This Miami rapper’s life will be the subject of a new law class at Georgia State University

Professor Moraima Ivory’s new class starts the same way every day: playing a Rick Ross track.

It might be “Hustlin’.” It might be “Stay Schemin’.” Maybe even “Tears of Joy.”

The concept, however, is rather simple: to put her students in the mindset of the Rick Ross, the artist, before learning about Rick Ross, the business.

“You get an opportunity to see how he has built this empire that he has amassed,” said Ivory, professor of practice and director of the Entertainment, Sports & Media Law Initiative at the George State University’s College of Law in Atlanta, “whether it’s in music, real estate, in brand partnerships, equity, positioning – he has done it.”

For this reason, Ivory will teach a new class entitled the “Legal Life of Rick Ross” that allows students to get a better understanding of the Miami Gardens native “through the contracts he signed along the way,” she said. Class topics include the creation of his Maybach Music Group imprint, deal agreements for multi-platinum hits like “Hustlin’” and even an appearance from the Biggest Boss himself.

“The ‘Biggest’ meets the classroom,” the Grammy-nominated rapper born William Roberts II detailed in a statement to the university. “I’ve always been a student of the game, and I look forward to being able to teach the next generation how to keep hustlin’.”

Rick Ross’ entrepreneurial journey will be the fourth installment of Ivory’s “Legal Life Of” series. Previous subjects included Ludacris, Kandi Burris and Steve Harvey. Amalyzing Rick Ross’ business acumen was particularly special to Ivory considering 2023 coincides with the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.

“People have a perception that hip-hop is one big party and they really dismiss the business and the legal aspect of what goes on in the person’s career,” Ivory said. “There’s no way that these figures – the ones that I studied or anybody for that matter that’s in this career – doesn’t have to learn how to become a businessperson separate from their creativity.”

Few rappers embody the famed Jay Z line “I’m not a businessman/ I’m a business, man” better than Rick Ross. Not only is he a two-time New York Times best-selling author and the CEO of Maybach Music Group, which boasts a roster of artists that includes Wale and Meek Mill, the serial entrepreneur owns more than 25 Wingstop locations as well as several Checkers and Rally’s restaurants.

He also founded the Rick Ross Car & Bike Show, the Boss Up Conference and has brand partnerships with several entities such as Luc Belaire and Hempacco, a CBD company. On the artist side, Rick Ross has more than a dozen platinum certifications, nine Grammy nominations and billions of streams to his name.

“He’s so smart,” Ivory said of Rick Ross. “I just thought that the things he’s done in his career would make for an amazing learning experience for the students.”

A Bronx native, Ivory cannot remember a time where hip-hop didn’t exist.

She remembers seeing Kurtis Blow hooping near her grandparents house in Queens. Going to the early hip-hop parties. Interning at Virgin Records.

A career in the music industry always happened to be one of her goals – she eventually worked her way up to chief of staff to the executive vice president of Warner Music Group before later founding her own firm Ivory Consulting, LLC – so when she transition into academics, she had to find a way to incorporate hip-hop.

“In this day and age, hip-hop is an economy,” Ivory continued. “It’s more than just a culture. It’s more than music, dancing and graffiti. More than what it first started out as.”

The growth of hip-hop now mandates attorneys who better “understand this business and take it seriously,” she added. For hip-hop to survive another 50 years, its creators – artists, producers, djays – deserve more equity, something she’s committed to instilling into the heads of each and every student.

“I am training the next crop of lawyers to be able to look at these agreements and figure out ways to improve the positions for their clients,” Ivory said. And while she knows that every student won’t walk away with a desire to represent artists, she wants them to understand “how much money is out there and how many deals can be made.”