LaRussell

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
R and B Money.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Honey, we are.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Thanks.

Speaker 3 (00:09):
Think about the time. We are the authority on all
things R and B. Ladies and gentlemen. My name is
taken down time and this is the R and B
Money Podcast, the A Thig Oh no things, R and B.

Speaker 4 (00:30):
What we doing man?

Speaker 3 (00:31):
Oh we're betting on ourselves today.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
We know this it from top to bottom.

Speaker 4 (00:38):
Yeah, yeah, we're going back to.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
I'm saying this ship. You can't hold me.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
Yeah, you can't hold me back.

Speaker 4 (00:50):
You no ball from the stove.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
Holl won't ball from the stove. If you're going to
get it, you gotta come get it from me.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Come in the back yard, in the back.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Notes, and gentleman in the building us.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
Come on.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Yeah, Larrussell, I'm always say Larrussell. I know people be
trying to shorten your name. Your name has some equity
on it. So I'm gonna say lar Russell the whole
time we're here, if you don't mind, l Russell. Before
I knew who you were and what you were, I

(01:30):
would hear you speak about what you were on what
people should be on. I had never connected the two
that you were an artist. I'm not gonna call your
rapper because I heard you vibrather, so you're with us too.

(01:56):
They can't help. Before before I was even privy to that,
I was privy to the information that you were giving out.
That's what crossed my algorithm first fire, while I was scrolling,
and I was like, hm, hm, this shall nigga talking

(02:20):
that talk, and it would always come by that way.
It wasn't until he was like, well we getting them on.
We can oh, I gotta, yeah, I gotta. I gotta
jump down this rabbit hole and make sure I understand
who in the fucks isn't it? And and then it
got way different because it was like the information and

(02:42):
the artistry are at an elite level.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
Come on, come on, it's fucking scary.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
You know.

Speaker 5 (02:52):
That's how the beautiful you said that because I had
set a goal to like, I don't like music, isn't
my four front Every meeting I used to have, I
used to be like, my goal is to make l
Russell as big as possible. I don't care if somebody
just likes to hear me speak. They don't have to
ever listen to a song. I just want them to
embrace and respect Larussell. And we get so many people

(03:14):
who like, man, I never heard the music. I just
seen this, and it's like that's the beauty of it
because that connects out of level. Everybody might not like
a song, but if you say some real ship, it
ain't no beating rhythm to that.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Anybody can ingest some real ship. Life. Life is universal absolutely.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
Yeah. So like for me, like and Jays, you know
you got share of.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
My stun. Yeah, hold on.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
I had a moment right head on because when I
went to he had a birthday party in the bay
that's your dairy birthday party. And we all on stage
and I don't know who it was and started rapping
quin started the hard way and they started getting low and.

Speaker 4 (04:15):
I didn't know.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
I didn't know what it was, but I felt like
I needed to be off and.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
I was what the Yeah, I gotta have it and
get in your body and get in your body.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
So y'all share that, right and and and and Jay
is I'm gonna allow Jay and you guys nuance to
really really tackle this thing the right way because you know,
there's there's a lot of soil attached to it that
you guys can speak to. But I'm gonna I'm gonna
tell you for the for a lot of this, I'm
gonna be the why guy because I want the I

(04:57):
want the nuance from you know, from in set option
two ideas to consult to application. You know what I'm saying, Like,
I want to. I want to because because you gotta
think like I'm forty years old. I've been in this
business since I was seventeen him nine, and the music

(05:23):
business has changed in such a way.

Speaker 4 (05:28):
It's not the same as all.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
We never dreamed.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
Possible to go on to app and see, oh so
I made I mean one thousand dollars a day, I
made two thouars a day, I mean un dollar that
no direct to.

