Russ has revealed that failing to properly clear a sample for a 2015 song led to him having to cough up nearly $1 million for the rights.
Speaking on the And the Writer Is… podcast, Russ revealed that his mega hit “Losin Control” featured a sample he failed to get correct clearance for until the song blew up.
He said: “I got fucked with that song. Because I forgot to clear the sample until after it was like four times platinum. I probably could have cleared it in 2015 when I made it. But I didn’t know anyone in 2015. I’m just a kid in a basement. But I probably could have cleared it back then for $5,000.”
Russ added: “The song comes out, goes on the album, I forget about it to the point where I’m like, ‘I don’t even remember if I sampled that.’ And then I was like, Oh fuck, I did…So the sample holder came…So I had to cut a check for like $850,000. It was an expensive fuck up.”
“Losin Control”, which ended up going eight times platinum in the US, sampled Oneohtrix Point Never’s “Behind the Bank”.
The popular dance artist has never commented on the sample issue.
Russ recently criticized the alleged glamorization of substance abuse in Hip Hop.
Talking to Aria Nejati on his Apple Music show, the New Jersey native revisited his controversial post from 2017 where he shared a photo of himself rocking a shirt that read, “How much Xans and Lean do you have to do before you realize you’re a fucking loser.”
“That shit needed to be said. Somebody within that space needed to call out the glorification of substance abuse – especially from a social media standpoint,” he said.
“Just [how people are] trying make it look cool to people and not understanding the responsibility and even within the music, not understanding the impact and influence you have over kids. I’m not saying I’m the perfect role model, but I just think as an artist, you can either inspire people to self destruct or you can inspire people to self improve.”
He added: “And I think a lot of the music coming out right is inspiring you to self destruct. It’s the glorification of self-destruction.”
Who listens to this dude? I always see his name, but I’ve never heard his music or know anyone who listens to him.
Industry stank ass plant
Russ is hip hop puss from the boil of the industry, utter dogs dropping
Just always hate and negative comments. People are so jealous. Keep killing it Russ
Nah, he’s dumpster juice. He ain’t hip hop
This sample BS is outta control. I grew up in the 90s before those laws existed when they used to sample the shit out of disco and funk. And that was actual sampling of a recording. Now it seems like if you say more than 3 words (in your own voice) that happened to be used in another song you never heard, its considered a “sample”. Make that make sense.
This is retarded,