Russ Says Uncleared Sample on ‘Losin Control’ Cost Him $850K: “An Expensive F*ck-Up”

By Hiphopla News | June 6, 2025

Russ is opening up about a major music industry lesson — and it came with a nearly $1 million price tag.

Speaking on the And the Writer Is… podcast, the multi-platinum rapper and producer revealed that he failed to clear a sample used in his breakout hit “Losin Control”, which later cost him $850,000 in back payments.

“I got f*cked with that song,” Russ admitted. “I forgot to clear the sample until after it went like four times platinum. I probably could’ve cleared it in 2015 for $5,000, but I didn’t know anyone back then. I was just a kid in a basement.”

The track, which has since gone 8x platinum in the US, sampled Oneohtrix Point Never’s “Behind the Bank”, though the artist has never publicly addressed the situation.

“It got so big, I didn’t even remember if I sampled that,” Russ said. “Then I was like, ‘Oh f*ck, I did.’ So the sample holder came through… I had to cut a check for like $850,000.”

Russ Talks Hip Hop & Substance Abuse Culture

Russ also spoke candidly about drug glorification in Hip Hop, referencing his viral 2017 statement that called out artists for promoting Xanax and lean.

“That sh*t needed to be said,” he told Apple Music’s Aria Nejati. “You can either inspire people to self-destruct or to self-improve… a lot of the music right now glorifies self-destruction.”

He emphasized the influence artists have on youth, noting that music today needs more accountability and less glamorization of toxic behaviors.