On September 3rd, Rick Ross will release his autobiography “Hurricanes.”
In the book, the 43-year-old rapper and entrepreneur opens up about his life, taking readers on a gripping journey through his childhood growing up in the ’80s in the crime-ridden neighborhood of Carol City in Miami Gardens, Florida all the way up through his somewhat rocky road to stardom and the controversies that followed.
According to People, Ross opened up about his beefs with 50 Cent and Birdman, surviving drive-by shootings, and back-to-back seizures. “My life is really a movie,” says the rapper. “That’s why I speak the way I speak in my music.”
Ross was inspired to write his life story after his March 2018 headline-making hospitalization for a major seizure (rumored— at the time to have been a heart attack). It’s a serious event the star describes in shocking detail in his book and says it gave him a new perspective on his life.
“When I woke up in the hospital and I had so many people around me, so many homies, it felt like I was in V.I.P. or some s—,” he said with a laugh. “But it was more like ‘Damn, we gotta do some special things.’”
The rapper shared what landed him in the hospital, was a slew of bad health decisions, including drug abuse.
“It was the codeine,” he says of the dangerous prescription opioid cough medication he’d began using recreationally.
Ross describes drinking large quantities of prescription cough syrup to try and cope with stress.
“That mixed with the things I was drinking, the other drugs I was doing, and on top of not resting. [I don’t think] one particular thing would have killed me. But everything combined?”
Ross is also candid about the fact that not following his doctor’s orders led him right back in the hospital.
Ross, who had suffered a few other scary seizures in his past, had been prescribed medication. But, he admitted, “I went I don’t know how long without taking the medication to prove to myself ‘I’m stronger than these other people this s— was diagnosed for.”
As a result of his stubbornness: “I ended up back in the hospital in a worse condition.”
Ross clarifies that while his condition was extreme, he did not suffer a heart attack and he was never placed on an ECMO machine (used to support the function of his heart and lungs) as it was being reported at the time.
Ross has since cleaned up his health immensely. He is no longer abusing codeine, takes his medication as prescribed and has overhauled his diet and lifestyle. “I cut the sodas out and I drink a lot more water. That, adding in some vegetables and I get a lot more rest,” he revealed.
One thing he hasn’t slowed down however, is his busy career. His 10th album Port of Miami 2 is out now and he is working on the highly anticipated, upcoming sequel to Coming to America (his sprawling mansion is being used in the film).
Despite the many hardships he describes in his memoir “Hurricanes”, Ross knows life is ultimately very good. “There’s nothing for me to complain about,” says Ross. These days, “I’m just living and being much more genuine.”
Discover more from Baller Alert
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.