• Record Label: Def Jam
  • Release Date: Jul 31, 2012
Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 24
  2. Negative: 0 out of 24
Buy Now
Buy on
  1. 91
    God Forgives is the first album that really feels like it was made by a boss.
  2. While some tracks may feel more like Bay and Ratner, Ross more often than not hits his mark.
  3. Aug 1, 2012
    80
    With its share of both musical indulgence and serious self-reflection, it's an album as big and sturdy as the man behind it.
  4. Aug 1, 2012
    80
    If Teflon Don was a buffet-style feast with deluxe entrées laid out for the listeners, God Forgives, I Don't is a full-course dinner that starts with a plate of bruschetta and ends with a zeppole.
  5. Jul 31, 2012
    80
    This album [is] unabashedly fun and very easy to listen to.
  6. Jul 30, 2012
    80
    The beats are huge, varied enough that they don't become tedious, and the guest talent is deep and broadly selected.
  7. Jul 30, 2012
    80
    All of it works, there's plenty of ambition with little over-reaching, and the most striking bits of the album are striking for unexpected reasons.
  8. Jul 30, 2012
    80
    Bold and indulgent, God Forgives, I Don't embodies why Rick Ross has become a fixture that listeners can depend on, as well as an executive who can strategize success for not only himself but others around him.
  9. Jul 30, 2012
    80
    There are times when God Forgives is as engrossing and surprising as rap can be.
  10. Jul 31, 2012
    75
    The rapper's midair brush with death only intensified his hunger. On this commanding, complicated album, he wants more out of more.
  11. The Wire
    Dec 5, 2012
    70
    Lyrically it is all shamelessly hollow, but Ross's album is seductively swish, its production sophisticated and strings and saxophone abound. [Oct 2012, p.75]
  12. Aug 16, 2012
    70
    God Forgives' best moments... are fine examples of how big-budget rap can skilfully avoid crass clichés, and even convey no little emotion.
  13. Aug 10, 2012
    70
    God Forgives is a comedown--sporadically introspective, occasionally rousing, and sort of without purpose.
  14. Jul 31, 2012
    70
    While not as electrifying as "Teflon Don," this 70-minute set deftly mixes grandiose gestures and ominous bravado.
  15. Jul 31, 2012
    70
    Skip the umpteenth "BMF" re-treads and the album's soggy R&B bottom quarter and there's much to savour.
  16. Jul 30, 2012
    68
    There is still some great music on God Forgives, but it is somewhat overshadowed by higher-profile misfires.
  17. Aug 7, 2012
    67
    Though it's solid enough to maintain Ross' reputation as one of commercial rap's most reliable album artists, God Forgives rarely feels like an event, and by the standards of a rapper who once threw a press conference in his own honor, that makes it a minor disappointment.
  18. Aug 13, 2012
    65
    God Forgives, I Don't is slick, large, and sounds like wealth.
  19. 60
    It's thrilling. It's pantomime. It's what Ross does best.
  20. Aug 1, 2012
    60
    God Forgives is consistently, pleasantly underwhelming: the plodding R&B-rooted efforts aside, there's nothing much to complain about.
  21. Aug 8, 2012
    50
    It's definitely a disappointment that Ross seems to be coasting through most of this hour-long production since a coasting Ross is generally not a Ross you'd want to be around.
  22. Aug 8, 2012
    50
    All the grandiose songs are clumped together in the album's first half, while "Hold Me Back", "911" (an ode to Porsche, not emergency workers) and lead single "So Sophisticated" represent the trap sound that propelled Rich Forever into redundancy.
  23. Aug 2, 2012
    40
    The album's production work is predictable, and its high-concept narratives (Hold Me Back, Diced Pineapples) are painfully over thought.
  24. 40
    Even though Mr. Ross's rapping is prime, it isn't enough to carry this album. Just at the moment that he's finally not underrated, he has underdelivered.
User Score
6.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 72 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 72
  2. Negative: 17 out of 72
  1. Aug 1, 2012
    0
    Horrible Album, Ross Forgets What Solo Album Means, He Depends On The Guest Stars Too Much, The Only Thing That Is Not Garbage Are Some BeatsHorrible Album, Ross Forgets What Solo Album Means, He Depends On The Guest Stars Too Much, The Only Thing That Is Not Garbage Are Some Beats But Ross Is Just Not A Decent Rapper Full Review »
  2. Aug 5, 2012
    1
    Poor Album, **** ass **** Money Negga...Thats all you know Ross

    True Lyrics and Rick Ross don't Fitt in the same Sentence (double entendre)
    Poor Album, **** ass **** Money Negga...Thats all you know Ross

    True Lyrics and Rick Ross don't Fitt in the same Sentence (double entendre)

    and i feel like MMG is falling
    Full Review »
  3. Jul 31, 2012
    9
    Bon ben voila après un bon temps d'attente, l(album est enfin dispo !

    Dans l'ensemble l'album est bien, j'aime pas trop les sons
    Bon ben voila après un bon temps d'attente, l(album est enfin dispo !

    Dans l'ensemble l'album est bien, j'aime pas trop les sons "lent" mais la il etait pas mal .

    Sinon ben c'est du Rozay après je trouve que sa mixtape "rich forever" est meilleur...
    Full Review »