Freeway Rick Ross Reignites Rick Ross Feud Over Name

Swiftly, the Maybach Music mogul wasted no time firing back on social media. In true Rick Ross fashion, he blended humor with condescension. “This gangsta informant [three laughing emojis] still [lurks]. @freewayricky [mermaid emoji]. Go put on a suit peon,” he typed.

Social media users also joined in, with many siding with Freeway and calling out Rozay for capitalizing off the Texas native’s name and infamous history. “Y’all let him rock all these years because the music was good. Ross and John Singleton (Snowfall) did him foul,” one user commented on Instagram.

Another was quick to call out the irony in the rapper’s response: “The audacity when he himself was a correctional officer.”

The commentary didn’t stop there. A third person added, “This is laughable. So, u stole an informant name. That should make u a ‘gangsta informant’ as well…”

Another person noted how Freeway “earned” his name and Rozay isn’t “the real thing.”

“How you steal another man’s name that you NEVER earned,” they wrote. “And that fake informant talk you tryna do cause you been afraid of @freewayricky cause he’s the real thing that you only rap about. Shoulda earn your own name peon.”

This decades-long dispute traces back to Freeway’s assertion that Rick Ross — born William Roberts II — jacked his identity for fame and never asked for permission. The notorious drug trafficker built up his name in the 1980s and became one of the most infamous street legends.

After his release from prison in 2009, he took legal action against the rapper, suing for trademark infringement. He argued that the stage name isn’t just a catchy alias — it’s his legacy. He claimed that the Miami rhymer exploited his image while creating an inauthentic persona.

Rick Ross has always maintained that his name was inspired not just by Freeway but by Miami’s drug culture of that era — insisting it was purely for his artistic identity. The courts ultimately ruled in the rapper’s favor in 2010, citing artistic expression as a protected right. But while their legal battle ended there, the personal one went on.

Freeway continued to press the issue, calling out what he viewed as an industry-backed distortion of history.

Take a look at him speaking on Rick Ross above.