Russ – “Santiago” review

Russ is a 31 year old rapper, singer/songwriter, producer from Secaucus, New Jersey who dropped off a total of 11 mixtapes on SoundCloud until signing to Columbia Records a couple years later & made his full-length debut in 2017 off There’s Really a Wolf. Quickly becoming one of hip hop’s most polarizing figures in recent memory in the process by being a “fake activist” against drugs & then there’s his infamous 2016 interview with DJ Vlad the culture vulture where he literally said “we need to blame producers for all the wack music today”. His 2018 follow-up ZOO kinda caught my interest due to “The Flute Song”, but the end result of it being taken over by this annoyingly bitter demeanor. Shake the Snowglobe was slightly better & his debut EP CHOMP ended up being his best work so far although it’s because the features & producers carried. Funny enough, the same thing happened on the sequel & more recently the Chomp 2.5 EP this past spring, but is preluding the final installment of the trilogy with a 4th album.

“See You Soon” sets the tone for what’s to come with a half-baked, dreamy R&B ballad promising the woman he loves that he’s gonna see her sooner than later whereas “Smooth” works in a glistening boom bap beat talking about being connected to the truth even though bars like “We in Paris like we spoke French” is kinda cringe. “Fraud” shoots for a more stripped-back sound confessing that he’s lost just before “No More” keeps the acoustics in tact hideously singing about not wanting to cry anymore.

Moving on from there, “Empty” continues to delve further with the wimpy melodic performances over a self-produced guitar lead & hi-hats telling us that’s exactly how he feels inside leading into “I Love You Boy” swaps out the hi-hats for kicks & snares encouraging to run before they kill you referencing former UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko. “Enough” goes for a more sample-based sound feeling recharged & assured that he’s enough, but then “Adventure” starts off with more stripped back guitars talking about he’s not lost & the boom bap switch-up during the last minute or so was an unexpected surprise.

“Oasis” tackles the idea of being in his own refuge over a cloudy instrumental while “Fatima” whips up another trite pop rap ballad with decently bluesy beat. The song “Distracted” incorporates more synthesizers melodically refusing to let anything distract him while the penultimate track “Tunnel Vision” talking about priding oneself over a summers instrumental. “The Wind” though happens to be a 5-minute, hazily-produced closer consisting of him discussing needing his ultimate focus.

I stand by what I said in my CHOMP 2.5 review that that he’s trying to improve himself both artistically & personally, continuing to hope for that down the road. However, I came away from Santiago liking it less than the EP he dropped few months ago. I appreciate how he represents his mental, spiritual, physical & emotional journey to his treasure on here by getting more in depth as to exactly what his treasure is on top of his production showing some improvement. That being said: His songwriting is still mediocre at best & the vocal performances at times (particular his singing) fall flat in my opinion.

Score: 1.5/5

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Russ – “CHOMP 2.5” review

This is the 3rd EP from New Jersey rapper, producer & singer/songwriter Russ. Dropping off a total of 11 mixtapes on SoundCloud from 2011 up to 2014, he wound up signing Columbia Records a couple years later & made his full-length debut in 2017 with There’s Really a Wolf. Quickly becoming one of hip hop’s most polarizing figures in recent memory in the process by being a “fake activist” against drugs & then there’s his infamous 2016 interview with DJ Vlad the culture vulture where he literally said “we need to blame producers for all the wack music today”. His 2018 follow-up ZOO kinda caught my interest due to“The Flute Song”, but the end result of it being taken over by this annoyingly bitter demeanor. Shake the Snowglobe was slightly better & his debut EP CHOMP in 2020 ended up being his best work so far, although it’s because the features & producers carried. Funny enough, the same thing happened on the sequel a year & a half ago. But to prelude the 3rd installment, he’s rockin’ it by himself on CHOMP 2.5.

“Wicked Race”’ is a self-produced opener with no real stand-out lines even though the instrumental that he cooks up here is actually pretty decent whereas “Blow the Whistle” calls this a warmup to CHOMP 3 dropping this summer & even though Statik Selektah’s boom bap production is groovy, bars like “Stand tall like who? Like Tyler” & that he “never had to chase clout or do a bunch of weird shit” when he started to blow by constantly making a narcissistically bitter ass-hat of himself.

