Rapper RICK ROSS has hit out an image depicting him as a young correctional officer, insisting it has been digitally altered.

A photograph of the hip-hop star allegedly wearing an officer's uniform in an unnamed prison threatened to discredit his reputation as a gritty street rapper after it was posted on gossip website MediaTakeOut.com on Monday (14Jul08).

But Ross is adamant the photo has been doctored, blaming the tampering on graphic artists envious of his success.

He tells AllHipHop.com, "My life is 100 per cent real. These online hackers putting a picture of my face when I was a teenager in high school on other peoples' body. If this s**t was real don't you think they would have more specifics, like dates and everything?

"I'm in the entertainment business and a lot of people like to hate because I'm on top of my game.

"Like I said before my life is 100 per cent real. I live by this, die by this. Fake pictures are created by the fake, meant to entertain the fake."