Russ shelled out $850,000 after failing to clear a two-chord sample on his breakout track “Losin Control,” a costly oversight he didn’t catch until the song had already gone multi-platinum.
The Hip-Hop artist opened up about the blunder during an appearance on the And The Writer Is… podcast, revealing that he never cleared the sample when he first uploaded the song to SoundCloud in 2015 as an independent artist, Mens Journal
The track later appeared on his 2017 debut album There’s Really a Wolf , released under Columbia Records.
“I forgot to clear a sample on ‘Losin Control,’” Russ said. “It was like a two-chord thing. And I just forgot. I was independent, I put it out on SoundCloud, whatever. Then it goes on the album, and it goes four or five times platinum.”
The issue came to light between 2018 and 2020, after the song’s commercial success triggered attention from the original sample’s rights holders.
Once they reached out, Russ had no choice but to pay up. “They came back and were like, ‘Yo, you didn’t clear this,’” he said. “I paid $850,000 because I didn’t clear a two-chord sample.”
Despite the steep price tag, Russ was able to cover the expense thanks to his major-label deal. “Luckily, I had just signed my deal, so I had money,” he added.
The incident serves as a reminder of the legal risks artists face when using unlicensed samples, especially in an era where viral success can turn a bedroom recording into a chart-topping hit.
Sample clearance remains one of the most overlooked but critical steps in music production.
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