Suit: Grayscale, Shirt: Dzojchen

Talent: Russ
Photography, Creative Direction, and Production by: Mike Ruiz
Editor-in-Chief: Dimitri Vorontsov
Stylist: Joy Bridges
Tailor: Ricco Thomas
Grooming: Tracy Love
Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Blazer/Pants/Shirts: Dzojchen, Shoes: Ermenegildo Zegna Couture

Dimitri: When did you start playing around with the beats?

Russ: It was really freshman year of high school. When I was 14, I started making beats just messing around. That was the inception of it all.

Dimitri: What was one of the first pieces of equipment that you ever picked up? Was it software or hardware?

Russ: Back then, I was just using GarageBand. I didn’t know anything about producing. GarageBand comes with a bunch of loops. First, I started out putting together loops from GarageBand, then I started playing my own instruments and doing my own drums and stuff like that. I was using just whatever GarageBand had. I hadn’t even gotten into the world of downloading drum kits and finding 808 and things like that. I wasn’t even in that world yet.

Dimitri: That’s pretty cool. At which point did you decide that you’re better off as an indie artist?

Russ: I did a partnership with Columbia Records for 3 albums. I always maintain my independence. Even while I was partnering with them, I had a indie catalog that they didn’t touch, they couldn’t eat off of, they didn’t make money off those. Then the decision to just go fully back independent came 2020, and it just made sense, because the juice wasn’t really worth the squeeze anymore, being with a record label. They weren’t doing anything that I couldn’t do for myself. I was like, “All right, well, I should just believe this doesn’t make any sense anymore.”

Dimitri: How did you come about starting your own label? Did you do it by yourself? Was it your own venture, or did you decided to partner up with anyone?

Russ: Yes. Me and Bugus who is– I’ve known him since we were 12 years old.
We started D-I-E-M-O-N, Do It Everyday Music Or Nothing. We started DIEMON when we were 17, just as a website to put our music on, and as a brand, and it grew into its whole own thing, pretty organically. Fans getting the logo tattooed, et cetera. Earlier this year, we were like, “I think it’s time. We should start the label.” That’s what we did.

Dimitri: How do you feel about pressing some of your music or your artists on vinyl?

Russ: Vinyl is becoming a really big thing. People are buying more vinyl now than CDs, I think, for the first time. Don’t quote me on that. Yes. Vinyls are awesome, at this point. We’re just trying to let the artists that we have signed just develop and do their own thing. We’re just here to help them, guide them, and provide resources when they need them. For the most part, I always just really think that a label’s job is to be there to support the artist and whatever the artist is trying to do. Other than that, get out of the way.

Shoes: Sebago, Jacket/Pants: Dzojchen

Dimitri: Do you have a memorable experience hearing your song played out in public?

Russ: I remember one time I was in LA, I was in Santa Monica, and I was with my mom and we were going out somewhere and we get into the car and the radio was on and one of my songs was playing on the radio right when we walked into the car. That was awesome. You know what’s funny? My mom gets more of a kick out of it than I do. When my song gets played on the radio out here– when she knows I have a song at radio, she keeps it on the station or just two stations and she goes back and forth between the two all day just to hear my songs. [chuckles]

Dimitri: That’s amazing. You have an Italian background, right? Your family is from Sicily?

Russ: My mom is Neapolitan and Calabrian and then my dad is Sicilian.

Dimitri: You have a track, Handsomer. I watched the video, man, and absolutely love it. Tiffany Haddish, she’s so good. The last minute with Snoop, it’s just brilliant, man. What inspired you?

Russ: Thank you. That song came together just– really honestly I was just having a lot of fun and I was just not taking myself serious and just having fun. A lot of times– not a lot of times, but sometimes in the studio and with songs, I’m trying to write about something really, really personal and introspective or I’m trying to write about a theme that I think is really going to help people and stuff like that.
It was nice to just go in there and just be like, “I just have a funny, silly idea.” I had that first line and I was like, “Let me just build off of that in the studio and just have fun with it and see where it goes.” That’s what happened with that song. It speaks really to having the studio in your house and the freedom of just being able to experiment and do whatever.

Dimitri: Absolutely, not so many artists would dare going and have a fun song especially about, wow, not yourself but just in general about being an artist really or the position being in. yes. It’s really daring and it’s really good that you actually just went, “Oh, well, I’ll do it this way, because it came out really well, man.”

Russ: I think that it helped that I put out so much music because my fans, at this point, they know not to get married to any specific sound or song. I don’t have that fear, that crippling fear that some artists have, where they can’t put out a song because they’re scared about how it’s going to be received. They know there was a label, they can’t just– if they put out a song that maybe isn’t received so well they got to wait six more months or three more months to put out another one and by that time people might have moved on.
For me, I put out so much music that, okay, if you didn’t like this one, chances are within two weeks you’re probably getting another one anyway. They don’t really give a fuck.

