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
9. Glaysher, Scott (2015-12-05). "Rick Ross - Black Market". HipHopDX. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
10. "Rick Ross: Black Market". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
11. "Rick Ross: Black Market". PopMatters. 2015-12-18. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
12. Weingarten, Christopher R. (2016-01-15). "Rick Ross's New Album: Black Market". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
13. "Rick Ross - Black Market". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 2015-12-08.
14. Keith Caulfield. "200: Adele's '25' Rules for Third Week at No. 1, Coldplay Debuts at No. 2". Billboard. Retrieved 2015-12-15.
15. "Rick Ross – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Rick Ross. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
16. "Rick Ross – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Rick Ross. Retrieved December 18, 2015.