![]() ![]() Someone like NBA YoungBoy will make a million in a month. Whatever albums you have left, put them out ASAP and get out of the f–ing deal, then go indie and flood with three or fours albums on a Tunecore-type service or any digital distributor. It’s sad but my advice to him would be to not renegotiate the deal, don’t sign off for more albums. It’s a business, they don’t have to give you back shit. At the end of the day, When you don’t own your stuff, people can say no. NBA YoungBoy recently posted that he tried to give his label four free albums in exchange for his masters. Now that I have money because of my independent catalog, I am the label. Radio’s easy, you hire an independent radio promoter. I can post directly to my fans, I can shoot videos myself. Why wouldn’t you sign again?īecause I don’t need to. But if you get a good deal and you keep your masters, and it’s not a long crazy, insane violation of your time - you’re not signed to 10 albums, and if you can be in and out and still be relevant and maintain your ownership - it’s not a terrible idea. It was a different time then: Apple Music didn’t even come out till 2015 Spotify wasn’t booming like that. I got to meet a lot of people in high places. ![]() I had leverage, I still maintained and owned my independent catalog throughout the whole deal. I partnered because it was time to experience that side of the game, I’m glad I did because I got a good deal. Some of your fans were critical of your signing with a major in the first place. It’s a new decade, I’m trying to have a new batch of 20 to 30 songs my fans are crazy about. I have an extensive independent catalog, but now it’s 2020. What do you hope to obtain going independent?Ī refreshment of a catalog. You’re no longer with Columbia, what happened? I felt like the s–t I feel like the shit. I’m wild now, but I was way wild back then. It was me, Sickamore, my manager, and I was sitting in his seat in his office. We were doing the meeting in Epic, in little room. The lyrics reference Sony Music CEO Rob Stringer and former Epic Records A&R executive Sickamore - “In the meeting with Epic / I sat in Sickamore’s seat / That was 2016, though, now I need Rob Stringer’s job / CEO of the whole s–t / I’m on some boss s–t” - what’s the story behind it? As far as this song’s concerned, I’m getting these raps off to remind people. If you want to hear a hook, go listen to my other s–t. Me and my friends call them rant tracks: two or three minutes of bars. What was the thinking behind gassing through the verse and not adding a hook?Īs a fan, I always enjoy those songs where it’s just you blowing up. I wrote it on the way a compilation of notes in my phone - periodic, random lines and just bars - put them all together and turn it into a rap song. We were in Jordan on the way to the Dead Sea, it was a three-hour drive. I actually made it last summer so I’ve been sitting on it for a bit. Tell us about the genesis of your new single, “Live From The Villa.” “I know the world’s burning to the ground, does anyone want some tequila?” It’s crazy. Then you see somebody like Lil Baby drop “The Bigger Picture” and it goes crazy. ![]() I noticed people right in the thick of this s–t dropping club songs, and they weren’t resonating. … I will say that, earlier on, it felt a little tone-deaf to me to be dropping certain songs. I’m fortunate because I learned early on that it’s important to have a home studio setup. I always had the studio in my house so I can roll out of bed, feel creative, walk downstairs and go to the studio. How has your creativity adapted to COVID-19? He’s also newly independent, having fulfilled his contract with the Sony Music label, and releasing new music, like the just-released “Live From the Villa,” as Russ revealed in an interview with Variety. New Jersey-born, Atlanta-bred artist Russ first came onto the scene in 2015 with the track “What They Want,” an underground hit that led him a major label deal with Columbia Records and the release of his platinum-certified debut, “There’s Really a Wolf.”īut it was a major cosign from Rihanna, who shouted out his “Best On Earth” - with the lyrics: “She knows what the f– is up / I don’t gotta dumb it down / Tatted like Rihanna / P–y singing like it’s Run The Town” - as her “new fav song” to more than 80 million Instagram followers, that truly launched him into the Zeitgeist.Ī prolific writer who hails from a musical household, Russ’ rap and R&B-flavored tracks have contributed in no small part to his ever-growing fanbase, but the 27-year-old born Russell James Vitale is also a published author, community activist and philanthropist. ![]()
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