Caught up with RUSS on his London stop of his predominantly sold-out ‘The Manifest Tour’ across Europe. The self-proclaimed ‘DIY pioneer’/triple-threat gives us an insight into his background; born in New Jersey, was taught the guitar by his grandfather at age 13 and first being into 50 Cent and Eminem while growing up in Atlanta.

Before his music even hit Soundcloud, which he claims is “the new radio”, RUSS put out 11 albums stating that “one day is a month” in the scheme of the internet based music industry, thus “consistency is key”.

He tells a story about purposefully being in the same studio complex (Treesound) as Drake and Future when they recorded ‘What A Time To Be Alive’, in the hope of bumping heads! These would be the only people that RUSS would get in the studio with because “no one is that great anymore” to level up with the quality of his music. A collaboration with the legend Gucci Mane would not be refused however, as he is the real Trap god that every modern rapper stemmed from.