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 don't just share space on wax for their new collaborative album Too Good to be True, they also nearly share the same name — just reversed.

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

"One of the funniest stories ever is when I first was getting the flight tickets to fly Meek down to where I was at, 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 like, 'When?' 'Fly him in tonight. I'm finna send you the info.'"

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

"And so she called me back a couple times, 'You sending me the wrong information.' I say, 'No, I'm not, let me do it again.' I screenshot it, send it to her. She said, 'You sent me the wrong information again. You keep sending me your name.' 'No, I'm not.'"

"And that's when I read it and I said, 'What the f--- is this?'"

Ross then decided to give Meek a call himself for his own clarity. "I called him back. 'Hey, your name Robert Williams? Say, little homie, my name William Roberts. No f---ing way.' But we got him the ticket and here we are."

As for if he thinks there's anything special about the name that he and Meek (sort-of) share, Ross explains: "I'm not going to bulls--- you and say it's the names, because we could have had the same names and both been garbage."

"But this is most definitely a unique situation."

Still, as unique as the situation was for the two collaborators, it's led them to where they are today with their first collaborative album out in the world. Working on the project, released via Ross' Maybach Music Group on Nov. 10, has even made the two closer. "Without a doubt," he says.

"Because we both have our own individual empires that we're head of," Ross says. "So this extra time, these extra late in the night calls, 'Yo, you heard that mix?' 'Yo, I think we should try this.' 'Oh, we should change this.' 'Let's swap these verses.' That s--- just take us back to 10 years ago when we were getting ready to collaborate on records like 'I'm a Boss.' And now when we come out and perform those records 10 years later, it's still unbelievable at times, the reaction that you get."

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