The “Buckle Up Freestyle” is more sample-based courtesy of Havoc talking about calling himself out on my bullshit & luckily he picked up, which I’m actually happy to hear him acknowledge that because it takes a real man to own up to his mistakes & don’t have any personal vendetta against the guy whatsoever. “Easy” weaves in some soulful chops from The Alchemist talking about showin’ why no one can fuck with him lyrically even though he literally made a whole fuckin’ tape where the features outshined him although the self-improvement line I felt was sincere.

“Reflection” has a more summery vibe to it thanks to Boi-1da & the melodic delivery that Russ executes here just isn’t doing it for me at all which is a shame considering it’s overall theme of rarely getting a second to put himself first. I don’t mind the reference to 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, former 16-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, 6-time WWE United States Champion, 6-time WWE tag team champion & 9-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair either. “Perfectionist” closes out the EP with a soulful boom bap ballad that 9th Wonder cooked up confessing that he had 32 sessions with a therapist about being a recovering purist although the “in my Depeche Mode” line was cringe.

Although the first 2 installments of the CHOMP series were loaded with guest verses, the fact that Russ took the risk of proving that he doesn’t need features for a project to be good is admirable. However, this is as average as the predecessors. The production is remarkable, but the songwriting & performances from Russ himself are both mid at best. That being said though: I can’t deny that he’s trying to improve himself both artistically & personally and continue to hope for that down the road.

Score: 2.5/5

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Russ – “Chomp 2” review

Russ is a 29 year old rapper, producer & singer/songwriter from Secaucus, New Jersey who’s released a total of 11 mixtapes on SoundCloud from 2011 up to 2014. He wound up signing Columbia Records in 2016 & made his full-length debut the year after with There’s Really a Wolf, quickly becoming one of hip hop’s most polarizing figures in recent memory. Primarily because of being a “fake activist” against drugs & then there’s his infamous 2016 interview with DJ Vlad the culture vulture where he literally said “we need to blame producers for all the wack music today”. His 2018 follow-up ZOO kinda caught my interest due to “The Flute Song”, but the end result of it being taken over by this annoyingly bitter demeanor. Shake the Snowglobe was slightly better & his debut EP CHOMP last year ended up being his best work so far, although it’s because the features & producers carried. But to close out the year, Russ bringing an all-star cast of well-respected names for his 12th mixtape.

“Sheep” kicks off the whole thing with a skeletal boom bap beat from Jake One with fake woke lyrics attached onto it whereas “Blue Chip” works in a groovy mR. pOrTeR instrumental & Ransom’s verse at the backend is more aggressive than Russ’ at the start. “Bucket Hat Low” has some cool background vocals & Papoose’s verse starts it off well, but Russ’ signature narcissistic attitude at the end straight up kills it. Hi-Tek provides a more west coast sound for “Nothin’ New” where The Game’s wordplay is really the star of it all leading into the soulful “Salute” produced by 9th Wonder which starts off with a mediocre verse, but then Styles P & Westside Gunn pick it back up talking about being undisputed.

Meanwhile on “Faith”, we have Jadakiss accompanying Russ to encourage trusting yourself even though the beat is plain as fuck just before the DJ Premier-laced “Free” goes into boom bap turf talking about being only human as Big K.R.I.T. & WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg dominate it. “Top of the World” with Jay Electronica has an airy Harry Fraud beat serving as a cool victory lap referencing the current 2-time WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns whose late brother Rosey was a former FMWハードコアタッグチームチャンピオン& WWE Tag Team Champion, but then “Note to Self” feels like a microwaved leftover from Big Sean’s latest EP What You Expect? down to the Hit-Boy instrumental.

“Hustler” is basically a short yet decent freestyle with a more interesting Jake One beat while “Distance” has a NASTY boom bap instrumental from The Alchemist taking shots at their doubters even though it doesn’t sound like Conway the Machine or Ghostface Killah are throwing a temper tantrum on wax. The song “Get It” fuses some dusty drums & pianos with the help of Statik Selektah motivating listeners with CyHi the Prynce & Lloyd Banks’ verses not sounding forced while the penultimate track “Enjoy the View” has an explosive Bink! beat & Russ keeps up with Mozzy talking about letting the success continue to roll in. “Golden” then ends the album with a wintery Boi-1da instrumental addressing people turning on him & the hook is just atrocious.

