Russ scored his first Top 40 hit on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart with “Handsomer.” The self-produced track peaked at #40 on the Hot 100 in March.
A remix for “Handsomer” featuring San Diego-bred rapper Ktlyn arrived that same month. Russ has now dropped a 7-minute music video for the new version of his single.
The Edgar Esteves and Logan Fields-directed visuals star Emmy-winning actress/comedian Tiffany Haddish. Hip Hop legend Snoop Dogg makes a cameo in the clip as well.
Russ wrote on Instagram:
Alright this was one of the craziest moments of my life so far lol I went in to this with 0 acting experience. I wanted to poke fun at myself and just be obnoxious so I was like “well I’ll just improv all my parts then cuz that will feel natural” 😂 so that’s what I did. Slightly nerve racking once cameras started rolling lmao. Just wanted to do something challenging for the f*** of it. I’m grateful for Tiffany Haddish just being down to do this and being such a professional all day and having the best energy you could ask for.
Shoutout to Snoop Dogg for being the legend that he is and killin this for me too. Shoutout Ktlyn for bein a natural superstar. Shoutout my boy Edgar Esteves and Blank Square Productions for makin this vision come to life. Finally in the words of Snoop Dogg most importantly “I Wanna Thank Me” for consistently betting on myself. I put up $300k of my own money out of pocket to make this happen. I am the label. Video is out now!!! Enjoy!
@russ Instagram
“Handsomer” Becomes Russ’s Biggest Hit On The Rap Charts
Since its debut on Wednesday, the “Handsomer (Remix)” amassed over 200,000 views on YouTube. The official YouTube audio already racked up 3.5 million plays. It also collected more than 25 million streams on Spotify.
“Handsomer” made it into the Top 10 of Billboard‘s Hot Rap Songs chart by reaching #9. The song is also the only single in Russ’s catalog to enter the Rap Streaming Songs rankings. Plus, Russ and Ktlyn’s “Handsomer” made it to #1 on the Rap Digital Song Sales chart.
Previously, Russ found Hot 100 success with 2015’s “What They Want” (#83), 2015’s “Losin Control” (#62), and 2019’s “Best on Earth” with Bia (#46). His also discography includes the 2x-Platinum-certified There’s Really a Wolf album. The 14-track Chomp 2 came out in December 2021.
— SANTIAGO (@russdiemon) May 25, 2022
