Smile Mama, Smile

Album: Black Market (2015)
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Songfacts®:

  • Rick Ross wrote the rhymes for this heartfelt ode to his mom in jail. He was incarcerated after being accused for forcing a man into a guesthouse and beating him in the head with a handgun. We hear him opening up about his lean use and how it affects his mother. "No more Promethazine," Rozay declares. "That'll make her proud."

    Ross told Billboard magazine: "Being incarcerated, you have time to sit down and realize what means the most to you. I wanted my album to be a walk through my mind, and that's what that was. You wakin' up, greeting the morning with 'Free Enterprise,' and by the time you put your feet down from the bed, what's running through your mind is what means the most to you, what's your most valuable asset, which is my family."
  • The song features vocals by CeeLo Green. "When I think of CeeLo Green, I think about previous collaborations, like 'Tears Of Joy,'" said Ross. "I said, 'Wow, that was one of my most powerful records ever." The cross between this energy from "Tears of Joy" to me discussing what means the most for me, this should be a brilliant record. We brought it to life."

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