On July 16, 2019, the album's release date was announced.[1] On July 31, Rick Ross was featured in an interview on Big Boy's Neighborhood radio show in which he said:
Releasing two albums, it was a statement that was made. I hope I made that statement, coming back full circle to my 10th album. Port of Miami 1 being everything I built the empire on, just me coming back. And I wanna have that challenge of comparing it because to me, ultimately, I just wanna be even sharper than I was back then.[2]
Ross shared the album's tracklist on August 1, 2019.[3]
Artwork
The artwork, an homage to the original Port of Miami cover depicts Ross holding a pendant with a picture of Black Bo, his friend and manager, who died in December 2017.[1]
Promotion
The album's lead single, "Act a Fool" featuring Wale, was released on June 21, 2019,[4] the song peaked at number 45 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.[5]
The second single, "Big Tyme" featuring Swizz Beatz, was released on July 2, 2019,[6] the music video for the song was released on July 30.[7]
Port of Miami 2 was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 67, based on seven reviews.[11]
Aaron Bishop of Clash wrote that Port of Miami 2 "shows Renzel with his pen at his sharpest, his beats at their grandest and his coveted guest verse spots at their most impactful. Over a decade at the top of the rap mountain has seen the MMG icon have his ups and downs. But on what is his tenth studio album, he proves why he’s achieved such longevity in the fickle game that is rap. Tracks such as "Turnpike Ike" showcase the four-time Grammy nominee at his very best, while his willingness to delve into topics outside of his luxurious lifestyle add a depth and gravitas to the record that make it a worthy successor to the original thirteen years on."[13] Andy Kellman of AllMusic saying "Frequent serious references to mortality make Port of Miami 2 his heaviest recording."[12] Evan Rytlewski of Pitchfork stated: "Too often on Port of Miami 2, he locks into the flow of least resistance and simply lets it ride, hiding behind his production instead of asserting his dominion over it. And while his music remains sumptuous as always, that luster alone is no longer enough to wow."[17]
In a mixed review, Rolling Stone's Christopher R. Weingarten stated: "Most of his 10th album, Port of Miami 2, is Ross exactly as you know and love him: the obscene boasts, the window-cracking bass, the speedboat cool, the various spins on raps-to-riches success."[18] Will Lavin of NME said, "While the beginning of the album struggles, you'll be hard pushed to find a five-song stretch as flawless as the close out tracks on Ross' 10th studio album."[16] Jesse Fairfax of Spin wrote that "Port of Miami 2 further cements Ross as a mainstay among the aging elite—those rappers whose names now carry them further than their music does. Playing it safe with the sequel to his far more ambitious debut LP, Ross regurgitates that which people have come to love from him, or at least have accepted as his standard."[19]
"Rich Nigga Freestyle" contains a sample from "Does Your Mama Know", written by Will Gittens, Thomas Bennett, Mic Lovay, Robert Curington, and Rudy Love, and performed by Rudy Love & The Love Family.
