Russell James Vitale, better known as Russ, is a 29-year-old American rapper, singer, songwriter and producer. He is originally from Secaucus, New Jersey but grew up in Atlanta, Georgia.

A few of his top songs include “What They Want,” “Losin Control,” and “Best on Earth,” all of which have reached the US Billboard Hot 100’s. At one point early on in his career he was pushing out one song a week in order to be recognized and, miraculously, it worked.

His song “What They Want” was the first to blow up. He had stopped this strategy a little after, but is now back into the groove of putting out a song every Friday. 

Russ is one of the few artists that produces his own beats, writes his own music, records it, and mixes it. He of course has a team but is completely self made and is really hands on with his music in this industry. 

His song “Exposed” talks a lot about his place in the industry and how independent of an artist he is by saying, “I put out 11 albums Produced by Russ. Mix mastered, engineered, written by Russ,” he said in “Exposed.” 

Like all artists he is with a record label, but what is different about him is that he is only partnered with Columbia Records and getting 50% of what he makes. In an interview on  Complex with Nadeska and Akademiks he was asked what his record deal was. “After that money gets recouped, we then split everything 50/50,” Russ said.

According to Zach Phillips, a writer for Recording Connection, “Artists can receive 10%-15% of suggested album retail minus packaging.” The rest goes to the record label, publishers and composers. The publishers and composers take double of what the actual artist gets. This is what a typical record deal for many new and experienced artists looks like.

Russ unarguably has one of the best record deals there is. He has explained his thought process of coming into the deal in the same interview he did with Complex. 

From the start of his career, he put out a ton of music that he has full control over, then went into a partnership with Columbia Records to get more recognition after he built a great foundation.

Russ is capable of putting emotion and a great amount of effort into every song he puts out. With his talent time is never a problem and will only make him work better.

The abilities he holds are phenomenal. It is truly believed he will always hold a big title and rightfully so.