Synesthesia Review: Russ - There's Really a Wolf

Firstly, what can't this man do musically? He writes, he raps, he sings, he produces, he mixes, he masters, he engineers.

He is everything that he says he is throughout this album and so much more. He is a DIY pioneer with quite an extensive catalogue.

I will openly admit that Russ' music only recently popped up on my radar. I have been sleeping on this man's entire come up.

This is the type of album that makes someone who loves music, like I do, feel bad about missing out on the boat that has already set sail.

The opening track's opening few seconds already lets the listener know that the album is true to its title with the howling wolf.

That's when Russ comes through and just oozes bravado over a piano backdrop instrumental that he most likely produced himself.

Russ explores he's new found fame throughout the album. He touches on a plethora of things such as he's come up, the money and obviously the women that come with it.

Now usually on an album when the majority of the subject matter revolves around money and women it tends to bore me, but Russ doesn't.

The main reason being that he's sound is so genuine and he doesn't drive the whole concept into the dirt. He also touches on past and current relationships on Don't Lie. The albums length, which runs longer than my preferred 45 minutes, isn't even an issue. The quality of the music completely eliminates the boredom factor.

The album has 20 full length tracks in it with absolutely no filler in between and not one song is skip worthy. The true gem of this album is the 19th track, Pull the Trigger. It's hands down the standout track on the entire album along with What They Want.

This album is definitely one of the best albums of 2017 not just in the genre of hip-hop, but in music overall. I'm sorry, I missed the come up.