RICK ROSS: MIAMI HUSTLER

Rick Ross is perched high above Miami's Biscayne Bay, in the kitchen of a two-bedroom condo owned by his management company, Poe Boy Entertainment. His six-foot, 300-pound frame is draped in a black T-shirt that shows off the tattoos running down his arms: images of AK-47s, plus ''Murder 4 Life,'' and ''33055,'' the zip code of the Miami ghetto he grew up in. For a moment, Ross, 28 (real name: William Roberts), stares stoically at a plate of ''kush cookies,'' pot brownies made by a California weed dealer. Then the video for ''Hustlin','' Ross' current hit, flashes on BET. Ross perks up, cracks a smile and rhymes along.

''Hustlin'," which is about to come out in a remixed version with verses from Jay-Z and Young Jeezy, is a hypnotic mix of thick organ, brassy synths and trunk-rattling bass, topped with a hooky, slo-mo refrain (''Every day, I'm hustlin' '') and Ross' syllable-stretching drawls about making money on the streets. ''Hustlin' '' became a local hit before spreading nationwide. The song sparked a bidding war, with label execs from Murder Inc. president Irv Gotti to P. Diddy scrambling to sign Ross. ''Ross performed at my birthday party last November,'' recalls DJ Khaled, Ross' Miami buddy and one of the city's top producers. ''Diddy was there. When Ross performed, Diddy's eyes got big. He looked at Ross like, 'Damn, he's gonna be a big boy in the rap game.' ''

Def Jam president Jay-Z eventually beat out all bidders, inking Ross to a multimillion-dollar deal. Def Jam will release Ross' debut, <<I>Port of Miami, in July. If all the collaborations Ross has in the works come through, the album will feature big-name MCs like Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, David Banner, Nas and Jay-Z, plus R&B crooner Ne-Yo and beats from Just Blaze, Kanye West and several Miami producers -- including Cool and Dre, DJ Khaled and the Runners, who produced ''Hustlin'.''