Russ was born on September 26, 1992 in Secaucus, New Jersey. He is of Sicilian descent. Russ was born into an American-Sicilian family which included him and three other siblings. He has also lived in North Carolina and Kentucky, due to his father having to constantly relocate due to his career, before his family found a permanent home in Atlanta. Russ was taught to play guitar by his father, and over the years gradually learned how to play several instruments. He started writing raps in his notebook at seven years old. He started making beats when he was 14, and was initially producing for his friend Bugus. He recorded his first song at 18 years old.

In 2011, Russ appeared on MTV alongside Bugus after Bugus' song "El Jefe" gained traction. From December 2011 to August 2014, Russ released 11 albums and 87 singles consecutively; all free of charge through Soundcloud. Despite this, his music had not gained the attention that he wanted, so he began to release a song a week on Soundcloud for almost three years. After his short enrollment in Kennesaw State University, Russ co-founded his own collective and label, Diemon, with his friend Bugus. Russ had his first interaction with the music app, SoundCloud, in October 2014. Russ released songs which included "Prosper", "Maybe" and "Lean On You" and many others. In 2016, Russ partnered with Columbia Records. He later released the single "What They Want", which peaked at number 83 on the US Billboard Hot 100. He then released another single "Losin Control", which peaked at number 62 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and is currently his highest charting single. On May 5, 2017, Russ released his twelfth studio album, There's Really a Wolf, which debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200 and number four on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. On April 18, 2018, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 1,000,000 units in the United States. Prior to releasing his album, Russ announced on his Twitter account that he would be headlining his tour, The Wake Up Tour, from May 16 to August 5, 2017. Russ released his thirteenth studio album, Zoo, on September 7, 2018, which peaked at number 4 on the Billboard 200.