Photo: HB Social Club
LaRussell has spent over two decades rapping like the rent is due, but what he's accomplished ahead of his upcoming album is unlike anything a rap artist has ever done before.
At the top of January, the 31-year-old lyricist, straight out of Vallejo, Calif., launched a campaign to sell 100,000 copies of his first LP of the year, Something's In The Water. In the last several weeks, LaRussell has utilized every platform at his disposal, from livestreams to social media, to encourage his fans and celebrity supporters to pre-order his album for $0.99 before it drops in February.
"The campaign was really spare of the moment," LaRussell tells iHeartRadio. "I was on a walk with one of the homies and we was just feeling ourselves. We just had that spirit and that energy of 'We're capable' and 'We could do anything.' I remember saying, 'Man, I could sell a million records. I'd sell 100,000 records.' And I felt like it would be a worthy shot to try at least."
It didn't take long for LaRussell to garner thousands of album sales. Just 24 hours after releasing the link, he managed to sell 1,000 copies of his album. As the campaign gained more attention, his famous friends, like E-40, Snow Tha Product, and Jon Bellion, decided to up the ante by throwing down more than just a dollar. Snoop Dogg paid $2,500 for an album, and Cedric the Entertainer dropped $1,000. A few days later, LaRussell woke up to a payment of $11,001 from NBA star Kyrie Irving, which raised the stakes even higher.
"Those are the things that you can't even really fathom, especially someone at that level," he says. "Kyrie been tapped in for a while and we just kind of communicated off and on, but he hasn't shown anything to that degree for me to think that he would do something like that. So this was really special. It meant a lot."
For some, copping an album from LaRussell without hearing it first was a no-brainer. He recorded 41 albums and released them independently over the past two decades. Within the last year alone, the seasoned MC delivered numerous projects, from Rent Paid with Hit-Boy to Make Hip-Hop Fun Again. The latter project is executive-produced by Mike G Beatz and features stand-out collaborations with Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, T-Pain, and more.
Something's In The Water is set to be another mind-blowing project. LaRussell recently locked in with the Lil Jon to cook up a fresh batch of records with some of his close friends, including Kalan.Frfr, Michael Prince, DJ Kenzo, and others. While he's known for writing his own rhymes and flows, LaRussell says he's grateful that he had someone like the King of Crunk to coach him and offer feedback throughout the entire process.
"It was dope working with Lil Jon because it was the first time I had coaching," he recalls. "I had him in a room filled with our energy and my friends. So all of my friends got the experience of saying I worked on an album with Lil Jon as well."
So far, LaRussell has sold over 14,500 copies of his upcoming album and raised over $68,250. He uses the money to fund his studio time and marketing, but this time he had enough to give back to his community. LaRussell recently used Irving's donation to help pay people's rent, bills, food, school supplies, diapers and more.
"It was a really beautiful thing to be able to serve my community in that way," LaRussell adds.
LaRussell's forthcoming album Something's In The Water drops February 4. His campaign will last several days after his project drops. You can help him meet his goal of selling 100,000 copies by clicking here. Watch the entire interview with LaRussell below.