Posted by Andrew Unterberger on 08/15/2012 at 11:42 AM News

The Popdust Files: rick ross

Well, we thought for sure that the SPIN Waka Flocka Flame coverwould go unchallenged as the but magazine cover of the year, but…Rick Ross gets the cover story for this week’s Rolling Stone, and he is representing in full effect. From the mag’s preview of the story, it seems like a predictably fun piece, with Rozay blaming his stroke on his love of weed (“I call it green caviar”), describing his high school delinquency (“I got through high school on my popularity and shit”), and refusing to boycott Chick-Fil-A (“Naw. I love that spicy chicken.”)

But the real story is on the cover itself, where a shirtless (of course) Bawse gives the “COWABUNGA, DUDE!!!” facial expression and double-hand salute, in one of the purest expressions of Livin’ That Life joy we’ve ever seen:

Photo: Rolling Stone

Something about Terry Richardson’s photo of the ecstatic, tattooed, belly-protruding Rozay, combined with the headline “Rick Ross: Gangster of Love” (Some people call him the space cowboy…) just puts the biggest smile on our face. In fact, it’s probably our favorite Rolling Stone cover since 1993, when a very different megastar also went shirtless, with equally compelling results:

Wonder what Snow and Buffalo Tom are up to these days.

[NahRight]