Rick Ross Feels the Love for Birdman, Gets Love From BET

For some artists, performing at awards shows is just another gig. But not for Rick Ross, who's performing at the BET Awards with T-Pain. "That's something that's monumental to me, to be coming from the streets, to be grinding for 10 years and to be here now and able to put my qualities on display in front of everybody, that's special," he tells the BoomBox. "That's something the money can't do for you ... money can't buy."

For Ross, who's still riding high off the chart-topping 'Trilla' disc, the highlights just keep coming. Next up is 'H,' his collaborative album with Birdman. As psyched as Ross was to be performing at BET it may pale in comparison for him to working with Birdman. "It was fun for us, the recording. Birdman's one of the few artists in the game that I admire and respect," Ross says. "When I think about southern music, southern hip-hop, Birdman's like the first name that comes to mind cause he comes from that golden era, that No Limit/Cash Money era, but he's still here, he's still on top of the game. And just for me to be in the studio with him and see his work habits after ten years of non-stop making records that's motivation.

So when will fans get to hear the duo themselves? "You gonna hear a single like in the next month. We just chopping up the small details, it's gonna be a big release; it's a joint venture between Payback Music and Cash Money," he says. And as for what the first single might be, he says, "We just did a record with T-Pain on it and I think that's gonna be the first single."