Purveyor of polished music videos (replete with tricked-out cars and busty babes) and recent recipient of MTV’s Hottest MC in the Game award, Rick Ross played DAR Constitution Hall last night. You’d think a big commercial name like Ricky Rozay would be sure to pack ’em in from miles around, but that’d be a negatory, good buddy – the venue was embarrassingly empty. Like, entire-sections-empty empty. I couldn’t help but wonder why. Was it the overpriced tickets ($55-$116) or was the show just poorly promoted? I only heard about it on Tuesday through a bit of luck. Maybe it was a little of both.

Maybe it was the incessant m-m-m-m-Maybach Music shoutouts and Michael Bay-esque diamond explosions that looped at the beginning and end of each and every song. Yeah, that didn’t get old. You can’t fault him for being a shameless self-promoter, but damn, Rick. Keep it gangsta.

To his credit, the Boss has a good stage presence, spittin’ out rhymes and boasts while lumbering around the stage like a blinged out grizzly bear. He played all his hit songs, including Everyday I’m Hustlin, Blowin’ Money Fast, I’m Not a Star, and coke-dealer anthem 9 Piece.

He was trying his best to give the concertgoers their money’s worth, but for whatever reason the crowd seemed largely disinterested — they tepidly sang along and seemed to just be standing around bored. DC’s always been known for its notoriously fickle, hard-to-please hip-hop crowds, but damn. I mean, you spent a lot of money on going to this show, at least try to have a good time. Unsurprisingly, Rick left the stage without fanfare and didn’t stay for an encore.

I left feeling a little sorry for the Don. The abundance of empty seats and the small crowd’s lack of enthusiasm got me wondering if despite his massive popularity, is it possible Ricky Rozay is the Nickelback of the hip-hop circuit?

Written by Joel Church. Buy his book Fingerprints here at Amazon.