I will say that this tape is better than it’s predecessor, but by a small margin. Much like the first Chomp, the features & production are all A1. However, it’s Russ’ actual songwriting & performances that bog it down. Like it’s cool for him to bring these bigger names on board, but they shouldn’t have to carry a whole project from him or anyone. Out of touch old heads will still eat it up though.

Score: 2.5/5

Russ – “Chomp” review

This is the brand new surprise EP from New Jersey rapper, singer/songwriter & producer Russ. After releasing a total of 11 mixtapes on SoundCloud from 2011 up to 2014, he wound up signing Columbia Records in 2016 & made his full-length debut the next year with There’s Really a Wolf. However, the dude became one of hip hop’s most polarizing figures in recent memory because of being a “fake activist” against drugs & then there’s his infamous 2016 interview with DJ Vlad the culture vulture where he literally said “we need to blame producers for all the wack music today”. His 2018 follow-up ZOO kinda caught my interest due to “The Flute Song”, but the end result of it being taken over by this annoyingly bitter demeanor. This was followed up at the beginning of the year with Shake the Snowglobe which was SLIGHTLY better but now, he’s celebrating his freedom from Columbia by dropping CHOMP.

The EP begins with “Stockholm Syndrome”, where Russ & KXNG CROOKED talk about how they’re playing a whole nother game over a dreary string-laced beat. The next song “Who Wants What?” with Ab-Soul sees the 2 looking for people to challenge them over a ghostly beat while the track “Inside Job” gets in an ugly egocentric mood over a luxurious beat from DJ Premier. The song “Line ‘Em Up” with Busta Rhymes finds the 2 talking about knocking out their competition over a boom bap instrumental from The Alchemist with a hypnotic sample while the closer “Momentum” with Black Thought & Benny the Butcher sees the trio talking about how far they’ve all come over a soulful beat from 9th Wonder.

I can honestly say this EP is the best thing Russ has done yet. However, it’s still very much a mixed bag in my personal opinion. He is consistently outshined by the amount of legendary features & guest producers on every single joint throughout, as Russ’ own rapping & production are all still mediocre at best. All the Mountain Dew chugging “real hip hop” elitists & out-of-touch old heads will probably eat this up though because to them, getting all these iconic names whom I respect A LOT automatically makes it a “classic”

Score: 2.5/5

Russ – “Shake the Snow Globe” review

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Russ is a 26 year old rapper, producer & singer/songwriter from Secaucus, New Jersey who’s released a total of 11 mixtapes on SoundCloud from 2011 up to 2014. He wound up signing Columbia Records in 2016 & made his full-length debut a year after with There’s Really a Wolf, quickly becoming one of hip hop’s most polarizing figures in recent memory. Primarily because of being a “fake activist” against drugs & then there’s his infamous 2016 interview with DJ Vlad the culture vulture where he literally said “we need to blame producers for all the wack music today”. His 2018 follow-up ZOO kinda caught my interest due to “The Flute Song”, but the end result of it being taken over by this annoyingly bitter demeanor. However, my morbid curiosity got the best of me for this new album based on the features & the production credits. Will he finally wow me? Let’s find out.

The opener “NEED A MINUTE” is actually ok as Russ talks about what he’s achieved so far over this mellow acoustic instrumental & while the following song “GUESS WHAT” has a vibrant instrumental from Boi-1da, the bragging on here is more egotistical than charming & the Rick Ross verse is pretty weak. “A LOT MORE” also produced by Boi-1da has a more woozier sound to it with Russ’ verses about having more to accomplish sounding completely genuine & while I can appreciate the uptempo beat on “CAN’T GO ON”, it’s theme about breaking up with this woman is melodramatic to me. The song “ASSHOLE” is a temper tantrum about why people don’t like him similar to that on ZOO backed with a redundant Bugus verse whereas the track “NIGHTTIME” is less of an interlude & more of a poorly-delivered relationship ballad. Then there’s the Kiana Ledé-duet “ALL TO YOU”, which is reminiscent to MGK & Camila Cabello’s “Bad Things”.