Dimitri: That’s cool man. To me it’s– Handsomer is the continuation of Goodbye, the two tracks have a good flow.

Russ: Interesting. I haven’t heard that one before. That’s cool.

Dimitri: You have some really dope tracks The Flute Song, Yes Sir, recently What They Want. My favorite is What They Want.

Russ: Classic classic. Thanks, man.

Dimitri: How did you get Tiffany Haddish to do music video?

Russ: We bumped into her at an Oscars party. Which was really why– and then some people I was with tracked down her agent and then got me and Tiffany on the phone and she was just super down and she was such a pleasure to work with. She was professional and she was just so down for the idea. She wasn’t like, “Oh, I can only be here for an hour, and y’all better just figure it out.” She was there the whole fucking day.

Dimitri: You have a world tour coming up at end of August.

Russ: Trust me, once I’m on tour, I’m looking to go home. Touring takes a lot out of me. This the last year for, I don’t know for how long, but it’s the last year for a minute where I’m going to do tours like this. I just came off a North American tour and now the overseas tour and then doing just the whole world. It’s just a lot. It’s a lot. I’m going to just let the demand build up again. Next year, probably, just take a breather, still put out music next year, but from touring, I’m going to just chill.

Blazer: Brioni, Pants: Brioni

Dimitri: You sold out at the Hollywood Bowl. I used to live in LA so I know how big that place is, that’s impressive.

Russ: Thank you.

Dimitri: Is that the most memorable experience when you performed there?

Russ: Hollywood Bowl was really insane. That’s definitely one of the craziest– it’s the biggest show I ever done so it’s pretty insane.

Dimitri: Who’s your biggest inspiration when it comes to making music?

Russ: Honestly, at this point, I don’t know, man. Honestly, what inspires me is my potential, that’s what inspires me. I get very excited about progress and the idea of being better.

Dimitri: Who were you listening to growing up?

Russ: Listening to growing up was Eminem, Drake, Kanye, J Cole, Nipsey, Kid Cudi, 50 Cent, Asle, DMX, John Mayer.

Dimitri: How about you now collaborating with those guys these days?

Russ: Every time I get a chance to work with anyone that like I looked up to, it’s always a pretty wild experience. Even just meeting some of these people, it’s great, man. My life is blessed.

Dimitri: When do you get a kick to work? When do you get inspired?

Russ: Kind of all over the place. I don’t have a routine. No, hell no. Hell no, I don’t have a routine. [chuckles] That’s part of the beauty of being completely free, it’s not like I wake up and clock in.

Dimitri: I prefer at night, I’m a night person.

Russ: I like nighttime. I used to only record at nighttime, but now that it’s in my house, I don’t know. I might walk down there right now which is– it’s 4:20 in the afternoon. It just depends. That’s the perks of having it in the house is it’s always right there. I’ll pop in and out all throughout the day. At night, I usually end up in there, but I’ll be there in the daytime too. It’s all just all over the place.

Jacket: Musika

Dimitri: What equipment– what’s your most used these days when it comes to software or do you still use some hardware as well? What’s your favorite equipment that you prefer these days?

Russ: My favorite equipment is my mic. The Sony C-800. That’s my baby right there.

Dimitri: Excellent. How long did it take you to build your studio at your house?

Russ: Too long man, too long.

Dimitri: Still in the process?

Russ: No, I’ve been done. They just took way too long with it, man but– I don’t know. How long did it take? Eight months, nine months, something like that. It took a minute. It took a long time.

Dimitri: That’s cool. You have a track with Ed Sheeran, Are You Entertained Can you tell us about that single.

Russ: That’s a hit. That’s what that is. [laughs] I’m excited, man. I’m excited because it’s a really big moment for me. I’m very aware of how big of a moment it is and how special of a moment it is. You’re talking about someone you listened to growing up. Ed Sheeran is one of those guys and just to be able to work with him is such a honor and he’s just the coolest guy ever, the nicest guy ever. The song is incredible. Yes, man. I’m amped. I’m so excited for it.

Dimitri: How did this collaboration come into play? How did you meet him?

Russ: I’m so grateful for this moment. I walked up to Ed at a restaurant (Carbone) and assumed he didn’t know who I was. Just wanted to introduce myself and say what’s up. Next thing I know I’m eating pasta and drinking wine at his table talkin bout everything. Fast forward and we had this song and we wanted to shoot a video to it so he introduced me to Jamal Edwards, a brilliant visionary and special soul who wrote the treatment for the video. We went back and forth on ideas and we were all super excited. The day before we were supposed to fly out to London we got the tragic news that Jamal had passed away. I had never met Jamal other than those emails but I can tell he was a special person. The way Ed, Jamal’s mother Brenda, his sister Tanisha, the director Jake Nava, the producer Ali and everyone else who worked on this rallied together and still wanted to make Jamal’s vision come to life, showed the impact he had. All I wanted to do was make sure I did my part in facilitating making his exact treatment come to life.

