Russell Vitale, Atlanta-born rapper known worldwide as Russ, has canceled his upcoming European headlining tour as of August 28th, with his first show being the night of in Stuttgart, Germany.
Russ took to social media to announce his last-minute cancellation. The “Losin Control” Artist expressed his sorrow, reality, and situation via Instagram, Twitter, etc. “I have to cancel the European tour. I could make up excuses so that I don’t lose money but the reality is mentally I feel like sh*t.” Russ starts. He continues his letter with admission to “some extremely lonely and empty realizations”, as he continues to express conflict he faces with his family, destroying him mentally, as he writes, “have my head feeling like it’s gonna burst.” Russ strays from his sudden mental deterioration, writing excessively about the disappointment he knows his fans will endure. The Atlanta rapper explains that giving his all to his numerous performances would be impossible, describing how instead of “crashing and burning” and having this dull down his performance and the expectations of his fans, he would rather focus on his own well-being, as to not disappoint his fans while struggling to keep himself together. “…knowing that I gotta go out and give my 100% energy to 24 shows is something I cannot do.”
Russ expressed a strong disappointment in himself, referring to the fans who wished to see him live. Although fans are disappointed they cannot attend the rapper’s shows, spanning from Germany, Spain, and India, Russ has received a multitude of love, understanding, and best wishes from a majority of his fans and fellow celebrities. One celebrity not included in this majority is Soundcloud rapper Gazzy Garcia, known notoriously as Lil Pump. Pump took to Instagram, posting an embarrassingly vulgar video responding to the news, “You think you got mental health issues?” the “Gucci Gang” rapper began. “I’m from Dade County, b*tch. I was born with mental health issues. How ’bout you deal with it and stop being a f*cking p*ssy.” Russ has yet to respond to Pump, although he most likely never will. Pump has no correlation with Russ, as Pump, numerous times before, has started internet beef with a number of celebrities, in hopes of gaining popularity after his sudden stardom and falling off in 2016.
Russ has beat himself up over his decision explaining his knowledge and understanding for those who despise him because of this turn of events, as well as those who are mentally struggling, as he is. He writes in his statement that he knows he will receive backlash, and instead of asking for empathy, asks for understanding. “I need time to make sense of certain things and for once I need to put myself first. I’m really sorry. I love y’all.”
