Twenty years in, Rick Ross can still generate a week of headlines off an album nobody's calling a hit. “Set In Stone” is out, the numbers are in, and the conversation around them is louder than the record itself.
## The numbers Released July 17 through Gamma and Maybach Music Group, “Set In Stone” moved roughly 17,189 album-equivalent units in its opening week — about 2,096 in pure sales and nearly 15,000 from streaming — landing at No. 46 on the Billboard 200, per HITS Daily Double. For an artist whose 2021 “Richer Than I Ever Been” opened at No. 22, that's a real slide.
## The response Ross isn't sweating it publicly. “Real hip-hop lovers should never get caught up in the propaganda and fake bot numbers,” he said, pointing critics to the music instead of the chart. Whether that's confidence or cover, it's on brand for The Biggest Boss.
## The subplot 50 Cent treated the whole thing like a holiday, and Ross escalated on a separate front — accusing 50 of siphoning money out of Shreveport, Louisiana through the G-Unit Studios deal. Two decades later, this rivalry still outproduces most artists' rollouts.
## The cultural close Streaming-era chart math has never been kind to grown-man rap that isn't chasing virality. The question underneath the No. 46 isn't whether Ross can rap — it's whether the catalog guys still have a lane on a chart built for TikTok.
## Sources - HotNewHipHop — “Rick Ross' ‘Set In Stone’ Officially Lands Outside Billboard Top 20 With Poor Sales” (July 26, 2026): https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/1003518-rick-ross-set-in-stone-outside-billboard-top-20-poor-sales - Rap Reviews — “Hip-Hop News Roundup — July 27, 2026”: https://www.rap-reviews.com/post/hip-hop-news-roundup-july-27-2026