Gus “August” Enters a New Era With “SMILE,” “BIG JOZN” and a Bold Faith-Fueled Music Movement
Chicago, IL, United States – August 19, 2026 – Gus, also known as August, has been making music for over ten years. He’s recorded singles that cost hundreds of dollars.
He’s also collaborated with dozens of independent artists and is also a strong networker.
He first made his debut with GROWING STRONGER in 2016.
He had hoped it would go somewhere.
It did well on Soundcloud. But it didn’t get the power it needed to make it a hit.
In 2026, it was re-released with better vibes and a visual coming out soon.
Over the past decade, Gus has been able to record over 10 professional mixtapes and a semi Album.
His project “GIFTED AS A RAPPER” has gotten good feedback. It was meant as a dedication tape to Chance the Rapper who he highly admires as an artist and a Christian.
His semi-debut album DA FINALE was released at Christmas 2022. It received very strong feedback with some stating it was “a classic” and others stating it was a “breakthrough in his artistry”.
The lead – single from the album “WWJD?” hit number one on itunes in europe on the Christian charts.
This caused August to begin working even harder with 6 other versions that include Backstage (Da Remasters), The Opening Act (Da Live Shows), The Final Act (The Remixes), Commentary Edition, and the original United Masters Edition.
The project marked a turn for Gus because he created this project from scratch with the help of some unknown names but every beat, every lyric, and every visual is all original.
He followed up with ‘TEN’ which was released in 2023 and has been called his “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” era.
Gus has been working even harder with developing his own label, artist and faith based creative business known as GNE a Division of the CRW.
It currently is in partnership with Grind by Faith Music Group and is seeking to do annual college tour dates with its artist and a yearly festival at Disney World.
In 2026 and beyond, Gus is working on a handful of projects which include ‘SMILE’ which is arguably going to be his first studio album. It will consist of a feature from YE and potentially a handful of other big names.
Gus has gigs lined up over the next year which include surprise appearances opening up for major artists. Smaller dates at Coast2Coast live and a potential gig opening up for a major artist on tour.
He’s under management with TRILL Entertainment and he hopes to sign a multi – album record deal with EMPIRE who he already has affiliations with.
Gus boasts a 315K following online and is hoping to reach over 1M in the next year through pages like Worldstar and collaboration with other artists both well known and local.
He is coming out with a greatest hits album named ‘BIG JOZN: LIVE AT THE JOYFUL NOIZE” in October and it will feature a band, tickets to the events, and a setlist of his best songs.
He wants to build a community named JOZN CITY where artist fans will be more of a community rather than just paying for products and having no connection to Gus at all.
He plans to go on the streets in places like New York City, St. Louis, Chicago, Los Angeles, The Bay, and Texas and hand out flyers, free merchandise and invitations to join his community.
His sister is going to be his community manager and he hopes to build a great network of likeminded people that engage, respect and look forward to his content.
He currently has an entire catalog and visuals that can be found hidden online that are being edited and perfected by highly valued engineers to bring the projects up to industry standard because they were recorded on a low budget.
His entire catalog will be available soon.
Gus aims for an appearance on America’s Got Talent in the next year and also securing a residency at a theme park like Six Flags or Disneyland.
“I want SMILE to sweep the Dove Awards when it’s time and to be considered for a Grammy. I’m standing on faith! Please come into agreement with me!” – Gus
Gus can also be seen in an upcoming film named ‘I MISS MY OLD DOG ELLIOT’ slated for release this Christmas on Hulu. It is a challenging role because his character is on the autism spectrum.
There is another surprise project dropping soon that he’s keeping underwraps.
“Shout out to the people that never gave up on me and pray for me. You are the foundation to everything I do that glorifies God!” – Gus.
“I just want to glorify God and serve Him through everything I do” – Gus.
Some of his inspirations include Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Nsync, Tupac Shakur, Lecrae, Boys II Men, BrockHampton, Chance the Rapper, Justin Bieber, La Russell, Will Smith, Lizzo, Beyonce, Ye (Formally Kanye West), Whitney Houston, Prince, The Beatles, Queen, Journey, Harry Styles, Ariana Grande, and more including many classical, jazz, opera and musical theatre artists.
ABOUT AUGUST RUSSELL
August Russel “Gus” is an independent rapper, recording artist, and creative entrepreneur who has spent more than a decade developing his music and building a diverse catalog of original projects. Since making his debut with GROWING STRONGER in 2016, Gus has released numerous mixtapes and projects, including DA FINALE, which earned strong feedback and featured the Christian chart-topping single “WWJD?”. In 2026, Gus is entering an exciting new chapter with upcoming projects including SMILE and BIG JOZN: LIVE AT THE JOYFUL NOIZE, while continuing to develop his creative brand and the JOZN CITY community.
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