CLEVELAND, Ohio– Growing up, everybody always dreams of their future goals. The issue with this is that nobody actually speaks those dreams into existence or has the self-belief to endure the journey. Russ Vitale, rapper, singer, songwriter and producer lives by three essential qualities required for turning his real life into his dream life: delusion, persistence, and gratitude. Passion and self-belief are paramount to any endeavor.
“Whatever that thing is that takes you to a higher level, that connects you to the best possible version of yourself, that helps you live purposefully–THAT’S YOUR PASSION,” Russ Vitale wrote. “Delusion will give you faith when there is absolutely nothing in your present life that indicates you should believe. Persistence will provide strength to keep going. Gratitude allows you to appreciate all that you have and the achievement of your goals, both small and large. What you think about, you bring about… Get out of your way.”
Russ
Russel Vitale started making beats and exploring his passion for music at the age of fourteen. During his teen years, he decided to not be his greatest obstacle in constructing his success, but to be one of his own biggest fans. Those not a part of his journey may see that releasing eleven projects with no clout was a failure, but to him, they were just stepping stones. At the age of seventeen, he started to partner with his best friend, Bugus, where his navigation of the musical realm really took off.
Not only did he fully believe in his journey, Russ idolized his future self. He implied that you can think things into existence, speak things into existence, and believe things into existence. This is what he called manifesting. Building a dream brick by brick and turning nothing into something. His music. It’s ideally the great wall of YOU. Russ mentioned, “…when you tap into your own potential winning is just natural.”
“The key to alchemy is finding beauty in the ugly,” Russ wrote. “Get so lost in your passion that the numbers on a clock aren’t relevant. Time is an obstacle you put in your own way. You can’t put a deadline on success… YOU MUST DETACH FROM THE WHEN. Your passion is that thing that connects you to the truest version of yourself.”
Russ
Russ crafts his music into personal autobiographies. To the viewer, his music is about love, drugs, money, and his own success. What they do not understand is that the underlying meaning of his words are what reflect his journey to fame in the span of ten years. One song for example is The Otherside. Throughout the song he speaks into existence a conversation with a woman trapped within the confinement of her own thoughts along with society’s. Russ is a big believer in his law of manifestation, so throughout the song he tries to inspire the girl into her own manifestation in order to relinquish the confinements of both herself and society.
“When you are consumed by your own passion, you are not focused on anyone else. The obsession had taken hold. The energy of people you surround yourself with rubs off on you; choose wisely. Fear is the wall. Belief is what catapults you over the wall. Welcome to the otherside.”
Russ
This is just a summary of what Russ believes to be the delusion part of manifesting the dream life, but his persistence is also key in this process. One does not start at the finish line, so in that sense, dreams only work if you do. Talent is not an essential ingredient to success, the ‘X-factor,’ hard work and work ethic, is.
“The reality is that the public will praise you for what you practice in private,” said Russ. He recalls an old AP Psychology assignment where you had to draw your “personality” vehicle. Russ drew headphones.
“Headphones weren’t a vehicle according to the teacher. But for me they were. Headphones, more specifically music, transported me to cities I’d never been, relationships I’d never had, and dreams that I hadn’t actualized.”
Russ
After his high school years, Russ attended college for a year and a half to realize this was not his path. Bugus and Russ decided to create DIEMON– Do It Everyday Music or Nothing. They created their own self-belief that manifested itself into an entire other force. “…when you and one other person come together and create a whole other force… 1+1=3,” Russ wrote.
Not too long after, one of his eleven projects, Naked, was released. Naked represented the vulnerability that Russ put out into society and the music world. His mom used to always tell him to, ‘Keep his barriers down at all times and be open to receiving’.
“What I’ve discovered is that keeping my barriers down doesn’t just make me more receptive to inspiration, ideas, and success; it also allows me to be more vulnerable in my music and in my life. What most people don’t realize is that when you are honest about your vulnerabilities and when you wear them like a proud badge, then you block others from weaponizing your vulnerabilities against you. If you are upfront about your failings, your fears, your weaknesses, it is much harder to have them used against you. You can’t use me against me. I flip my vulnerabilities into victories.”
Russ
Instead of falling to the critiques of society, Russ catapulted himself into what we see now as a successful career. He inquires that there will always be a void in life that only you can fill. It is the self love and belief that Russ has in himself that helps him to take on his biggest critic, himself. This is also what inspired the underlying meaning of Don’t Fall For It.
“Society doesn’t feel comfortable unless you are wearing a muzzle. Being humble is a strange societal rule that has been drawn up to keep your own confidence in check and keep your self-belief in their pocket. Humility makes you your own worst enemy. Why spend time trying to dim your own light out of fear that it could get in someone else’s eyes? There are always going to be people who do what they’re told… There will also always be people who question, who take risks, who embrace uncertainty, and who are open to discovery. Which kind of person do you want to be?”
Russ
The final element in shifting your real life to your dream life, according to Russ, is gratitude. Russ wrote, “Celebrate what you want to see more of.” Russ uses his potential as his biggest motivator.
“When your number one driving factor is your potential, then your success starts and ends with you. It is all in your head. Don’t stop yourself from becoming a 99 just because you think you’re only a 60. The answer is YOU.”
Russ
The journey starts and ends with you. You are the only person standing in your way of whatever it is that you want your dream life to be.
“The journey is your success… Trust the process… Blind faith is your compass… The thrill of the journey is embracing newness as long as it is in sync with your purpose…Uncertainty is a wild card that should be used as fuel… breakdowns create breakthroughs… in the middle of adversity is where you discover who you truly are… It is always you versus you.”
Russ
“Keep the faith.”
Russ
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