Contrary to hater-instincts, we here at Pitchforkmedia Inc. don't get righteous boners every time a rapper mentions cocaine in a song (Lil Wayne excepted). In the cases of guys like Cam, Wayne, and the Clipse, subject matter is often subordinate to their unparalleled swagger, deep-end metaphors, and ability to create several new urban dictionary entries with every verse. In contrast, Rick Ross has a certain bloated penguin swagger, but it's too second-tier outlandish to be considered an asset. He once knew what the word "metaphor" meant but has since forgotten. And his idea of wordplay is something like, "Mo' trucks (mo' trucks)/ Mo' bucks (mo' bucks)/ Mo' freaks (mo' freaks)/ Mo' butts (mo' butts)"-- basically preschool repeat-after-me riddles. Still, even this Bad News Beard can't blow "Blow", thanks to Cool & Dre's electro-shock beat, a Prince-style synth-up that marks their finest showing since "Hate It or Love It".

But, unlike that understated masterpiece, this is grandiose; if they gave The Neverending Story a hip hop makeover with Atreyu as the hustler with a heart of gold, this would be the soundtrack to the fly-over montage (Ross, of course, would play that rock dude). Pushing things even further is Dre, who reinforces the hook's hacked "blow" job ("Mo' money means mo' cash to blow!") with a falsetto so foolish Pharrell wouldn't even try it on. It all adds up to a force that's-- by some miracle-- bigger than Ross himself.