Russ is bringing his streak of consistency straight into the new year. After treating fans with weekly drops like “Bet,” “Last Night,” “That Was Me,” “Too Much,” and “Home,” the New Jersey-born artist returned today (Jan. 6) with “PUT YOU ON GAME.” On the track, he flows over a sample he chopped up of a classic Japanese record from the ’70s (a process he further explained on his Instagram):
“Lemme put you on game (C’mon), don’t listen to people who lose, or you’ll do the same (F**k y’all doin’?)/ Stop talkin’ to people who don’t give a f**k what you say (Stop talkin’), stop spendin’ your money on weed, go hop on a plane (Stop)/ Stop pointin’ the finger and start takin’ some of the blame, lemme put you on game (Yeah)”
Back in April of 2022, Russ unveiled his most recent body of work, If Not Now, When? That project was a follow-up to December’s Chomp 2, the sequel to the well-received 2020 EP of the same name. The first Chomp came with 14 songs and collaborations alongside Jadakiss, Ransom, Papoose, The Game, Styles P, Westside Gunn, Snoop Dogg, Wale, Jay Electronica, Hit-Boy, and more. Since then, he has dropped some charting hits like “Take You Back” with Kehlani and “Ugly” with Lil Baby.
In a recent interview, the “Best On Earth” rapper delved into how he maintains such a strong fan base. “Man, fan engagement is everything,” he said. “My fans really ride for me because I feel like I ride for them. We talk, I go on IG Live a lot, and I respond to a lot of their DMs. I want them to feel like they know me and it’s someone they’re close to that they know because they root for you more, you know what I mean?”
Be sure to press play on “PUT YOU ON GAME” by Russ along with the aforementioned Instagram post about the Japanese sample down below.