Speaker 3 (05:44):
Consumer was literally door to door, literally knocking on your
door at the trunk cash money master peeing them Trump Yes, yes,
And now you are processing this ship like a supercomputer

(06:11):
in a way that is like, it's the coolest shit
I've ever seen. Because I'm all. I love when my
niggas get it, and then I love when my niggas
get it right.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
So we embrace it, and we embrace it. We don't,
we don't, we don't fight it at all. We're not
We're not We're not those guys, all that new music
business and all that. Man, tell us what's going on.
Come on, so we can be a part of it,
so we can understand it, so that we can continue
to grow in it. And that's why it's so important

(06:42):
for you to be here today because you you literally
are a poster board as a grown man. But you
know what I'm saying when I say that for this
whole thing, man, Like, it's so many people who talk
about it, they don't actually live it. Yeah, and you
live it, bro in all aspects. And before we even

(07:02):
get into the journey, we just want to say congratulations, gratitude,
you know what I'm saying for really sticking in there.
This ship is not easy. It is not easy, we know, yeah,
from all levels of it, you know what I mean. Like,
it's not easy, and most people give up and most
people just.

Speaker 4 (07:24):
You know, they may take the easier route.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yeah, So let's start, man, Let's let's let's start in Valayo.

Speaker 4 (07:31):
Yeah, let's start.

Speaker 3 (07:32):
There, man.

Speaker 4 (07:32):
We know, you know, we know what the soil is
and just and just.

Speaker 2 (07:35):
Even the background of Valao, right because I understand that
it's you know, at times are forgotten city in the bay.
You know what I mean, Like y'all, y'all city has
had some tough times, so for you to kind of
rise up out of that and also to give more
hope because they were there were there were pockets of
time too, from you know, the E forty and a

(07:58):
click to the max dre to the s O B.

Speaker 4 (08:02):
A R b E.

Speaker 1 (08:02):
I mean that s O B R b E you
know some her Yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
You know what I'm saying. But there were pockets though
where it went up, then it got quiet, then it
went up a little bit more, then it got a
little violent, you know what I'm saying, Like just kind
of give me, give me, give me your layout and
your understanding of it. And and also being a young

(08:29):
man who came up through the Hyphee movement like that
was your adolescence.

Speaker 4 (08:33):
You really grew up on it. Like nigg you just saying,
go dumb, you.

Speaker 5 (08:37):
Know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (08:39):
You know, most people gonna sing I'm sprung around the world,
but if you're from the.

Speaker 2 (08:41):
Bay, you got your I'm sprung, You're going straight to it.
So you know, give us, give us that man.

Speaker 5 (08:49):
Man that that really is it, Like that lineage you
just said, including Neftter Pharaoh you know, after Pharaoh played
a major lord, here was another that brought a big light.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
Back to the city. But just like Valeo is.

Speaker 5 (09:05):
In the Bay Area, there's like a bunch of cities,
but there's Staples that really played the part in the
culture of what the Bay Area is received as. And
if you remove a Valleo, you lose so much culture.
Like the way we talk dre and forty like our lingo. Yeah,
and that's dre and forty, you know, curated, so the
way we dance. Everybody in yep I cannot wind over. Yes,

(09:32):
but it's like if you from the Bay you dance
like dre you know when you hear it's a certain
lineage that that would just pass through through Valleo. It
played such a pivotal part and the culture and like
being able to grow up in the heart of it
different different, like I'm I've been able to like I
feel like I've been able to revolutionize Hyphi in a

(09:53):
way that the world is able to consume it without
the judgment that used to have like some people used
to be like even still people like man, how music,
we don't want to hear that no more. But I
go all over the world and I'm I'm on tiny
bans like this because that energy and that beat that
we live by.

Speaker 1 (10:11):
It's like you like you said, you was there and
you had to It's.

Speaker 5 (10:16):
Contagious, and you know, I've been able to package it
and bring that contagion across the world and get other
people to see it and feel it. So where people
fly in from different countries to the backyard than the
V to Valaos. We ain't never people ain't never flew
into Vlayo but nothing maybe.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
Marine to take a trip, you gotta take a trip.
You get off the plane, you gotta drive. You know
what I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (10:40):
There's no airport right there. What you mean how far
from San Francisco.

Speaker 1 (10:45):
And Oakland with no traffic? Yeah, with no traffic.

Speaker 5 (10:49):
And then you really you're going to a city that
has nothing else there. So if you're going to Valao,
it's for a very specific cause. It's not like Frisco
where it's like I'll just go to the piece.

Speaker 3 (10:59):
And do all.

