Perseverance, resilience, humbleness, confidence, and swagger. These are some of the characteristics a rapper should have. A rapper must have some of these qualities to make it or to advance a successful career. The New Jersey-born rapper Russ is no different. But, he is a standout talent because he can rap and sing. The 24 year old rapper is the real deal being able to write songs and produce music of all kinds. It is certain that Russ has a lot of talent and that this is a chapter in a series of good music to come.

The rapper from Atlanta released his debut album "There's Really A Wolf," on May 5th of this year. The album is a personal favorite of mine this year so far. I have listened to the album countless times over the past weeks. People do not really know how much dedication and hard work he put in to make it this far. He strayed along a difficult path where he had absolutely nothing.

Along with this, he released 11 albums for free with many songs in order to gain a loyal fan base. Specifically, he released plenty of singles on SoundCloud, even posting a song every week for several years. The man who was getting rejected by blogs and websites years ago made it all on his own. Now, he has made it big time. It is good to see that all his hard work paid off. It also goes to show that you need to sacrifice and work hard to get what you want in life. Russ is pretty intelligent, and he is a force to be reckoned with in the music industry.

Few really knew about Russ from the beginning. He really started to blow up in 2016 and a lot this year. Russ stayed dedicated to his fans and respects them a lot. I first heard about this rapper from a friend who showed me some of his music videos. I only started to notice him this year to be honest; I had no clue who he was before then. After listening to a couple of his songs, I was greatly intrigued with his talent and passion.

The first track off of the album, "I'm Here," starts off the album well with a nice beat and flow. Russ slays bars with confidence and swagger, speaking to his haters about coming out on top or making it. For example, "Mention me amongst myself cause I'm the first of my kind. You live a Semi-Charmed life, cause your third eye is blind, I'm a shepherd, not a sheep, but I heard it's my time." This is by far one of my most favorite lines on the record, but he raps with this kind of intensity and flow for the rest of the song. Other lines follow, "Shi*** on the game, I'll probably hang it in my bathroom. Cause I gave them what they want, now they're losing control. Had to do it myself, pull the trigger on my dreams." He points out that he is special and the first of his kind. Russ makes sure to mention that he is better than these other rappers, mixing, mastering, writing, and engineering his own beats and songs.

The next song "The Stakeout," I personally do not like. I think the beat is good, but the lyrics do not fit the song in my opinion. The next song "Act Now," I think is another great song on the project about people changing faces and perspectives once you make it. People always seem to not be with someone who is poor, but once a person is rich, everyone swarms and acts all different. He also speaks on working day in and night out, of all the sacrifices he had to make to get these grand days; these glorious days. That is what he is speaking about and it is very relatable.

The next song "Cherry Hill," is another standout where Russ puts his singing voice on full display. The track flows well and the singing goes far. The song talks about a girl and on his success. Powerful emotional lyrics such as, "Feelin' lonely in this room since I was seventeen. Thought this bottle was supposed to drown my memory, but I'm swimmin' in this vision and it's temptin' me. But next time that I call, I'm hoping that you answer me."

The song "Me You," is a track like the song "I'm Here," where Russ speaks on his success and getting so far on his very own. He states some metaphors to state his accomplishments. He raps with metaphors and confidence, "Me, got it out the mud, they respect that. Me, always spread the love when I get back. You wish for it. Me? I worked for it. Success is something that I'm blessed with mentally." Russ explains how he came up from nothing with the mud metaphor and how he has a great mindset for success.

"Ride Slow," is an okay song, singing about a girl that is not in his life at the moment. Basically, he is singing about missing a girl he likes and what women typically think when a guy wants to do something. On the other hand, "Don't Lie," is one of my favorite songs on the album. Russ sings his heart out on the track and the beat fits very nicely. He sings his heart about girls lying to his face and on giving him a chance. This girl he speaks about is lying. When he is trying to be honest, he knows he is not perfect and that he has made mistakes; he just wants another chance. He is loyal, while the other girl is out with others, lying about what she is doing. It is a heartfelt song that tugs at the heartstrings and it is quite again, very relatable.

The next song "Do It Myself," is what it states. Russ raps about coming up from nothing and having to do everything on his own. If a rapper can make his own beat and mix and master, he is pretty talented and skilled. There are advantages to being able to do all this on your own because you in turn save yourself money. You do not need to buy a beat or pay someone to polish the songs. Regardless, it takes a lot of talent and hard work to do all that on your own. And the song portrays Russ doing it all on his own, not being afraid to, but going after what he wanted to do.

The song "I Wanna Go Down With You," is another song singing about another girl in his life. It is another love song about this girl being all he needs in life. The beautiful piano beat in the background fits nicely and shows more of a sadness. Russ channels his soul into this track that makes the song so great. He sounds like a legend on this track. For example, "Why is everything going backwards? Every day we argue, that's a bad world. You are all that I need, and you are all I believe. Cause everything fine, cause you ain't gotta leave. I wanna go down... with you." Like he has done his whole life, he would rather take a chance, then not take it at all and live with regret for the rest of life.

