Did Russ Bring Back Soul Samples With This Beat?

 

The “What They Want” MC previewed a beat on Twitter. The response was divisive.

If you’re a fan of sample-driven beats, Atlanta-via-New Jersey rapper Russ may have just what you’re looking for. On Wednesday, he took to Twitter to preview a new track he’s working on.

Rap Twitter reacted as only it could. Harshly. Some compared the beat to EA Sports’ NBA Street Vol. 2 menu music. Another twitter user said the production reminded them of “the transition music from MTV Cribs.”

Bandana MC Freddie Gibbs quoted the tweet. Apparently Russ hadn’t heard of the Gary, Indiana MC’s two projects with Madlib.

Atlanta producer/rapper Childish Major responded with some advice.

Unfortunately for Childish Major, his advice wasn’t exactly received in good spirits.

And Childish Major maintains it was all in good fun.

READ: Metro Boomin Calls Russ “Wack in Spirit” After He Insults Producers

Fortunately, Russ took the jokes in stride.

This period of shelter-at-home orders and self-isolation has given Russ more time to cook up tracks all on his own.

Russ made headlines back in 2017 after insulting the state of production in hip-hop. In an interview with VladTV, he blamed producers for the “state of hip-hop.”

READ: Russ Officially Announces His “I See You Tour Part 1” For North America

“People think that you blame the rappers for the state of hip-hop,” he told Vlad. “Rappers are not making the music. You gotta blame the producers. If all I do is rap, I’m a vocalist. If a producer sends me a pack of 20 beats, and they’re all wack and all sound the same, I’m just fucked. I gotta pick the best of the worst.”

Many producers, most notably Metro Boomin, took offense to the comments. It now appears that Russ is taking matters into his own hands.