Speaker 5 (11:00):
Ain't no sight seeing inter V maybe, but it ain't.
You know, it ain't no sight seeing NV. They come
into the crib. They come into the crib.

Speaker 4 (11:11):
What made you say I'm gonna do it in my backyard.

Speaker 5 (11:16):
I was throwing the show in Oakland at New Parish
and it was my first time doing like Proud to
Pay where I was like, I'm gonna let people pay
at the door and just see what they pay, right.
And the owner caused me the day before or earlier
that day, and he was like.

Speaker 1 (11:31):
I don't know about this.

Speaker 5 (11:32):
I'm taking a risk with you, and this to just
hell the negative, just hell a negative energy because it
was new for him. He didn't know, and he's older,
he's a white and he didn't get it. And it
just like threw me off to have somebody be able
to pour that in my pot like before show. It
just made me like, bro, I don't want to do
nothing there. And it was a successful show to succeed.
Now it's funny because I got a golden pass, a

(11:54):
new pair. I just call and say I want this
date and I'm in, you know. But he's the reason
I was like, I'll never go through that again. I'm
building my own venue building.

Speaker 4 (12:03):
But the venue became parents.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
That's all I asked. That's what I had, You what
I had?

Speaker 4 (12:11):
Man shout out to the first investors. We always got
to shout out the first the parents, parents, because I
don't know if I'm letting do a concert.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
I don't know, man, the concert, the conflict, and it
was the I think the key line that you just
said was it was all I had.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
Yeah, So.

Speaker 3 (12:36):
It's it's these, it's these, we're gonna work with what
we got. That turned into these unconscious genius moments where
it's like now it's like, I want to do a
concert in my backyard. Now everybody want to do something
in the backyard, wife.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
But everything.

Speaker 3 (13:01):
How many people have you seen now copying this new.

Speaker 5 (13:07):
One because they starting to get it. It's like we've
been as artists, we own maybe one percent of the
infrastructure we have to use to thrive as artists. Your
whole career, you gotta do shows, but you don't own
no venues. You don't own no booking agencies. You don't

(13:27):
own no promotion companies. As an artists, you gotta do marketing.
You don't own no digital marketing. You don't own no
ad agencies. You don't own no seating companies. You don't
own no playlists. As an artist, you gotta travel. You
don't own no sprinter van, you don't own no as
you no truck. As an artists, there's so many things
you gotta do in your career, and we don't have

(13:47):
the infrastructure to actually do it. We gotta go ask
somebody else to do it every time we want to
do it. How am I selling out this venue? But
I gotta ask you to use it? It don't make
no sense. We It's literally like all the infrastructure that
we used to thrive as artists we should have access
to Like this. My backyard was that for me, it

(14:08):
was a money tree. I could wake up any day.
The backyard became so fruitful that I rehearse every day.
I usually rehearse every single day, right, so some days
I was like, man, I'm gonna get paid to rehearse. Today,
I'm gonna do open rehearsal. Hey, it's tickets online right now,
I'm starting that too. A hundred tickets gone. Like that,
I get paid to rehearse. How many people get paid

(14:30):
to practice? Only if you go to the NBA, not artists.
Most artists don't even practice let alone.

Speaker 3 (14:38):
I'm not gonna get it.

Speaker 1 (14:41):
I made it somewhere.

Speaker 4 (14:41):
It's like I can stare at him.

Speaker 3 (14:45):
Oh my god, boy. If I could tell.

Speaker 5 (14:47):
You I be upset I be at shows like this
that's not rehearse.

Speaker 1 (14:56):
What are we doing?

Speaker 5 (14:57):
Even if it's like not rehearse because my show I
don't have a rehearse set. I don't have any any
type of set, but I've practiced so much it don't
need it.

Speaker 3 (15:06):
You you have, You have pieces that can go anywhere.
Players are set, the puzzle can go, you can play it.

Speaker 1 (15:14):
If they move here. I could go here. You move here,
I could go here.

Speaker 2 (15:17):
It's called counters. It's counters and anything else. It's called
the counter. It's like, oh you stop that move, Oh
somebody fail. I'm spinning through it. Whatever it is. But
it's just because it's been rehearsed.

