Rick Ross’ album sales gave 50 Cent another reason to celebrate, but the numbers surrounding Rozay’s businesses make the joke more complicated than 50 would like people to believe.
50 Cent returned to Instagram on July 21 and July 22 to mock the projected chart performance of Ross’s latest album, “Set in Stone.” Fif told his longtime rival to “pack it up” and questioned what an artist does when albums and concert tickets stop selling. His answer was loaded with shade. He suggested Ross had been reduced to promoting car shows and selling chicken wings.
Early projections placed “Set in Stone” outside the top 20 of the Billboard 200. The publication also noted that Ross’s previous solo album, “Richer Than I Ever Been,” debuted at No. 22 in 2021, while his 2023 collaborative project with Meek Mill, “Too Good to Be True,” entered at No. 23. Those are not career ending results, but they are far removed from Ross’s commercial peak.
The decline in Rick Ross album sales becomes clearer when his current performance is compared to his strongest releases. According to Billboard, “Port of Miami 2” earned 80,000 equivalent album units in 2019 and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. “God Forgives, I Don’t” sold 218,000 copies during its opening week in 2012. Billboard also reported that “Mastermind” opened with 179,000 copies in 2014.
By that measurement, 50 has a point. Ross is not moving albums at the level he once did. However, mocking Wingstop and the Rick Ross Car and Bike Show as desperate backup plans ignores the scale of the businesses Ross has built outside music.
According to franchise industry publication 1851 Franchise, Ross owns approximately 30 Wingstop locations and has been investing in the chain for more than a decade. The publication reported that he began pursuing the opportunity after developing a genuine interest in the company’s lemon pepper wings. Ross eventually incorporated the brand into his lyrics, public image, and wider business identity.
That does not mean Ross personally pockets the full sales total from every restaurant. Franchise locations have payroll, food expenses, rent, fees, taxes, and other operating costs. However, the size of the brand shows why dismissing the portfolio as a struggling rapper’s side hustle misses the bigger picture.
According to official financial results from Wingstop Investor Relations, established domestic Wingstop restaurants produced an average annual sales volume of approximately $2 million during the fourth quarter of 2025. Wingstop also reported $5.3 billion in companywide sales for fiscal 2025 and more than 3,000 restaurants operating across its global system by the end of that year.
Those company averages cannot be multiplied by Ross’s reported store count and presented as his personal income. His individual restaurants could perform above or below the chain average, and sales are not the same as profit. Still, a portfolio of roughly 30 locations inside a multibillion dollar restaurant system is not evidence that Ross needs to be saved. It is evidence that he built a revenue stream designed to continue even when Rick Ross album sales cool down.
The car show numbers also complicate 50’s joke.
According to The Atlanta Journal Constitution, between 6,000 and 8,000 people attended the Rick Ross Car and Bike Show at his Promise Land estate in 2024. The publication reported that tickets for the 2025 show ranged from $250 to $750, while vendors and food truck operators were charged $3,500 for space at the event.
Those published prices do not reveal Ross’s profit because the event carries major expenses. According to the same Atlanta Journal Constitution report, organizers added parking areas, transportation, cleaning crews, police staffing, tow trucks, medical support, and roughly 50 shuttle buses per hour for the 2025 event. Still, thousands of people paying premium prices to attend a branded event at Ross’s home looks more like a functioning entertainment property than a last resort.
The official Eventbrite page for the fifth annual show listed the Rick Ross Car Show organizer as having attracted approximately 30,600 total attendees across six events. That figure may include more than the annual car show alone, but it demonstrates that the event company has developed a sizable paying audience outside traditional music venues.
The irony is that 50 Cent’s insult accidentally identifies Ross’s best defense. Ross does not need every album to debut at No. 1 because he has spent years attaching his celebrity to assets, franchises, live experiences, and products that operate beyond a release week.
Their feud has always been about more than records.The rivalry erupted in 2009 after Ross targeted 50 on “Mafia Music.” Fif responded with “Officer Ricky,” mocked Ross’s past as a correctional officer, and expanded the battle through songs, online videos, personal attacks, and public stunts.
Seventeen years later, the weapons have changed. Diss records have been replaced by projections, ticket reports, franchise counts, and social media captions. Rick Ross album sales may give 50 Cent the cleaner punchline, but Ross’s business numbers reveal why the feud never produces a simple winner.
50 can laugh at the charts, but thousands of car show attendees and approximately 30 Wingstop locations suggest Rozay may be selling exactly what his audience still wants, even when it is not an album.
