BY TER STAFF

When asked to directly name an industry plant by Complex’s Everyday Struggle co-host DJ Akademiks, rapper/producer Russ admitted his eyebrows are raised when it comes to whether or not Chance The Rapper is an industry plant. The ‘What They Want’ artist wouldn’t directly say whether or not he thinks Chance is a plant, but he certainly tried to make the case.

“Your coming out party, your debut mixtape when you have 25,000 follows, you have Jake One beats and Justice League beats and Twista, and Ab-Soul on the video. That type of shit, it definitely raises my eyebrows.”

In Russ’ defense and to put things in better context, he does mention that he fucks with Chance and his people, he is a fan of Chance’s music and told the Everyday Struggle cast that Chance is a very smart person, but all while subtly putting an asterisk on all of Chance’s accomplishments, hinting that Chance has potentially had a secret big label backing the entire time.

But as anyone from Chicago will tell you, Chance’s come up was not overnight. Only in the past year or so has Chance been frequently headlining major festivals throughout the world, while becoming a household name. While Russ cites Acid Rap as Chance’s debut mixtape, it was Chance The Rapper’s 10 Day mixtape which came first, and really started to build a buzz in the city of Chicago and elsewhere.

The success of that project then led to a huge opportunity for Chance as he then was invited to join Childish Gambino on his sold-out tour. Sure, maybe your grandmother didn’t know what a “Chance The Rapper” was at that point, but Chance was doing a number of supporting dates and headlining college shows throughout the Midwest to introduce himself to fans.

Chance’s come up is more than impressive, especially when doing it without a major label backing, but to discredit his success by hinting that there is no way he isn’t secretly being promoted by some big name music executives is crazy. Also, wouldn’t an industry plant get a little more love from Top 40 radio? Besides his features, it’s still relatively rare to hear a lot of Chance The Rapper when you tune in.

Watch Russ’ sit-down with Complex’s Everyday Struggle crew below, and check out his discussion on industry plant at the 14-minute mark