Rick Ross Says Having Nearly the Same Name as Meek Mill Caused Airport Confusion: ‘What the F— Is This’ (Exclusive)

It might be a while before Rick Ross and Meek Mill try to book each other’s flights again.

The two rap giants aren’t just sharing space on wax for their new joint album Too good to be truethey also share almost the same name – just in reverse.

And as Ross, 47 — whose name is William Roberts — tells PEOPLE, he only learned that his trusted collaborator and Maybach Music Group signee is named Robert Williams when he tried to book him a flight for a meeting.

Meek Mill and Rick Ross in New York in September 2023.

Michael Loccisano/Getty

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“One of the funniest stories ever was the first time I was buying plane tickets to take Meek to where I was, after we met in Philly,” he says. “I called my sister, I told her, I said, ‘Renee, book this young artist, I like this guy. Fly him in for me.’ She’s like, ‘When?’ ‘Bring him in tonight. I’ll finally send you the information.'”

After Ross’ sister sent him Meek’s information, which included his full name, Ross sent it back to her.

“And so she called me several times, ‘You’re sending me the wrong information.’ I say, ‘No, I’m not, let me repeat that.’ I took a screenshot, sent it to her. She said, ‘You sent me the wrong information again. You keep sending me your name.’ ‘No I did not.'”

“And then I read it and I was like, ‘What the hell is this?'”

Ross then decided to call Meek himself for his own clarity. “I called him back. ‘Hey, is your name Robert Williams? Say, little buddy, my name is William Roberts. No way.’ But we got him a ticket and here we are.”

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As for whether he thinks there’s anything special about the name he and Meek (sort of) share, Ross explains, “I’m not going to kid— you and say they’re names, because we could have the same name and they’re both garbage.”

“But this is definitely a unique situation.”

However, no matter how unique the situation was for the two collaborators, it brought them to where they are today with their first joint album in the world. Working on the project, released through Ross’ Maybach Music Group on Nov. 10, even brought them closer together. “Without a doubt,” he says.

“Because we both have our own individual empires that we lead,” says Ross. “So this extra time, these late-night calls, ‘Yo, did you hear that mix?’ ‘Gee, I think we should try this.’ ‘Oh, we should change this.’ ‘Let’s switch these verses.’ That s— just takes us back 10 years when we were about to collaborate on records like ‘I’m a Boss.’ And now when we go out and perform those records 10 years later, sometimes it’s still amazing, the reaction you get .”

For more on Rick Ross, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE magazine, on newsstands everywhere Friday.

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Source: HIS Education