New York, NY – Russ has never been one to shy away from expressing his feelings towards the music industry no matter how controversial they are. During a visit to Charlamagne Tha God and Andrew Schulz’s Brilliant Idiots podcast last week, Russ got in his bag again—this time expressing his thoughts on Post Malone.
In the middle of the two-hour conversation, Russ took some time to speak on white people stealing from black culture and relating to how it’s a problem in Hip Hop. “If you’re white in Hip Hop you have to contribute to black culture in some sort of fashion otherwise you are repeating history by coming into black culture and using that as a medium to steal and profit for self,” he said. “You can’t come into this from the vessel of Hip Hop and use the clothes and the language and the music and then go off and start doing something white.”
Charlamagne asked Russ if he was talking about Post Malone and the “Best On Earth” rapper used him as an example. “Nah, I mean, that’s a fair example because I do think that it’s an interesting thing to look at from that lens of where you come in with braids and golds to the point people are thinking you’re mixed and now, you know, you drink Bud Light and wear cowboy boots and stuff.”
Russ made sure to give props to the “Circles” rapper saying his music was phenomenal but continued to support the cultural appropriation claims. “I think the caricature of how it came in compared to where it is now seems a little, it’s a little interesting,” he explained.
“Certain things like that are fair critiques as far as like you came in and used Hip Hop because its the coolest genre and the coolest look and aesthetic. You used it to propel yourself to the forefront and then you reverted back to who you really were.”
Check out the rest of the podcast above as well as Russ’ latest studio album, SHAKE THE SNOW GLOBE, which features Rick Ross, Benny The Butcher, BIA, and more below.