Speaker 5 (15:30):
We made those moments monetizable to where it's like, bro,
I get paid to rehearse if I want to, because
I own my own infrastructure. You know how many people
want to see a little And the dope thing is like,
the shows are great.

Speaker 6 (15:44):
You know how many people want to see The shows
are great, But the rehearsal was more intimate because it's
just us here might be only a few people, and
it's like what you trying to hear?

Speaker 5 (15:54):
Hey, you hear about my mom coming out. You want
to hit them, you want to go.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
What you need, you you in it.

Speaker 5 (15:59):
That's a different experience than the show with four hundred
and five hundred one thousand people. So people some people
pay mode for a rehearsal because it's like, man, I'm
getting to chill. I had some people going to rehearsal
whore like, hey, we got a venue, we got a spot,
now we connected.

Speaker 2 (16:11):
Oh I'm finna go do y'all on y'all shit. But
the other thing that that that that for me that
sticks out too, is that the new world of entertainment,
him and I came up in this world where everything
had to be quote unquote perfect, quote unquote curated. You
did you didn't even see female artists without makeup on?

Speaker 3 (16:35):
Did you ever think about that?

Speaker 1 (16:37):
Crazy?

Speaker 2 (16:38):
Think about when we grew up, Bro, it's just see
have a face every time because that's how it was
presented to us, right, which was that's cool, But that's
not real.

Speaker 4 (16:50):
That's not authentic.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
And the things that you are talking about now are
real and authentic. People like to see fucking something stripped,
like yo, nigga, I missed that note. It was funny
when I when I was watching your tiny desk. It
was a couple like with young fellow rapping. He kind
of it was like and he laughed it off because
the truth of the matter is that that's real.

Speaker 3 (17:12):
Bro.

Speaker 4 (17:13):
Yes, you're gonna fuck up.

Speaker 1 (17:14):
Sometimes we miss because we hit so many. We shoot
so many, I can't make them all.

Speaker 4 (17:20):
You can't.

Speaker 5 (17:22):
And that's the thing, like then, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (17:29):
We missed him. Not because we hit so many.

Speaker 5 (17:34):
Man, they were selling perception then, And that's what I learned,
Like I tell everybody, when I was a kid, I
didn't think that like you could be successful a star.
I thought Snoop Dogg was like a character. Like I'm like, yeah,
I see him, but I never thought it. But I'm saying,
you know, I never thought in real life, like, no,

(17:54):
that's a person, that human who grew up like this
with a family like this, and he became this because
he did the work. That don't ever hit you because
you don't actually see that part of it. That's why
we show it, man, I don't I be in the
middle of a show and I slipped words and I
tell the crowd.

Speaker 1 (18:08):
They throw me something, you don't.

Speaker 5 (18:10):
I don't care about the judgment because it's like, you
can't do what I'm up here doing. It don't matter
if I'm missing shot. I'm doing something that most of
the population cannot do.

Speaker 3 (18:21):
Yeah, right, I want to go to the Why here's
one of my wives, you're working this job. Where were
you working when you when you decided to quit?

Speaker 5 (18:29):
I was working at an aerospace plant or what an
aerospace plant?

Speaker 3 (18:33):
What were you doing at the aerospace.

Speaker 5 (18:35):
So I got there through a temp agency, and I
started off in production on the floor doing like packaging
and just like making short product go out. And then
I like learned everything the systems and the standards, and
I was able to move up to do like contracts
and ad man. I was like one of the first
people on that floor that didn't have a degree because
somebody believed to me and seemed like my potential was like, man,

(18:57):
you will thrive up here. And I was thriving up
there when I was on the floor there, I did
something that changed the trajectory of the company and didn't
even realize my own value and worth then because I
was just working, you know, but that I was at
the aerospace planning that was my last job.

Speaker 3 (19:13):
Why why do you say you're in this job, you're flourishing.
You're in a space that you are underqualified for, but
just based on your work ethic and your thought process,
you qualify yourself and then you say, this is cool.

(19:35):
But this ain't it.

