When it comes to rappers who actually live the rough-and-tumble lives they rhyme about, Russ would be a surprising contender for the top of the list. The New Jersey-born, Atlanta-based indie artist advocate gets in a shocking number of skirmishes, both online and in real life. His latest, with which he says he wasn’t involved but which he was indirectly responsible for, took place at a celebrity basketball game over the weekend where his Diemon crew mixed it up with Jack Harlow’s Private Garden collective.
The two rappers were participants in a basketball tournament featuring fellow rappers G Herbo, Lil Keed, Swae Lee, and more. During their face-off, Harlow went to block a layup, giving a hard foul to the shooter and prompting both teams to clear their respective benches in a scrum that lasted several seconds, but thankfully didn’t escalate into anything worse than a few hard shoves. The scuffle was broken up and play presumably resumed shortly, with HipHopDX reporting Russ’ victory over Harlow’s squad, 22-9. Russ hit the game-winning shot (Swae Lee’s Firefighters defeated Team Diemon in the championship on Swae’s Curry-esque halfcourt shot).
Jack Harlow and Russ’ crews almost got into a brawl during a basketball game yesterday
who you think would have won?? pic.twitter.com/946cYcctW7
— No Jumper (@nojumper) November 8, 2020
Team Diemon Captain @russdiemon hits the game winner to take the victory over Team Private Garden @jackharlow in Game 1
@tiktok_us pic.twitter.com/8syhdCgx0E
— The Crew League (@Thecrewleague) November 8, 2020
Jack may still have the advantage in their shared day job, though. His single “What’s Poppin” turned out to be his breakthrough hit, climbing all the way to No. 2 on the Hot 100 thanks to its star-studded remix featuring DaBaby and Lil Wayne, while he scored a priority feature appearance on Saweetie’s posse cut remix of her won massive hit “Tap In.” He also secured a spot on the coveted XXL Freshman class and prime placement in BET’s 2020 Hip-Hop Awards Cypher alongside Rapsody and fellow breakouts Chika, Flawless Real Talk, and Polo G. Recently, his new single “Tyler Herro” saw him living out his hoop dreams with the burgeoning NBA star.
Meanwhile, Russ has been mostly less antagonistic of late (although his feud with Guapdad 4000 seems to be ongoing), as he gave away $20,000 on Twitter to help lift fans’ spirits, expanded his list of connections on the deluxe version of Shake The Snow Globe, and made a lovey-dovey connection with Kehlani that should soften his prickly image.
Check out the clip of the rappers’ near brawl above and see more rappers who show off their hoop skills here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.