The alcohol anthem “SHOTS” doesn’t have the invigorating delivery that I’d normally expect on songs like these despite the vibrant !llmind instrumental & despite the cloudy production on “PATIENCE”, it truly lives up to its title as it delivers more patience-testing relationship melodrama. Not only is “I THOUGHT YOU GOT ME” is about how this woman is unlike any other over a skeletal instrumental, but even Benny the Butcher’s verse on here isn’t all that good & this is coming from someone who’s been praising Griselda’s music for years. Devin the Dude easily has the best feature on the entire album on the song “FOOT ON THE GAS”, which is a decent tune about living life to the fullest. The acoustic/boom bap infused “MOMMA” is a tribute to Russ’ mother that sounds like it comes from the heart & despite the bouncy instrumental on the penultimate track “CIVIL WAR”, the whole comparison of a relationship to a civil war is just corny to me. Then it finishes with “BEST ON EARTH” with BIA, which is another “Bad Things” rip-off.

While it is titled Shake the Snow Globe, it’s not really rocking my world at all. There are aspects about this album that I enjoy more than previous efforts like how he brought some more outside producers to the table as well as more features, nothing about him continues to stick out to me. Especially as a performer & songwriter. I really don’t get how he rips on the current state of hip hop for being too materialistic when he‘s made gotten materialistic on cute himself in the past, including on this album. And while I‘m not against pop rap or love songs AT ALL, I just can’t imagine his take on it getting anyone in that mood.

Score: 1.5/5

Russ – “ZOO” review

Russ is a 25 year old rapper, producer & singer/songwriter from Secaucus, New Jersey. He’s released a total of 11 mixtapes on SoundCloud from 2011 up to 2014, eventually landing a contract with Columbia Records in 2016. He made his full-length debut last year with There’s Really a Wolf & within the past 16 months since that release, he has become one of hip hop’s most polarizing figures in recent memory. Primarily because of being a “fake activist” against drugs & then there’s an unignorable interview resurfaced from 2016 where he literally said “we need to blame producers for all the wack music today”. All of that aside, I‘ve decided to give this sophomore album of his a fair chance.

Things actually start off with “The Flute Song”, where Russ talks about doing whatever he wants when he wants over a flute-tinged trap beat from Scott Storch. It’s actually not bad at all, but I really just don’t understand why an immensely talented keyboardist & producer like Scott has been collaborating with Russ so much lately. The next track “Outlaw” compares himself to just that over a soulful boom bap beat from Russ himself (who of course produces the rest of the album solely) while the song “Kill Them All” is essentially a temper tantrum in response to the backlash he has received with a generically gritty trap beat & a WWE reference.

“Missing You” is a painful breakup anthem with an acoustic trap beat while the song “Voicemail” is basically him begging this girl to get back to him over an acoustic boom bap beat. The track “Parkstone Drive” is about never giving up over a laidback instrumental while the song “Begging You” is basically Russ telling himself to staying strong over a somber yet punchy beat. The hook is hilarious bad, too.

The track “Serious” is a simp anthem with a moody instrumental while the song “Keep My Wits” egotistically talks about his success over a nondescript beat. The track “Our Time” talks about a long distance relationship over some plinky keys & hard hitting drums while the song “From a Distance” tells this woman to look for someone who has more free time over something Drake would’ve sung over on VIEWS.

“Last Forever” is about longevity over some rich keys & faint hi-hats, but the only things that give it credit are the verses from Snoop Dogg & Rick Ross. The song “Keep It Pushin’” is a sappy description of a teenage relationship with a moody beat & the closer “Fuck That” is another temper tantrum over a beat that generically sounds like something Dr. Dre would’ve produced in the early 2000s.

This is slightly better than anything he’s done before, but that’s not saying much. The production is basic & when Russ isn’t telling melodramatic relationship stories, he’s either being self-centered or lashing out in a fit of bitter rage.

Score: 1/5