Speaker 5 (19:37):
I was unfulfilled. I was unfulfilled. I was so good
at what I did. I used to spend my time
there working on everything at home, building my PR list,
getting email, gathering everything I needed, going through venues, getting bookerdy.
So because I was doing my work there, I'd be
working on all of my stuff, and it got to
a point to where it was like, I don't even

(19:57):
want to do this on you all time. I need
to be home so I can get everything done I
need to get I'm giving y'all eight hours, ten hours,
twelve hours of my day, and I'm losing twelve hours
for myself. I'd rather not get paid for these twelve
and be able to put it all in here and
eventually get paid on the back end from my own work.

Speaker 3 (20:14):
That was my next question. Yeah, because you take that
financial dip, right, losing those twelve hours to bet on
that back end.

Speaker 4 (20:28):
At this point, are you still at your parents' crib?

Speaker 1 (20:30):
YEP?

Speaker 4 (20:30):
You still stand at the crib too.

Speaker 3 (20:32):
Yep.

Speaker 5 (20:32):
That's what made it even easier because it's like, man,
I got my parents and I got to support, but
it was like I still had to go hustle and
get my paper to bill.

Speaker 1 (20:42):
You feel me like we working people every day people.

Speaker 5 (20:46):
So it's like when I quit, we had like a
tax return check and I kind of like ran through
that doing building and one of the HR agents from
my last job hit me was like, hey, you know,
you got like some four one K left.

Speaker 1 (20:58):
You might need it on your journey.

Speaker 5 (20:59):
It was like the UNI dropping it in me and
I ended up getting a check and it was like, man,
that took me even further, and I started being able
to do more shows.

Speaker 1 (21:07):
I start.

Speaker 5 (21:07):
I used to film and do production for different companies,
and eventually I got to the point where I was like,
I can't even do that no more because I'm unfulfilled.
I don't want to get paid to do anything I
don't love to do. And you know, and as I
start grinding more shows coming, I get a little more
and as you go low, like there was a point
I went and applied for another job and I got
the interview and I ended up getting a job, and

(21:29):
I just didn't take it. But I was like hurting.
I'm like, I gotta go back to work. And then
COVID hit, and you know, COVID had some money coming in,
so it was like, Okay, we're gonna build through this
or through that process. I kept building. I built my
whole company. During COVID, we started doing live sessions. I
had a little shop. My homie was written. I had
everybody in there doing live sessions. Like you probably seen

(21:51):
one go viral back then and didn't know it was us.
I was behind a lot of artists going viral from
the region just through our live sessions. We end up
losing that shop. I came back to the crib and
my mom was like, man, y'allould just use the garage.
We turned my whole garage around and start shooting more
lives sessions. I have more people go viral, and it
just start growing. And then twenty twenty one, I end
up having a viral moment and it just since then,

(22:13):
it's been up.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
We ain't stopped.

Speaker 4 (22:15):
How long have y'all been in that house?

Speaker 1 (22:17):
Since I was like four or five, so since like
ninety eight, ninety nine.

Speaker 3 (22:22):
Wow, yeah, Wow, are you are you are you consciously
when you quit your job and you need more time
for what you're building at this point, are you consciously
thinking independence or are you thinking let me build this
up to see who notices and we'll figure out some

(22:45):
type of strategic partner along the way. Are you are
you at this point thinking nah, this.

Speaker 5 (22:49):
Is I wasn't thinking that far into it. I was
just waking up every day and doing the work, and
I knew eventually something would come of it. But I
was never thinking like, man, maybe i'll get sign, may
I'll go indy. I end up being indy off just necessity,
Like I didn't have no one who was trying to
sign me, and I need an infrastructure, so I start
building it all. And as you start building these platforms

(23:11):
and catching attention, then people start coming to you and
you like, you know, one of my first offers was
for like ten thousand dollars, and at that point I
was already going viral moving, so it's like I got
ten thousand dollars, that's not gonna really help me, but
it may have helped me if someone would explain to me, like, yeah,
it's not really about the money. If we can give
you this marketing and this digital we might be able

(23:32):
to help you make fit. But nobody gave me that,
you know, so number. I just heard the number and
it was like, that's not what I'm worth, you know.
And you don't realize until you get older that like,
there's no amount of money that you're worth.

Speaker 4 (23:44):
You're worth, you.

Speaker 1 (23:57):
Know when you a certain caliber and shaker.

