Rick Ross Had A Connection To Nate Dogg On 'Different Levels'

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island — With the rap world still mourning the death of hip-hop hook singer Nate Dogg, who passed away at the age of 41 on Monday, MTV News caught up with Miami hit-maker Rick Ross to get his thoughts on the Nate's legacy.

"It's a great loss to the game. I feel like [he had] one of the biggest voices hip-hop has ever heard," said Ross, who is currently on the road as a part of Lil Wayne's I Am Still Music tour (formerly known as the I Am Music II tour). "If you could've pulled off a Nate Dogg [feature], you was gonna hit the charts, homie, and you was gonna get love, because he just had that kind of commanding voice that everybody loved."

Ross also went on to reveal a deeper connection to the fallen icon. Even though the two were first introduced on the video set of the Ludacris and Nate Dogg collaboration "Area Codes" back in 2001, Ross and the crooner shared a connection to the small town of Clarksdale, Mississippi.

"Nate Dogg's family really originated in Mississippi, and I have family that's from that same small town," Ross said. "So I've been hearing Nate Dogg on different levels for so many years and so many years."

According to The Associated Press, Nate Dogg's lawyer Mark Geragos revealed that the crooner had succumbed to complications stemming from a number of strokes that he suffered in 2007 and 2008.