With Rick Ross' third album, Deeper Than Rap, debuting at number one on the Billboard albums chart this week, his future is so bright that he has to wear shades. Big puns aside, "Rawse" not only has one of this years' best rap albums, but he is also the reigning king of designer sunglasses in hip-hop. Mr. Maybach Music let us know that his omnipresent shades go everywhere with him, and we do mean everywhere: "I wear my shades on the toilet, you're comfortable and they preserve the smoke integrity for at least another hour," says Ross, explaining that it's much easier to maintain his weed buzz if he's sporting sunglasses. StreetLevel sat down with Ross to talk about his passion for eyewear and some other finer frames in his collection. Read the interview after the jump.




When did your obsession with shades begin?

It started years ago, around the time that I fell in love with Biggie and his music. He always had on a pair of fly shades, and I'm from sunny south Florida so we always had shades on and it was part of the culture. But when Biggie started wearing Versace sunglasses, I wanted some. Once you spend $2250 on some shades, that's like jewelry.

We heard you have diamonds on your shades . . .

I have some custom shades that people make just for me with VVS diamonds, seven carat diamonds all around of the frame. I may have 10-15 pairs with diamonds. I get most of them in Los Angeles. Big Jack, he's a big fat guy on LaBrea Avenue in Los Angeles, he's done alot of my diamond shades.

Er, do you have sex in your diamond shades?

I've had sex in my shades, sometimes I wear my clear ones. A lot of ladies compliment my eyelashes so I don't want people to see them, I'm shy, so wear my shades all the time. I never told nobody that before.

Ever wear them on the toilet?

I wear my shades on the toilet. You're comfortable in there so . . . they preserve the smoke integrity for another hour. For example, right now I'm sitting in the Def Jam offices, I just went in the bathroom took me a lil' smoke break, and I keep my shades on to keep it going.

What are you top five brands?

I love the Louis Vuittons, those are the only mainstream frames I really like. I love the gold trim. Porsche Carreras that come with the car, Cazals, they're a real throwback from the Dana Dane and Slick Rick era, then there's Ferragamo's simple shades and Alpinas.


What happens if you forget your sunglasses one day?

That's a crazy day. I would be real hurt, having to look a lot suckers in the face.