Russ

The Music World Shares Their Condolences After The Tragic Shooting At Texas’ Robb Elementary School

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Texas Elementary School Shooting 2022
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On Tuesday, The United States was once again hit with news of a mass shooting, and this time, it sadly occurred at an elementary school. An 18-year-old gunman entered Texas’ Robb Elementary School and began shooting at students and teachers in the building. The suspect, Salvador Ramos, was eventually shot and killed during a stand-off with officers. According to AP, the incident is the deadliest shooting at a U.S. grade school since 20 students and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut back in 2012.

The shooting at Robb Elementary School occurred just ten days after a racially-motivating shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo left ten dead. Unfortunately, both cases are examples of the mass shootings that occurred over and over again in the United States over the last decade. The shooting has left the music world to send condolences and extend a loving hand to a community, and a country, that could really use it.

Taylor Swift offered her words after she watched Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr speak passionately and criticize government leaders during a press conference. “Filled with rage and grief, and so broken by the murders in Uvalde,” Taylor wrote. “By Buffalo, Laguna Woods and so many others. By the ways in which we, as a nation, have become conditioned to unfathomable and unbearable heartbreak. Steve’s words ring so true and cut so deep.”

Missy Elliot also shared a message of her own on Twitter. “We living in some TRYING TIMES… It’s heavy,” she wrote. “I am praying for everyone that is struggling MENTALLY/FINANCIALLY/PHYSICALLY that some PEACE be RESTORED! So many in the world is dealing with pain & I don’t have the answers but I send you LOVE virtually.”

You can view more messages from artists in the posts below.

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

Logic And Russ Clear Their Heads With Some ‘Therapy Music’

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In all the talk about whether Jack Harlow has surpassed Lil Dicky’s career aspirations (and how he definitely surpassed Asher Roth’s), we’ve all been overlooking two very important members of the melanin-challenged rappers’ coalition: Logic and Russ. Fortunately, they’ve both returned to remind us they deserve consideration too — and, happily, they’ve done so on the same track. “Therapy Music” finds the Def Jam lyricist recruiting the indie champion for a throwback, boom-bap production to address their personal mental health journeys with some extremely flexy raps.

Logic particularly sounds revitalized, which is a good thing, since he’s working on a new album called Vinyl Days. If the new track is any indication of the sound on that project, it looks like Logic has been blasting “Lofi Beats To Study To” and collecting his best material to address the backlash against his prior albums. But although he does sound disappointed in the reception to his prior efforts to talk about mental health, he can at least rest easy in the knowledge that those efforts at least had some positive impact.

Meanwhile, Russ, one of Uproxx’s latest cover stars, is launching his own label, seeking yet another route to disrupt the music industry and return power to the hands of the artists.

Listen to Logic’s “Therapy Music” featuring Russ above.

Machine Gun Kelly, Haim, Nas, And More Will Offer $25 Tickets During Live Nation Concert Week

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If festival season is breaking your bank, you can still see your favorite artists on the cheap. Live Nation Concert Week is returning next week, offering $25 concert tickets to see bands and musicians across all genres.

The $25 “all-in” tickets include taxes and fees, so fans won’t have to worry about annoying extra costs. This year’s Concert Week will offer tickets to over 3,700 shows across North America.

Among this year’s artists participating in Live Nation Concert Week are Haim, Machine Gun Kelly, Nas, 070 Shake, Omar Apollo, Russ, H.E.R., Courtney Barnett, and more.

Non-music acts participating in Concert Week are Chelsea Handler, Dave Chappelle, Gabriel Iglesias, Tina Fey, George Lopez, Margaret Cho, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Chris Rock and the queens of Season 14 of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

The sale of $25 tickets begins Wednesday, May 4 and runs until Tuesday, May 10. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Tuesday, May 3. Rakuten members will also have access to this presale, and will receive a special access code in their emails if they sign up for an account by May 1.

The full list of performers is available to view here.

Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Russ Renames Tour ‘THE JOURNEY IS EVERYTHING,’ Announces New DIEMON Signee

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Russ Renames Tour 'THE JOURNEY IS EVERYTHING,' Announces New DIEMON Signee

The JOURNEY IS EVERYTHING TOUR is the new moniker for RUSS’s world tour, which will be supported by collaborator KTYLN.

Russ has just released an extended version of his smash tune “Handsomer,” following the success of his recent “Handsomer” remix release. Two new verses will be included in the expanded version of “Handsomer.” Russ brags about his money and success in “Handsomer,” but is wary of ladies who are solely interested in his fortune. Russ announced his TikTok “Open Verse Challenge” last month, inviting musicians to submit a verse for his February track “Remember.” The “Open Verse Challenge’s” second single, “Handsomer,” saw San Diego native KTLYN win the competition. Russ was so taken with the verse that he requested KTLYN to join him on an official remix, and then went on to praise the freedom of being an independent artist by dropping the remix with KTLYN. The single debuted at #1 on the weekly Digital Song Sales Chart with an increase of 636 percent in sales, sat #1 on Billboard’s Week of March 19th hits, and is currently at #40 on the Billboard Hot 100, climbing 20 ranks in just a week. KTLYN is also the second artist to sign to DIEMON Records, which he founded.

BIA is set to join Russ on the show, fresh off her new hit “London,” and Bugus will also be a part. You can see the full run fo dates below and tap into the more about DIEMON Records here.

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The post Russ Renames Tour ‘THE JOURNEY IS EVERYTHING,’ Announces New DIEMON Signee appeared first on The Source.

Russ and Bugus Team to Launch DIEMON Record Label Focused on Putting the Artist First

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Russ and Bugus have teamed up for the new record label DIEMON. The two independent acts started DIEMON as a collective in Atlanta in 2010. Now that Russ is no longer signed to Columbia Records, he partnered with Bugus for the label, in which the name is an acronym for “Do It Everyday Music or Nothing,” Variety reports. Most recently, Russ released his Chomp 2 album as an independent artist.

