Russ “CHOMP 2.5” EP Review

CHOMP 2.5 – EP

Russ

• Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
• Date: 12 May, 2023
• Content: explicit
• Region: NGA
• Track(s): 6
• ℗ 2023 DIEMON

Russell James Vitale, popularly known as Russ, is a rapper, producer, and singer-songwriter from New Jersey. This is his third EP. He released 11 mixtapes on SoundCloud between 2011 and 2014 before signing with Columbia Records and releasing “There’s Really a Wolf,” his full-length debut, last year.

Being a “fake activist” against drugs and saying in a notorious 2016 interview with DJ Vlad, the cultural vulture, that “we need to blame producers for all the wack music today” helped him quickly become one of hip hop’s most divisive characters in recent memory. His 2018 follow-up ZOO piqued excitement thanks to “The Flute Song,” but his gratingly harsh attitude marred the outcome.

Although it’s due to the features & producers carried, “Shake the Snowglobe” was marginally better, and his first EP, “CHOMP,” in 2020 ended out as his most significant work to date. Funny enough, the sequel experienced the same issue last year and a half. But he’s killing it on CHOMP 2.5 as fans await his summer release album.

The third volume of the artist’s CHOMP series, the six-song EP, includes work from a number of illustrious producers. This summer will see the release of CHOMP 3, Russ’ following full-length album, with CHOMP 2.5 serving as a lead single. One track on the EP was self-produced, titled “Wicked Race.”

Producers Statik Selektah, Havoc, The Alchemist, Boi-1da, and 9th Wonder contributed. The EP follows CHOMP (2020) and CHOMP 2 (2021). The expected summer album is reported to contain significant feature artists, including Snoop Dogg, Benny the Butcher, Busta Rhymes, and others, but this EP lacks any.

Album Art

The Album Art is an image of a younger-looking Russ as he stares at the camera with a resolute and determined expression -Something his loyal fans have come to acknowledge as an attribute that can be likened to him and his craft.

Tracks And Features

The first tune on the six-track album is titled “Wicked Race,” and the rapper comes out swinging. While “Wicked Race” is a self-produced opening track with no particular standout lines, the instrumental he creates here is pretty good.
“Blow the Whistle” has the rapper referring to the project as a warm-up to CHOMP 3, which is set to drop this summer, and despite the groovy boom-bap production from Statik Selektah, bars like “Stand tall like who? Like Tyler” & he “never had to seek clout or do a bunch of strange things” when he started to blow by continually being like a narcissistically resentful ass-hat.

Here, he references family and how it has impacted him, how his growth astounds him, and also makes some slick talking and braggadocio as he says he doesn’t follow the crowd anymore as all he has to do is just be himself.

It’s fantastic to hear Havoc recognize that the “Buckle Up Freestyle” is more sample-based thanks to him talking about calling himself out on the BS, and thankfully, he picked up. It takes a true man to own up to his faults and not have any personal animosity toward individuals. His songs are full of narratives and themes demonstrating that he is only human and prone to errors, but he strives to do better. Additionally, he attempts to offer listeners a taste of his earlier sounds.

Although the self-improvement line was earnest, “Easy” included some soulful interludes from The Alchemist talking about showing why no one can fuck with him lyrically even though he recorded a full tape where it seems like the features outshined him. Russ drops lines that discuss women and critics, as is customary for him. While he insists that he is focused on winning and doing what he knows to do best, he concedes that God has played a significant role in his victories.

Thanks to Boi-1da, “Reflection” has a more summery feel, and Russ delivers a cool-tempo melody here that may be considered mid-tempo, given the song’s general message of rarely getting a chance to put himself first. He also shares with the audience how his life was once only a dream for him, expresses his thankfulness while reflecting, makes some crude jokes, and speaks his truth as always, suggesting that conversing with God is like talking with his reflection.

Although the lyric “in my Depeche Mode” was cringe-inducing, 9th Wonder’s soulful boom-bap ballad “Perfectionist” ends the EP by disclosing that he had 32 sessions with a therapist about being a recovering purist. The lyrics cover many subjects, including his family, earning money, the streets, his music, his mental health, and how he constantly aspires to be a better version.

Tracklist

NO	TITLE	TIME
1	Wicked Race	2:03
2	Blow the Whistle	3:16
3	Buckle Up Freestyle	2:01
4	Easy	2:21
5	Reflection	2:12
6	Perfectionist	2:47

Album Summary

Chomp 2.5, which includes six new songs, stays true to the foundations set by the first EP as opposed to Chomp 2, a full-length collection of songs. The New Jersey rapper’s two prior albums were renowned for teaming him up with multisyllabic colleagues like Big Sean, Jadakiss, Lloyd Banks, Mozzy, Papoose, and Ransom, but he does it alone this time. However, this time he is traveling with a star-studded group of producers, including 9th Wonder, The Alchemist, Boi-1da, Havoc, and Statik Selektah.

With tracks like “Perfectionist” about the artist “working on becoming the person” he wants to be, the EP tackles themes of self-reflection and progress. In CHOMP 2.5, the artist reflects on the past and celebrates his ongoing, ever-evolving path to accomplishment.

Stream