The song "Family and Friends," goes into what it implies, doing what he has done for his family and friends. Russ is a big family person and does a lot for them. These are the people that gave him his motivation, and if they were not with him when he was broke and lost on hope, do not ask for help from him now. Next, the track "What They Want," is his most popular song. It was released a long time ago and it is a standout song on the album with its catchiness and nice flow. The song states that he is not getting fooled and that he is giving people what they want to hear. A lot of the time, Russ attacks other rappers being on the same flow and beat. He believes that he is better than a lot of other rappers and that he clearly does more.

The song "Got This," states Russ's rise to fame and being with his team, the people who believed in him from the beginning and stayed with him. Of course he attacks other people who did not believe in him. "No Turning Back," is another great song about reaching fame with a nice beat and flow. It is a mix between both rap and singing that works really well. He raps on his early struggles, dropping out of college and not having much.

"Losin Control," is an absolute favorite of mine. I think it is the best song on the whole project or the second best at least. The track is very touching and it is one of Russ's best songs and most popular ones to date. Lyrics burst with emotion, "She's fallin' in love now, losin' control now. But I think it's alright, girl. Despite her past, she can't help the attraction. He tells her that he's nothin' like the last one. He redefines in every way what love is." These lyrics are very personal and more importantly relatable to the audience. I know many people who have said these comments to their lover. It is what makes the song so interesting and great in the first place. It is an ode to one of his old girlfriends, a relationship that did not work out. A girl that is damaged and is scared to fall back in love. The song shows Russ's versatility in both rapping and singing. His voice pierces the track with heartfelt emotion and power. It is another relatable song about a relationship going sour. The beat is polished and fits the song well. The next song, "Scared," I thought could have been cut out because it hinders on the same topic as the song before.

The next two songs "Back To You," and "One More Shot," fall into the same category of having the same concept and idea. "Back To You" should have been cut out and "One More Shot," possibly. The song goes into not letting up, but breaking more goals and rising to more fame.

Another favorite of mine "Emergency," shows Russ's nice flow. It is a celebratory song that pushes good vibes. He gives a tribute to his family and the people who helped him along the way. Like other songs he raps with a nice flow, "If I say it, I believe it, you just dream of success. I stay awake to achieve it, this crazy. No failure is final, no success is permanent." Russ reminds the audience of not just dreaming; but achieving. He gives motivation to others to not accept failure, but to keep striving. Russ raps about his humble beginnings and giving praise to God for reaching fame and fortune. It is a motivational song to do what you want in life.

Another standout track "Pull The Trigger," is a slick and powerful song. It is a song about not believing in luck, but believing in work and dedication. Just like the title implies, pulling the trigger means doing what you want to do and chasing it. The lyrics embody chasing success, "Tryna buy a house in cash for all the times we had to move. All the times my mom cried cause she ain't know else to do. All the times she lost hope cause she ain't know what else to lose. I'm stay winning, I don't believe in luck. I believe that life's a buffet, better eat it up." Russ talks about his early life of moving around so often and not having a home. And stating that he is a winner and does not believe in luck, but work. He may have a point. It is saying to not depend on anyone else, but to just do it yourself. You have to work hard to get what you want and be successful. The booming beat is on point, and Russ has some clever lyrics on this track.

The closer "MVP," leaves the album on a low note with a sorrow beat where Russ raps with ferocity. It signals the epilogue to the album, vowing to become better and be one of the greatest of all time. Russ's most powerful lines are in this track, "Never RIP, I want MVP written on my gravestone. I looked up at the sky long enough I grew wings. They gon try and break you. God forbid that happens, breakdowns create breakthroughs." Russ raps with the same confidence and swagger from the beginning of the album, a wolf howling plays in the background to show the closing of the work. Where the wolf was roaring in the beginning, it is now howling to a close; the curtain has descended.

The album does have its weaknesses in it being too long, clocking at 1 hour and 4 minutes with 20 tracks. Some songs could have been cut out at the least; some did not really fit. The album also struggles in substance because he does overlap themes with some songs.

Regardless, the album, "There's Really A Wolf," is a great debut for the Atlanta rapper. Russ has waited all his life for this moment and shows us that he is the real deal after all. His rapping is agile and nimble and his singing soothing and calming. It is an album about love and working hard to get what you want in life. It is about a person coming from nothing when people did not believe in him, to molding into a star. It is safe to say that the wolf that has been hiding in the shadows and in the cave has come out. The wolf that was crying and sitting in hunger became strong and made it out. He is clearly here to stay.

"I was crying wolf for so long I had to prove to people that there's really a wolf."- Russ

Essential Tracks: "I'm Here," "Act Now," "Cherry Hill," "Me You," "Don't Lie," "Do It Myself," "Losin Control," "Emergency," "Pull The Trigger," "MVP."

Score: 8.3 out of 10