“Gold Roses” by Rick Ross (ft. Drake)

The title (“Gold Roses”) of this song is apparently derived from its chorus, in which Drake states “before I’m going out of this place… put some flowers in my face”. That is the artists’ way of saying that, as the popular idiom goes, they want people to ‘give them their flowers while they can still smell them’. Putting it differently, they want to receive proper recognition for their accomplishments and contributions to the rap game while they are still alive to relish them. And considering that when it comes to generating and spending wealth, both of these rappers hold nothing back, they want these flowers to be of the “gold rose” variety, as in proper symbols of their lavish living. That at least seems to be the most-likely meaning of the title.

And indeed two of the primary themes presented throughout the song are wealth and the artists’ touting their overall greatness. And Rick Ross really picks up on the aforementioned idea of being unappreciated, noting that he “never won a Grammy” (despite his illustrious career). However, he attributes this to certain individuals being unable to “understand” him.

Meanwhile Drake’s approach is more along the lines of bragging about his lifestyle via the exceptional lyricism which has made him famous. That is to say he is a world traveler with exotic tastes, including high-priced foreign women and enjoying the Japanese delicacy “sashimi”. In the process of it all he also namedrops a couple of celebrities, specifically NBA star “Kevin Durant” and fellow rap stars the “City Girl(s)”. And of course Da Boss also doesn’t slack off in terms of letting the world know that he’s living the life, with willing female companions to boot.

So overall, “Gold Roses” is exactly what fans of Rick Ross and Drake would expect a collaboration between them to sound like. Ross is a master rapper, and his lyrics, as usual, are on point. But even more notable is Drake returning to his vintage number-one form, dropping lyrics which require listeners to do a bit of research before fully understanding.

Is this Rick Ross and Drake’s first collaboration?

No. Drake and Ross have collaborated numerous times in the past, dating back to 2010. In fact the month prior to the release of “Gold Roses”, Drake featured Ross on his track “Money in the Grave”, another song that lightly deals with the concept of the rappers dying.

Release Date of “Gold Roses”

Epic Records along with Sony Music Entertainment officially released “Gold Roses” on 26 July 2019. It was the third single issued from Rozay’s 2019 album Port of Miami 2.

Writing and Production of “Gold Roses”

The producers of this track are as follows:

• The Rascals
• Oz
• Syk Sense
• Vinylz

The latter three also co-wrote the song alongside Ross, Drake and four other writers, namely:

• Sylvain Krief
• Leon Thomas III
• Khristopher Riddick-Tynes
• Boris Bergman