Rick Ross ‘The Boss,’ a multiple Grammy nominee and one of the most successful rappers in the hip hop game made his way to New York’s Extra Butter to talk about his other passion – besides music: Wingstop. The rap mogul and record label exec has been involved with the company for several years, expanding his number of franchises to over 25 nationwide. During the intimate event, among tasty flavored wings, signature cocktails, and never-before-seen swag from the newly unveiled WingShop, Ross shared his plans for the company and Maybach Music Group.

Wingstop began in 1994 and since then has become one of the fastest growing brands in the restaurant industry. What started as a small buffalo-style chicken wing restaurant in Garland, Texas, continues to soar to new heights. Today there are more than 800 restaurants open across the United States, Mexico, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates.

As founder and CEO of his own record company, Maybach Music Group Ricky Rozay’s label is home to artists Wale, Meek Mill,  French Montana, Omarion, Gunplay, and of course Ross himself, among others. MMG has had 6 albums debut at #1 on the Billboard 200.

HOMBRE: What made you decide to become involved with Wingstop?
Rick Ross: I love wings so much and when I went to Wingstop it was the perfect place for me and my homies to socialize. It felt right. And years later here we are.

H: How is it coming along so far?
RR: Man, I’ve seen so much success that I feel like right now my potential with Wingstop is off the charts.

H: What’s next?
RR: When it comes to Wingstop I’m just looking for continued success. I may introduce my own flavor, you never know. I may blend the Caribbean vibe, I may blend the Cuban, the Jamaican and Haitian and call it South Beach, you never know.
Other than that, there’s the MMG empire, we’ll be releasing something soon, you know we’re back on our thing.

Wingstop CMO Flynn Dekker with ‘The Boss’

Ross is also very involved with a new scholarship initiative to combat the high dropout rate among students in big cities. The Wingstop Foundation will award scholarships to young people from urban areas, as well as Wingstop employees, to pursue higher education. The nonprofit will also make grants to groups working to stop students from dropping out through education and mentoring.

H: Why it the Wingstop Foundation so important to you?
RR: We’ve seen so much success doing what we’re doing, let’s take it to the next level. Let’s make ourselves that much more a part of the community. We see the dropout rates. We know what’s going on. So what’s the biggest thing that we could do? Wingstop as a company came together and put together an urban scholarship that’s for the underprivileged, that’s educationally based. That’s me talking to my audience. We need to hear this, and we need to bring all these ideas and concepts to the table and start as soon as possible.

For more information visit www.wingstop.com or facebook.com/wingstop or twitter.com/wingstop

Rick Ross with HOMBRE Magazine’s Francisco Romeo