A Timeline of Drake & Rick Ross’ Relationship: Collabs, Feuds & A Lost Joint Album

Drake reflected on receiving a co-sign from Rick Ross while gracing the cover of XXL in 2010. He revealed that Rozay reached out about collaborating and it wouldn’t be long until they locked in.

“I just want to make the music. For anyone that doesn’t believe in me, your favorite rappers do. They call me for hooks, features and all that,” he said. “[Rick] Ross, Jeezy… For the people that don’t believe, the people that you do believe in got love for me. That’s all that matters.”

Rick Ross and Drake came out of the gates firing with the starry “Aston Martin Music” in the fall of 2010. The J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League-produced single (also featuring Chrisette Michele) served as the fourth off Rozay’s acclaimed Teflon Don LP and peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Rick Ross didn’t waste much time in getting a second collaboration with Drake on the docket before 2010 expired. Rozay and the 6 God sparred on the hard-hitting “Made Men,” which landed on the MMG boss’ Ashes to Ashes mixtape on Christmas Eve.

Rick Ross pulled up to the second annual OVO Fest as Drake packed out Toronto’s Molson Amphitheater. There was plenty of star power in the building with performances from Rozay, J. Cole, Lil Wayne, Nas, The Weeknd and more.

Drake gushed about working with Rick Ross in an interview with Entertainment Weekly and teased the possibility of doing a joint album with him down the line, which we learned was supposed to be titled Y.O.L.O.

“One of the people of the people I enjoy rapping with most in this business is Rozay [Rick Ross],” he said. “Me and him have talked about potentially doing something after our albums comes out. I just love making songs with him. Every time we make a song it just seems to be something I love listening to after the fact when I’m in my car.”

Drake and Rozay locked in another collaboration to heat up the rollout heading into his anticipated Take Care album. The 40-produced track samples a Drizzy favorite in Sade, lifting her 1984 hit “I Will Be Your Friend.” “Free Spirit” found its way onto streaming services in 2019 as part of the 6 God’s Care Package project of his greatest hits that never were.

Drake’s Grammy-winning Take Care arrived in 2011 and Rick Ross popped up on one of the album’s sleeper classics, “Lord Knows.” Drizzy and Rozay pass the baton over a cinematic Just Blaze production, with help from an angelic choir.

Drake stole the show on Rick Ross’ “Stay Schemin’,” which found the 6 God throwing a series of vicious haymakers at Common to claim victory in their bubbling feud. The Beat Bully-produced anthem peaked at No. 58 on the Hot 100.

“Obviously, the whole tension with that whole camp has been brewing for a long time, and that was the first time someone had called me out personally,” Drake told XXL of the Common beef. “I reacted in a very poised way. First of all, I made sure it would run in the club because that’s more painful than anything.

“As opposed to just being on a blog, I wanted to be on a record that you would have to stand around and hear every night for a few months,” he continued. “That was my whole strategy going into that. Instead of sounding hurt and malicious, I wanted to sound fun, get my s–t off. Like I said, if it happens again, not that I want it, not that I welcome it, but I’m ready. I really enjoy writing bars, man. I think I came away with the W on that one.”

Rozay merged the worlds of MMG and OVO with Drake and Wale appearing on the sensual “Diced Pineapples.” “Call me crazy, s–t at least you call me,” Drake sings over the piano-laden production. The RIAA platinum-certified single landed on Rick Ross’ God Forgives, I Don’t album and reached No. 71 on the Hot 100.

It was GBS x OVO x MMG, with Rick Ross remixing Lil Reese’s “Us” anthem and calling on Drake to lend yet another assist. Drizzy shows love to Ricky and shouts out parts of the Toronto and Chicago crews involved with his verse: “You know 305, Ricky, that’s my fucking n—a/ Did this shit right here for Baka, Preme, Styles, and Gilla/ Did this shit right here for Reese, Sosa, Fredo, Durk,” he raps.

Rick Ross and Drake have compiled a series of collabs by this point and The Biggest Boss gives Drizzy a salute, while freestyling over his Nothing Was the Same crossover hit “Hold On, We’re Going Home.”

Rick Ross laid low for much of the vicious Meek Mill and Drake feud sweeping hip-hop during the summer of 2015. Months after the dust settled following the fireworks of Drizzy’s scathing “Back to Back,” Ross responded with jabs at the 6 God and Cash Money CEO Birdman on Black Market‘s “Color Money.”

“Color money got your bitch out on a world tour/ My lil homie made a million on his girl tour/ We back to back and down to whack a n—a unborn/ Miami n—-s got ’em changing all the gun laws/ So run Forrest, got some shooters and they dying, too/ I got more money than that p—y that you’re signed to,” Ross raps.

Drake appeared to respond to Ross as fans speculated that Drake was bragging about flying Rozay’s ex and model Lira Galore to Saint Martin on “Weston Road Flows.”

“Yeah, I brought your wifey out to Saint Martin/ She violated, I sent her back where it all started/ How quick they are to forget about their bachelor apartment/ Leave it to n—as like you to show em’ light in the darkness,” he raps.

During a 2016 interview, Rick Ross stepped in to defend Meek Mill, and sent Drake a warning threat for if he kept attacking his MMG running mate.

“If it’s gotta go there, Renzel gonna jump off the porch on your a–,” he told N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN on Drink Champs. “That’s just the way I’ve always been and I’m gonna die that way… You just gotta know what you doing for [your] dogs, for [your] family, that’s what it is.

“Just off some G s–t, [Meek] ain’t lose to nobody,” he continued. “I know I’m a rich n—a, I know what Meek Mill getting. Everybody don’t know what [Drake’s] business like. I don’t really know what’s touching the bank account.”

