Big Sean

Russ Shares His Business Advice For Rap Peers Like Big Sean And Wale

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Over the past few years, more rappers than ever have shared their discontent with the modern label system. Most recently, Big Sean pointed out that Kanye apparently still owes him quite a bit from his GOOD Music days, Meek Mill demanded more transparency in the music industry, and Wale explained why he left Roc Nation early in his career. Through all those revelations, one artist has remained steadfast in his belief in his independent hustle — and outspoken in sharing his advice for industry peers.

Russ, who is currently doing promotion for his newly released mixtape Chomp 2, stopped by The Breakfast Club and explained how he financed the new project by taking out a bank loan rather than signing with a label. Using Wale’s 2019 single “On Chill” as an example, he explained how he would go about opening a line of credit to support the track. “Let’s say it’s $250,000… Guess what you can go do. Go get a line of credit… I don’t wanna play with my own money. Even though an advance, they give you a million dollars and spend money at radio, that still ends up being your money. If I get a line of credit from the bank… it’s about time value of money.”

“So with Chomp 2,” he continued. “I have millions of dollars in the bank, I could fund it myself. Why? … Everything on Chomp 2, I’m using the line of credit. I could pay $1,000 for the rest of my life. If the issue is upfront cash… A bank will give y’all millions of dollars.”

Of course, some folks on Twitter pointed out that not everybody has this particular set of options, but Russ was adamant his point was in pursuing alternative funding and maintaining ownership of publishing rights and his music career. Check out some of the reactions to Russ’ advice and his responses below.

Russ’ ‘Chomp 2’ Prepares For Lyrical Warfare With Help From Jadakiss, Wale, Joey Badass, And More

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Russ 2021 Sacramento concert
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Russ rarely takes a break when it comes to releasing music, and after a streak of dropping singles that began over the summer, he’s prepared to end the year on a high note with a brand new album. Russ will drop Chomp 2 on Wednesday, December 8, and hours before he releases it, he shared the tracklist and features. The full-length effort will see contributions from Jadakiss, Snoop Dogg, Jay Electronica, The Game, Big Sean, Wale, Joey Badass, Styles P, Westside Gunn, Lloyd Banks, Ghostface Killah, Papoose, Big K.R.I.T., Ranson, DJ Premier, Hit-Boy, Mozzy, CyHi The Prynce, and more.

Chomp 2 also offers an impressive cast of producers, including 9th Wonder, Hary Fraud, DJ Premier, Hit-Boy, The Alchemist, Statik Selektah, Boi-1da, Bink!

The album comes a year after he released its predecessor. The first Chomp is much shorter, clocking in at six songs and with features from Ab-Soul, Black Thought, Busta Rhymes, Kxng Crooked, Benny The Butcher, and DJ Premier.

Chomp 2 will join a strong cast of singles Russ has released in 2021. They include “On The Way,” “Satisfy,” “Lucky,” “Private,” and “Status.” He’s also worked with Lil Baby and Blxst in addition to teasing a potential joint album with Kehlani.

You can view the tracklist for Chomp 2 in the post above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Best Hip-Hop Projects of 2021

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2021 will be remembered for these projects. Continue reading…

Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2021

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A year full of rising rap newcomers and seasoned vets that delivered a solid soundtrack over the last 12 months. Continue reading…

Everyone’s Parents Had Thoughts About Big Sean’s Thanksgiving Performance

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Big Sean Thanksgiving Day Performance Lion's Game
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As a Detroit native, it makes perfect sense that the recently-free from GOOD Music Big Sean would be the artist tapped to perform a halftime show during today’s Lion’s game, aka their annual Thanksgiving Day showdown against the Chicago Bears. But what performances like this one always seem to evoke, is the best reactions from parents who aren’t normally tuned into the hip-hop world. Plenty of parents are off work and at home with their children on a holiday like today, and it seems that every single one of those otherwise attentive parents had thoughts about just what was going on when Big Sean hit the stage.

In a unique start, Sean began his performance from the stands, surprising fans who were in the area:

Although it might look like they were unenthused by the performance, perhaps they were just surprised? Hell, most of us haven’t been to a massive arena show for a year and a half at this point, so these fans might just be rusty. Or already annoyed because the Lions are, frankly, not doing their best today. However, all the parents at home were letting their kids know their thoughts on the show, and those children took action the only way that makes sense when you’re stuck at home on a holiday — posted it on Twitter. Since Sean brought out his own parents to close out the performance, it’s only right everyone else’s weighs in. Check out some reactions below.