Speaker 5 (23:59):
It ain't no amount of money that you're actually worth
because you're gonna always exceed that number.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
You're doing things that may lead to something else, and
that's that's I think that's the thing, like you said,
and it's information because nobody gave you that information at
that time.

Speaker 4 (24:15):
To say, hey, this could lead to this. Like you said,
I may need more marketing, I may need promotion.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
In this space, and this ten thousand dollars is really
just to kind of put on top of the deal.
So I have a couple of dollars in my pocket
more so than somebody coming to you and say, mm hmm,
all you worth is ten thousand dollars.

Speaker 4 (24:31):
No, that's not what they're saying. They're saying, I'm.

Speaker 2 (24:33):
Willing to put up some bread to sweeten the pot,
to just show you I'm interested and bring you into
everything else.

Speaker 5 (24:40):
I'm trying to get all that in this game, you know,
in every still later, until later or until you enoun
it right into.

Speaker 1 (24:49):
I got on the job training I had to learn.

Speaker 5 (24:52):
I had to learn how to market, how to run ads,
how to see what deceiving platforms was, how to start
your own platform and distributed, how to honestize your content,
where to go collect your royalties, what's a pub deal,
what's a pub admin that?

Speaker 1 (25:04):
These are all things I had to learn on the job.

Speaker 4 (25:06):
So were you were you?

Speaker 2 (25:09):
Was there certain literature, certain books you were reading? I mean, like,
how were you gathering this information? Just so for the
for the for the new artists that's looking at this
interview now and it's like, I want to try to
find these things. I mean obviously you can always google
everything for sure, but for you personally, like you said,
it was on the job training where there are places

(25:31):
that you went specifically you get this information.

Speaker 5 (25:33):
My inception into it. I had got two books, A
New Music Business by Ari Hurstan and uh I think
it was like Music Business one on one Everything you
Need to Know by Donald S.

Speaker 1 (25:44):
Passman. Those two books taught me so much about.

Speaker 5 (25:48):
Torn legal deals, publishing at everything. They put everything in
those books that you can you need to know to start,
and then everything else you get. You have to go
do some work so you understand it, you know, because
you can only read about so much before you got
to go actually shoot a shot. You read all day
about this, but you go shoot them and then you

(26:09):
start learning more and more.

Speaker 1 (26:11):
But those two books really like set my path.

Speaker 5 (26:13):
And when I met Tea, when she was like, man,
I want to help you build, the first.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
Thing I did was gave it those two books.

Speaker 5 (26:18):
I said, if you're serious, you will read both of
these and highlight anything that you don't understand that's real.

Speaker 2 (26:24):
Do you still go back to those books for context?
Like are just like, you know, just to make sure, like, okay,
you know what, let me go back and just see
it sell on you.

Speaker 5 (26:33):
Because I've superseded information that was relevant at that time.
We're in a whole new industry and I operated in
a new industry that I've really helped cultivate as well.
So it's seldom I go back because it's a completely
different space now. But just recently I went back because

(26:54):
I was on you know, I throw my own shows
all of my shows. I throw myself and you know,
we do deals, but I do my ship. And I
was just I be in a space sometimes when you
meeting with the live nations and the ag so much, you.

Speaker 1 (27:06):
Start to forget, like the basis.

Speaker 5 (27:09):
When you meeting with the industry in general, you start
to think about they rules and forget the basis. And
the other day I have went back to Indy on
the Move. Any any artists out there, if you booking
and you want your own shows, Indie on themove dot com.
It's a database of every venue and all their bookers
and all their contacts, everything you need to know. And
I just went back for the cities. That was like, okay,

(27:30):
I'm gonna go hit these cities. And it just reminded
me of the repertoire that's available for me to use
as an independent artist.

Speaker 1 (27:37):
You never need the industry.

Speaker 4 (27:41):
No, you can do it on your own.

Speaker 1 (27:44):
Everything there.

Speaker 2 (27:45):
But now, okay, because I don't. I don't want to
gloss over it. I don't want to make it seem
like it was always sweet, right, like let's let's let's
talk about these first shows.

Speaker 1 (27:57):
Yeah, right, like we could.

Speaker 2 (28:00):
Some people would think, well, l Russell said, he could
just get a hundred people to show up to his
rehearsal well, most of y'all can't get out of people
to go.

