Russ Reveals the Secret Behind His $25M Music Success in 2025

Independent rapper Russ has never been shy about talking numbers, and his latest revelation proves why.

In a conversation with the video blog The School of Hard Knocks, the Atlanta-born artist disclosed that he expects to take home $25 million in 2025—without the backing of a major label.

When asked what his formula for success is, Russ kept it simple: “Owning music.”

According to him, too many artists give up ownership in exchange for the promise of bigger promotion and large-scale tours offered by record labels.

But the trade-off often leaves musicians with little control over their art and a small fraction of the revenue.

Russ argues that there’s more money in music than many artists realize. If labels can make billions on music – musicians can certainly make an honest living from it too.

His perspective challenges the widespread belief that independent artists are destined to be broke.

Instead, he points to ownership as the key that unlocks long-term success. Keeping control of masters, publishing, and distribution allows artists to build wealth directly from their catalog rather than sharing it disproportionately with corporate middlemen.

Plenty of younger musicians have voiced frustration with their labels once they discover how restrictive contracts can be.

Megan Thee Stallion famously went public about being blocked from releasing new music during a contract dispute with her label 1501 Certified Entertainment.

And another rather provocative piece of advice the rapper shared with men is to not chase women if they want to become successful, but instead to channel their sexual energy into something more productive.

Back to the topic of making money from music, the artist shared on Instagram that his 10-year-old single Losin Control is now seeing its highest streaming traffic ever. This reinforces his point that, in the long run, owning your music is key to building lasting success.