“Everyone owns their masters; everyone owns their publishing. We don’t eat on your merch or your tours, and everything’s a profit split deal,” Russ said. “We’re not looking to invest in an artist just to change their music. If we like an artist enough to sign them, it’s because we like what they’re doing. It’s just a super artist-friendly situation, where we’re here to provide resources and mentorship to artists that we believe in.”

“We don’t want to have to chase you around and beg you to come to the studio. We want the kind of artist that we need to pull out of the studio and be like, ‘All right bro, you’ve done five songs tonight, take a break,’” Bugus added. “There’s a lot of rappers who have a label but it’s all rap, or R&B artists have a label and it’s all R&B. We want to be more like the big labels in that sense, where they have Garth Brooks and Lil Wayne and Wizkid from Africa.”

The first signee to DIEMON is LaRussell, a hip-hop star form Vallejo, California. “If you look at what he’s doing with his music, he’s putting out a bunch of content all the time — dropping albums here, dropping songs there. With him I was like, ‘Man, do whatever you wanna do. Whenever you need me, hit me,’” Russ says of LaRussell.

The label is expected to operate with laid-back deadlines and financial transparency. Signed artists will be able to sign into their distribution platform to track their earnins in real time. With the start of his new label, the two hope to spark change across the music industry.

“I hope that artists recognize that they’re the nucleus. They have more power than they realize and there’s alternative ways to win, you don’t have to go the major label way. You don’t have to give up your masters and do all of these really exploitative things,” Russ said.

The post Russ and Bugus Team to Launch DIEMON Record Label Focused on Putting the Artist First appeared first on The Source.

Russ Announces Diemon, His Own ‘Artist-Friendly’ Label, And Reveals Its First Artist

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Russ has often bragged about his ability to find success in the music industry without having to sign a horrible contract with a label. This was a result of his DIY mentality that saw him release 11 albums and 87 songs between December 2011 to August 2014. It eventually led to him signing with Columbia Records in 2016, and the following year, he released his debut album There’s Really A Wolf. Since then, Russ has released three additional full-length projects: 2018’s Zoo, 2020’s Shake The Snow Globe, and last year’s Chomp 2. Now, for his latest endeavor, Russ is aiming to assist aspiring artists.

With help from his best friend and rapper Bugus, Russ has launched his own label called Diemon. The imprint is named after the collective that both Russ and Bugus have been a part of for the last decade. “Everyone owns their masters; everyone owns their publishing,” Russ said to Variety about the label, which he calls “artist-friendly.” “We don’t eat on your merch or your tours, and everything’s a profit split deal. We’re not looking to invest in an artist just to change their music. If we like an artist enough to sign them, it’s because we like what they’re doing.” He added, “It’s just a super artist-friendly situation, where we’re here to provide resources and mentorship to artists that we believe in.”

Russ wants potential artists on the label to understand the inner workings of the music industry as well as that they’re “no suits with no rhythm.” In addition to launching the label, Russ also revealed that its first artist is a California native named LaRussell who he discovered on TikTok.

Russ Remains Steadfast In His Beliefs With The Self-Shot ‘What Are Yall’ Video

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You can probably call Russ a lot of things — stubborn, outspoken, maybe even a little obnoxious — but you absolutely cannot call him wrong about most things, especially his philosophy about the benefits of remaining independent and retaining ownership. He once again touts both — and sends some jabs at his detractors — in his new video for “What Are Y’all,” which he boasted he shot the same day he finished the song in a marathon recording and editing session that he says proves his overall point.

“Made this song at 3 am Thursday,” he said in a note on the video. “Sent it off to Spotify and Apple at 4 pm. Shot the video at 9 pm and just finished editing it. Dreams only work if you do and freedom is priceless.”

Naturally, the video isn’t terribly complex, just featuring Russ posted up in his studio performing the song to the camera while the lyrics display at the bottom of the screen. But the impact is in the substance, not the style, as he challenges his critics using his own accomplishments. “It’s essential I shut up, it’s what ya’ll think right?” he quips. “But standing down never rеally sit right.”

Russ has been on roll this year, dropping a slew of new weekly singles including “Remember,” its remix featuring Hailey Knox, “Real,” and “Handsomer.”

Russ Adds Rising Singer Hailey Knox To His Wistful ‘Remember (Remix)’

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Russ doesn’t often invite other artists to participate in his weekly single releases, but judging from his latest he really should. This week’s release is a remix of last week’s release, “Remember,” adding 22-year-old New York alt-R&B singer Hailey Knox for a crisp second verse that plays off the wistful themes of the original. According to Russ’ Twitter, the “Gucci Prada Balenciaga” singer responded to his open verse challenge and he liked her verse so much, he added it to the song, touting the freedom to do so as another of the benefits of remaining independent.

Knox, who got her start singing acoustic covers of pop hits on social media, grabbed fans’ attention at the end of 2021 with the release of “Gucci Prada Balenciaga,” which flaunted her expensive tastes and became something of a playlist favorite among young fans who scour the internet for up-and-coming talent. A placement on Lyrical Lemonade boosted her profile and with Russ lending her his support, it’s probably only a matter of time until her growing buzz leads to more concrete successes.

While Russ doesn’t often collaborate on his weekly singles, he loves to bounce off other rappers — especially on his recently released album Chomp 2, which expanded the scope of the original EP with appearances by everyone from Big KRIT to Snoop Dogg to Westside Gunn. He also teased a possible duets album with Kehlani, which would be another great outcome for his 2022.

Listen to the “Remember (Remix)” featuring Hailey Knox above.