Rick Ross Says He Used Humor In School To Cover Academic Struggles

Rick Ross is one of the biggest and most successful artists that broke in the 2010’s. With his hustle, work ethic, business acumen, and ability to put together amazing projects, one would think that Ross excelled in every area throughout his life. However, despite this level of success, Ross admitted in a recent interview with AfroTech to promote his book The Perfect Day To Boss Up: A Hustler’s Guide To Building Your Empire, that he struggled in school and would often use his humor to cover for his academic shortcomings.

“I was a jackass,” said the Miami Carol City Senior High School graduate. “Without a doubt, I was a comedian, I had a good sense of humor. I was the funny dude and all that… And I don’t think it was just because I naturally wanted to be, but [because] I didn’t know the answers to the questions and all the stuff [the teachers were] writing on the wall.”

Rozay went on to say that his humor often covered up for him not being able to understand certain things in school, adding that he still doesn’t know his multiplication tables.

“That might’ve been my way to cover that up because I never understood, I never learned my multiplication still to this day,” Ross added. “Imagine when they began going into pre-algebra a=e, that sh*t was like a whole ’nother language to me.”

He went on to add that his shortcomings in math class pushed him to become a great speaker so that people would never suspect he is struggling in other areas.

“I just wanted to walk out of the goddamn…’What are you talking about? A=E? What is this?’ I knew right then, while I was sitting in the math class, I wanted to learn how to be a great speaker because when I’m speaking to somebody, I don’t want them to know my shortcomings in my other areas. So, that’s what made me become a writer and I think that’s why I’m an author now.”

Despite struggling in school, Ross said that he knew from an early age that he did not want to be a doctor or dentist, but a football player or his own boss.

“I knew as a youngster, I never wanted to be a dentist. I never wanted to be a doctor. I never thought about none of that. I knew I would either play football or I would be doing something on my own. And that’s what I did.”