Dimitri: Aside your record label, you’re an entrepreneur. It’s pretty much given if you want to control your own sound. I’ve read that you actually starting a haircare company?

Russ: It’s something that I naturally do and I use hair products. My fans, since I got on and relevant and got fans, they’ve been asking every day, “Drop the hair care routine. What’s the hair care routine?” I’m proud of myself for having the foresight to be like, “You know what? I shouldn’t say anything until I have my own because then I will tell you all every day what my hair care is and it’ll just be mine.” [chuckles] That was the philosophy.

Dimitri: Are you going to drop it this year or is it going to be– when are you launching in?

Russ: That’s the plan, man. We’ve just been trying to get the formula right for the past two years.

Turtleneck: Officine Générale

Dimitri: I’m really curious what made that kick for you as an entrepreneur?

Russ: I think for me, it’s anything I’m naturally passionate about or anything I naturally do on a day-to-day basis, I want to just create my own. Started with music. I naturally listened and loved music, so I wanted to make my own. With the book that I wrote, I’ve read self-help books that really helped me out in life so I was like, “I want to write my own.” Now with the hair care, same thing.
I’m not so much one of those people who it’s like, I’m just trying to do as many things to make as much money as possible. It’s really just, I’m really only trying to get into things that I naturally do anyway.

Dimitri: What message do you want to give to your fans?

Russ: The message, I think, is always self-belief. That’s the underlying theme that I think is just the most important message I could give them.

Dimitri: Do young artists reach out to you or you just meet through the collaborations and stuff? How do people approach you?

Russ: We just find them on the internet. That’s what we do.

Dimitri: Oh, really? Okay, cool. You do give a lot of up-and-coming artists a platform?

Russ: Yes, for sure.

Dimitri: Basically, if you hear some unknown artist and you go, “Oh man, that’s really dope track,” so you just reach out to him and say, “We want it.”

Russ: Yes. That’s it, man.

Shirt/Pants: Dzojchen, Boots: Scarosso

Dimitri: With your track, with Handsomer, it’s in collaboration with Ktlyn, how did you guys meet to get on that track?

Russ: TikTok.

Dimitri: Oh, you reached out on TikTok or she did?

Russ: She did. That’s how the Handsomer song came about. That’s how the remix came together. She did a reverse on TikTok to my open verse challenge that I posted for Handsomer and it just went crazy on there and put her on the official remix and that was that.

Dimitri: Oh wow. She did a remix and you basically going like, “Oh wow, that’s awesome and let’s get her in.”

Russ: Yes.

Dimitri: You don’t hear that with the big labels and stuff.

Russ: No, of course not.

Dimitri: That’s impressive because people don’t believe in others these days at all, so it’s a problem.

Russ: I agree, man.

Dimitri: I just feel like mostly people just– too up themselves. They don’t really care about anyone else besides their own enrichment and that’s pretty much it. That’s good to see that you’re actually doing something for your fans and also for the up-and-comers because it’s rare. It’s super rare.

Russ: Yes.

Dimitri: That’s massive big ups to you for taking care of the next generation.

Russ: Thanks, man. Hell, yes. Got to.

Dimitri: if you would have a chance to give your younger self advice, what advice would you give?

Russ: I would tell my younger self to be patient with everything and I would also tell him to master discipline for sure.

Dimitri: How was your photoshoot with Mike Ruiz?

Russ: It was really good, man. He’s amazing.

Suit: Grayscale, Shirt: Dzojchen

Dimitri: Do you have any hobbies or anything that you like doing outside music?

Russ: I like to play basketball. I like to play pool. I like to watch movies. I like to play video games and I like to just chill, man, read, work out. It’s really reading, working out, watching TV, playing video games, and kicking it with my dog when making music. That’s it right there.

Dimitri: That’s good. What else do you want to accomplish when it comes to your career? You’re really good in your video as an actor.

Russ: Thank you. [chuckles]

Dimitri: Would you ever go like, “Okay, well let’s act now”

Russ: Yes, I definitely want to get into more acting stuff. It was challenging and fun, so I’m down.

Dimitri: You looked really natural in front of the camera. Of course, you have a lot of experience as a musician.

Russ: Acting was– that was a different world right there. That was hard. [laughs] It wasn’t necessarily so hard. It was a little nerve-racking.

Dimitri: You look really natural.

Russ: Thanks, man. I appreciate that.

Dimitri: Do you have a message to your fans who will be reading this interview?

Russ: Just that I’m very excited for this Ed Sheeran collab. I appreciate all the love. I hope everyone believes in themselves. Thank to you and Mike Ruiz and everyone on your side who wanted to take the time to get to know me and do a photo shoot with me and ask me questions. I’m grateful man.