Rick Ross credited Rap-A-Lot CEO J. Prince with orchestrating a meeting between The Biggest Boss and Drake to finally squash their feud. Hopping on the Best Seat in the House podcast, Rozay said it was best for business to let bygones be bygones and go forward with their lucrative relationship as allies.

“Me actually sitting down with Drake, shout out to J. Prince,” he said. “It was really just… We wasn’t even discussing anything negative, because by the time we get in the room, it’s so much other things going on that it’s already, ‘Let’s get on some money.’ But I had to just make sure we at sat down and have some sort of understanding. It’s all about trying to touch nine figures.”

Drake celebrated his hometown Toronto Raptors winning the NBA Finals over the Golden State Warriors with his The Best in the World two-pack. For one of the tracks, Drake invited Ross along for another standout team-up with “Money in the Grave.”

Less than a month after “Money in the Grave,” Drake throws Rick Ross another alley-oop with the opulent “Gold Roses,” which served as Rozay’s Port of Miami 2 lead single. “10 years in and y’all yet to hear my most impressive verses,” Drake raps, testifying to his own aging like wine in the craft.

While the time may have passed for their Y.O.L.O. tape, Rick Ross leaves the door open for possibly getting the collab effort done in the future.

“That was just a vibe. You never know what could happen in the future, but me and Drake, him being in Miami at that time [in 2011-2012], and him coming by the crib every day, we was spending a lot of time together. And it was a serious possibility,” Ross told Complex.

“We wasn’t just talking s–t. We really was in the studio a lot. It’s just not the same no more. Meaning, the way he travel and the way I move. But is it a possibility? There’s always a possibility for that, because it would be simple for us.”

Drake enlists Ross for another guest appearance on Scary Hours 2 collab “Lemon Pepper Freestyle,” an homage to the Biggest Boss’ Wingstop ownership. The Florida native flexes his life of luxury. “Foot Locker, 20 deep, a n—a spend a dub/ G-Wagon for my b—h, that girl go live it up/ Death row, that’s for these n—-s, I’ma hit ’em up/ Makaveli, it’s All Eyez on Me,” Ross raps.

At home over a pitched-up sample, Drake salutes Lil Wayne for helping launch his career on Young Money. “We all grateful for Weezy, but no one more than me,” he testifies.

Rick Ross provided an update on his Drake collab LP and revealed it was even more of a focus in recent months following the arrival of “Lemon Pepper Freestyle.”

“After our latest release. … ‘Lemon Pepper Freestyle,’” Rozay said to MSL Media. “We had that conversation and it’s most definitely under serious consideration.”

Former NFL star Chad Ochocinco claimed Drake and Ross were working on the joint project too. “The joint album they’re doing together will unseat all projects they’ve done to date,” he tweeted.

Rick Ross returned to Drink Champs in 2023 and said he and Drake are “real close.” He went on to pay the 6 God a high compliment when saying they are in the “two percentile” of creators in the world.

“Me and Drizzy, our relationship is most definitely is real close. Imma be honest, I don’t know how much music we got, because it’s so easy working with the homie. Imma be honest. We in the two percentile when it comes to writers and creators. It’s called a two percentile,” he said.

“The two percentile — listen, if you not ready for this…. Walk out of the room. But the two percentile is when you walk into the room, you hear something, a beat or a production that you actually love and can actually create it, write it, and execute it right then. I can’t say I’ve done that with many artists. It’s not even five artists.”

Rick Ross joined Adin Ross for a stream at the top of 2024, where he tipped his imaginary cap to “Stay Schemin’” as his favorite collaboration he’s ever done with Drake in his career to date.

“I’ma say ‘Stay Schemin,’” he said. “He came out to us; he came out in the streets. He came to us when he put that record together. It was one of those vibes. We had the beat. He walked right in on it as we was puttin’ it together and he didn’t wait one second, so that was most definitely magical.”

Cristina Mackey confirmed she and Rick Ross split earlier in March 2024. Weeks later, she was invited as a special guest of OVO to Drake’s It’s All A Blur – Big as the What? Tour stop in Miami. The petty move reportedly came after Ross unfollowed Drake on Instagram.

Drake appeared to have smoke for everybody with his leaked “Push Ups” diss track possibly targeting Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Metro Boomin, Future and Rick Ross, who he sniped about being a corrections officer and hooking him up with Billboard chart hits.

“I might take your latest girl and cuff her like I’m Ricky/ Can’t believe he jumpin’ in, this n—- turnin’ 50/ Every song that made it on the chart, he got from Drizzy/ Spend that lil’ check you got and stay up out my business,” Drizzy raps.

Rick Ross heard the shots on “Push Ups” and immediately got in the booth where he returned fire at Drake with the fiery “Champagne Moments.” Rozay calls out Drake for allegedly stealing Lil Wayne’s flow and claims he had cosmetic surgery to change his nose.

“That’s why you had an operation to make your nose smaller than your father nose,” Ross raps.

It’s one thing to battle Ross in the booth, it’s another for the war to spill onto social media. Rozay is one of rap’s funniest comics on socials, and he has been relentless in dissing Drake online. Various clips show Rozay trolling Drake by wearing his merch at a performance, referring to him as “BBL Drizzy” and bringing up ghostwriting claims.

“I just realized BBL Drizzy called his mommy on me,” Ross said in the Instagram Story clip. “He shared their text messages between each other. Ah, cupcake Drake. Tell your momma you stayed out past your curfew, white boy. You wanted to hang at the park with the n—-s, smoke weed with the n—-s while we washed our old school Chevys.”