Big Sean And Hit-Boy Deliver An Elegant Performance Of ‘What A Life’ On ‘Fallon’

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Big Sean and Hit-Boy brought their What You Expect EP single “What A Life” to the Tonight Show stage on Thursday with a thrilling, elegant performance. Decked out in matching tailored suits and enjoying a luxurious meal in a stately lounge, the dynamic duo is presented with a mic for Sean and a beat machine atop a grand piano for Hit-Boy. While the performance begins while they’re still seated, they smoothly slide from their well-appointed booth to a makeshift stage in the center of the room, where Sean goes for broke and Hit shows off his finger drumming skills.

The new project, which finds the two frequent collaborators paired up for a full five tracks that demonstrate the breadth and depth of their chemistry, is also the first of Big Sean’s new label venture independent of his past association with Kanye West’s GOOD Music. The timing of its release turned out to be opportune as well, as Ye’s appearance on the Drink Champs podcast just days later found Sean’s onetime mentor throwing him under the bus by saying that signing Sean to GOOD was the “worst thing” he ever did. Sean laughed off his old boss’ digs, although he did point out that Ye still owes him millions from their initial deal.

Instead, Sean and Hit focused on the positive, following up with more videos from the EP, including “The One” and “Chaos,” showing that they’ll both be just fine without help from the mercurial Mr. West.

Watch Big Sean and Hit-Boy’s late-night performance of “What A Life” above.

Big Sean And Hit-Boy Live Amongst ‘Chaos’ In Their Hectic New Video

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Just a year after Big Sean released his fifth album Detroit 2, which is executive produced by Hit-Boy, the duo reconnected once more. The pair dropped their EP What You Expect at the end of last month, and they’ve been promoting it heavily. Their run continues with a new video for “Chaos,” which finds them in the midst of chaos as people run hectically around them and in and out of buildings. The chaos continues throughout the video as fights break out and a number of items get destroyed.

What You Expect, which features Bryson Tiller, 42 Dugg, Babyface Ray, and Lil Durk, is Sean’s first project on his newly-launched label FF To Def Entertainment. He recently tweeted about the new imprint and his departure from Ye’s GOOD Music. “By the way this the first project where I’m on my own label as well,” he wrote. “No more lil dawg sh*t!!!! I bossed up!” After a fan asked if he was still signed to GOOD Music, he replied, “That’s a forever brotherhood, but business-wise, I had to start getting a bigger cut! I worked my way out that deal.”

Ye later threw that relationship into the wind by saying the worst thing he ever did was sign Sean to GOOD Music.

You can watch the video for “Chaos” above.

What You Expect is out now via FF To Def Entertainment/Def Jam. Get it here.

42 Dugg is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Big Sean And Hit-Boy Get Back To Basics In The Picturesque ‘The One’ Video

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At the rate that Big Sean and Hit-Boy are dropping videos for their new EP, What You Expect, they’ll have one for every one of the project’s five tracks by this time next week. The dynamic duo kicked off the rollout for the EP with the eyebrow-raising video for “What A Life” in which Sean allowed himself to be covered in bees. Then, they dropped the “Loyal To A Fault” video featuring Bryson Tiller and Lil Durk, taking over a bowling alley for a private party.

Now, they have followed up with the short-and-simple video for “The One,” which finds the two collaborators working on tracks in a bedroom studio with a view of the hills through a floor-to-ceiling window — honestly, that’s way more inspiring than the usual, dungeon-like setup. Shot in black and white to highlight its simplicity, the video gets straight to the heart of what makes their connection work so well: A shared love for the process of making music, pushing themselves by doing what each does best.

The EP arrived in the midst of a career resurgence for both artists. While Big Sean is no longer on GOOD Music (a good thing, considering how Kanye supposedly feels about the signing) but dropping revitalized music (much of it produced by Hit-Boy), Hit-Boy is also recovering from his negative associations with Ye, once again becoming an in-demand producer for the likes of Nas, Benny The Butcher, and a resurgent Dom Kennedy.

Watch Big Sean and Hit-Boy’s “The One” video above.

What You Expect is out now via Def Jam. Listen to it here.