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25-year old, ever-prolific, self-made rapper-singer-producer Russ returns with another new single, “Flip.” It’s respectable, but not game changing.

“Produced, mixed, mastered, engineered, written by me.” Sigh. Russ has proven himself to be a prolific, ‘self-made’ rapper-producer.  Prolific, of course, refers to the amount of material he releases; quality is separate.  He certainly made some noise on his full-length debut, There’s Really a Wolf.  The effort had hits, even if, in the bigger picture, none were the crème de la crème of 2017.  Continuing to be prolific, he drops the brief “Flip.”

Guess what? “Flip” is another self-made joint from Russ. Shocker.  The record keeps things simple – to the nth degree, if you will.  He spits over minimal, minor-key production that anchored by slick beat.  He’s cocky, confident, and profane from start, dropping a hardnosed, yet easy-going pre-chorus, followed by a catchy, repetitive chorus.

“Keep that same energy, please don’t flip / You were talking all that motherfucking shit / We see everyone, we been keeping a list // Keep that same energy please, don’t flip / Please don’t flip [6x] / Keep that same energy, please don’t flip.”

From here, Russ goes on to deliver two verses. On the first verse, he raps about haters (“I see all the hate for me, I been keeping inventory”), his middle finger (“Peep my middle finger, that’s a Benz”), and material things (“Blow a 100K, I don’t feel a thing, let me pop my shit”). The second verse is more of the same.  He denounces haters, brags about his money, etc.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, “Flip” is enjoyable, but nothing ‘brand new’ or groundbreaking.  If Russ is searching for a big, mainstream, breakthrough hit, “Flip” is unlikely the record to give him that.  At worst it’s average, but labeling this as great would be an overstatement.

Russ • Flip – Single • Columbia • Release: 1.12.18

Photo Credit: Columbia