Rick Ross Will Celebrate Port of Miami Anniversary With a Concert at the Actual Port of Miami

A blown-up poster of the Port of Miami album cover was wedged in the corner of Komodo’s top floor. Rick Ross, at our request, took a moment to glance back at it and reflect.

There he was: somber, looking down at a shiny medallion with the words "Carol City Cartel" carved into the edges.  

“This will be my biggest performance ever.”

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What was going through his head? “I was at peace right then,” Ross says, ignoring the dessert that’s just been laid in front of him. He was only 30 at the time, unknowingly on the eve of an album that would start a decade-long career. “What I knew was: I was gonna go harder than a motherfucker.”

Yesterday, August 8, 2016, marked exactly ten years since Rick Ross’ debut album, Port of Miami, dropped. Ross celebrated with a dinner at Brickell's Komodo, a restaurant owned by David Grutman who, a few weeks ago, drove Ross, Skrillex, and Jared Leto around in his boat for the "Purple Lamborghini" music video which, judging by reviews, has been just about the only good thing to come from Suicide Squad.

Yesterday, Ross also announced he will celebrate Port of Miami’s anniversary with a concert at the actual Port of Miami, a place not known as a music venue — at all.

“This will be my biggest performance ever,” Ross tells New Times. “For one, I’m at home. I’m outdoors. The fucking ocean and the breeze is blowing — the most beautiful backdrop in the most beautiful city in the world… Every time I ride to South Beach, I look over there at the port. It’s so beautiful.”

Ross says the concert was his idea, but details about the performance thus far are being kept quiet — logistics like capacity and transportation have yet to be revealed. Most of those details will fall on the shoulder of Jay Z’s streaming service, Tidal, the concert’s sponsor.

"If there’s anybody who can pull it off, it’s Tidal,” Ross says. 

The concert, officially called Tidal X: Port of Miami, will be live-streamed via Tidal and will happen at the end of the month, on August 29. Ticket info has yet to be announced, though Ross says he hopes to perform atop a shipping container. He'll most likely still be wearing the ankle bracelet a judge gave him after he allegedly assaulted his groundskeeper in Georgia. Ross is currently facing kidnapping, aggravated assault, and aggravated battery charges in that case. 

Port of Miami launched Ross' meteor of a career and solidified a new era in modern rap, one heavy on hype and bravado that fused luxury and gangster together as one. The album, along with the breakout single "Hustlin'," quickly earned Ross the title of Miami’s most successful rapper pretty much ever. 

About 50 people attended the dinner at Komodo. Timbaland was the most recognizable face in attendance, though the guest list was a reunion of sorts for Ross, who hosted old associates and friends, some of whom he hadn't seen since Port of Miami's release.

If Ross could go back ten years and say something to himself then, his message would be simple. “Pray, man," he'd tell himself. "I’d say, pray. Be patient.”

His advice to other Miami kids out there who, one day, hope to find themselves rapping on a shipping container too is similarly uplifting. 

“I want you to know that you can do it. I want you to know that it’s inside of you. Be patient. Remain loyal. Empower those around you.”