As part of American rapper Russ’ new deluxe album ‘The Elephant & The Rider’, comes its first single ‘Recognize’ - featuring an up-and-coming artist, Jessy Blakemore who Russ found one night through social media. 

Starting off as a slow delicate song sung over an acoustic guitar in Jessy’s bedroom, once Russ got a hold of it, he worked his magic. Sampling her video he sped up her vocals and added some drums, along with his own verse and so, ‘Recognize’ was born. 

The track flicks between two perspectives of a relationship that’s breaking down, with one feeling unseen and the other feeling unwanted, the lyrics are centred around how the needs of both people are not being met. Kicking off the track is Jessy’s side, feeling like a “stranger” as there’s a strong emotional disconnect between the two. Her silky vocals take centre stage captivating the listener the second the song starts,  following a quick pace the song moves directly into Russ’ verse. Continuing the raw and emotional lyrics, Russ delves into their “emotional negligence”, ending on the line “But she lookin’ at him and he won’t look back”. 

It has a perfect balance of two viewpoints and a relatability to its lyrics that seem to be connecting with fans and their own experiences. Through the second verse it explains how the other person is feeling, “Physically rejected, every day, he feels unwanted”, and that they’ve gone from “lovers to roommates”. It's clear from comparing both verses that from the woman’s perspective she’s more focused on emotional needs and from the man it's more a physical sense. They both contain a similar line depicting this “Emotional negligence, she lives in his residence” to “Physical negligence, he lives in his residence”. Highlighting just how much they’re not thinking about one another. 

Jessy’s soulful vocals come together with Russ’ signature flow to close the song, their voices blending seamlessly to create an outro that’s vulnerable and honest. It brings the upbeat instrumental to a halt to become much more soothing, drawing their introspective conversation about the fragility of their relationship to an end.