Social media has paved the way for the careers of countless stars that most people know today. Apps like YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok have collectively introduced the talents of many artists, especially in the music industry. One of these people who has benefited from this gift of social media is Canadian-born rapper 99 Rus. Through a series of viral TikTok videos, he has earned fame and a multitude of followers.
99 Rus grew up in a small neighborhood in Toronto, Canada, but he moved to the U.S. when he decided to pursue a music career. As a child, he had significant exposure to the music of some of Canada's biggest artists. He listened to songs by Alanis Morissette and Nickelback as well as to the earlier works of The Weeknd. When Drake became popular by the late 2000s, 99 Rus developed a liking for rap and hip-hop music.
Drake undoubtedly influenced 99 Rus' taste for music as he listened almost exclusively to hip-hop music after listening to Drake's debut album. "Thank Me Later," which was Drake's first album, inspired 99 Rus to start listening to other artists and identify himself with them. Soon, he was writing his own songs and composing his own beats and melodies in a unique combination of rap and hip-hop.
99 Rus started releasing some of his original songs on the YouTube platform while engaging with other young online artists as well. At the start of his journey, 99 Rus would be fortunate to have a hundred people watching his videos, but he kept believing in his talent and knew he would eventually be successful.
Despite the cold reception his YouTube uploads were getting, 99 Rus continued writing and uploading songs. He believed that it would be YouTube that was going to be the way to bring him to his goal of becoming known as a musician. Many young artists during the mid-2010s were being discovered on the platform, so he hoped the same would happen for him. 99 Rus saw endless opportunities for his music once he got the break he longed for.
The break 99 Rus got took almost half a decade to come to him, and it took a cover version to bring him to it. After years of taking a break from uploading original tracks on YouTube, he went to TikTok in 2018 and started covering other artists' songs. 99 Rus uploaded a snippet of Chris Brown's 2011 smash hit "Look at Me Now." The video where he rapped Busta Rhymes' lines got over 2 million views in just three days.
99 Rus also made a version of Eminem's Grammy-award winning track called "Rap God" and got the same reception as his first viral video. Inspired by the success of these videos, he now seriously considered going back to uploading his original songs. Though he took a break from uploading, he never stopped writing songs and now has tens of unreleased compositions.
The future looks amazing for 99 Rus, and this was made possible by using the beauty of social media. Today, he has received many offers from major recording companies for a possible mainstream launching of his career. 99 Rus hasn't revealed any concrete plans yet, but he wants to surprise his fans with his future endeavors.