Speaker 3 (28:07):
Nowhere, right, hundred people don't sound like a lot of people.

Speaker 4 (28:10):
It's a And then you.

Speaker 2 (28:14):
Realize, like, okay, three showed up, how do I get
the other ninety seven?

Speaker 4 (28:19):
Because I didn't promise somebody? But man, your your your
first kickoffs? Right?

Speaker 1 (28:26):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (28:27):
Was it just you and the homies? Was it just
your friends showing up?

Speaker 3 (28:30):
Like?

Speaker 4 (28:30):
How did that go for you?

Speaker 1 (28:31):
Crazy? And did you take l crazy thing? My very
first show?

Speaker 5 (28:35):
I had released my first album in twenty eighteen and
then started moving around the city and it just gave
me this crazy confidence. I was like, I could do
a show, and it was my first time getting the
venue and everything. So I went to a local theater
and I rented out the venue. It was a three
hundred cap and I just felt so confident. How much
as the venue three thousand dollars in my pops, me
and my pops pieced up on it. We haven't had

(28:57):
So let's let's talk about the numbers in that. For
you to make that that on, three tickets have to
at least do ten dollars ahead just to cover that day.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
Just to cover right.

Speaker 4 (29:08):
Okay, so we're there, right.

Speaker 1 (29:09):
So we end up doing that show.

Speaker 5 (29:11):
Probably about eighty people came, and I was real we
was guerrilla marketing and we out handed tickets, were putting
posters up, and it just showed me that was my
first time ever performing too.

Speaker 1 (29:21):
I remember coming off the stage and people was like, man,
how many how long you been the shows? And I'm like,
this is my first show. It was just me.

Speaker 5 (29:27):
I never really did like a bunch of support acts
of anything beyond my homies. We're all like share the stage,
but it was always me and we killed the show,
and I like, I didn't even leave on like a
man out and sell it out. It was a hard
for me. It was like, man, I want to do
this again. I know I could get bigger. I didn't really.
You start experiencing that low when you start trying to

(29:49):
go to the other cities, like when I decided to
go to Sack and it's like, man, it's only nine
people here. And then I go to Frisco and it's
like it's more of us than people in the crowd.

Speaker 3 (29:59):
Man.

Speaker 5 (30:00):
I remember that Friscal show the five people at the show.
I had rented a sprinter van and everything to get
the team there and all that, and I remember the owner,
not the owner, but the booker for Brooklyn Mortar. He
was like, man, we'll strike a deal together. I remember
going to him after the show. I'm like, Man, how
much I owe you? He said, Bro, don't even worry about.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
It's like, Bro, you can't know me if you want
it told me, you know. But he still believed in
me after that.

Speaker 5 (30:27):
But I remember being backstage and I was hurt, and
the team was back there and they was like, man,
you just just go out and give it all right,
don't worry about it. And I gave the best show
ever that night. And recently I just went back to
that venue. We sell that venue out in like nothing now.
And one of the ladies I was at that show
was like, I was one of the five.

Speaker 1 (30:48):
Crazy shows, right man.

Speaker 5 (30:53):
And those shows are so beautiful because it's like it
humbles you and just reminds you of like you have
to earn support, you know. I got to a point
where I thought I could just announce something and post
a flyer and it's gonna be sold out.

Speaker 1 (31:08):
No, do what you did? For your first show when
it meant something to.

Speaker 5 (31:11):
You still go out there and move them tickets and
run the mads and tell people about it. I'll be
telling the homies like, if you not excited about the show,
I'm not excited about the show. You can't just go
to the point and post a fly and it's just cool.
Like have that enthusiasm about your own work. And I
learned it taught me like, no, you got to get
out there and market if you want people support.

Speaker 3 (31:31):
No.

Speaker 1 (31:31):
One just has to show up for you at any
level in your career.

Speaker 4 (31:36):
That's real. How long were your sets?

Speaker 2 (31:39):
I go like you, I'm talking about when you first started, though,
then if it's five people in the crowded you're like,
all right, man, we're gonna cut thista.

Speaker 5 (31:46):
I think then then I still win an hour. My
first show was an hour plus. Yeah, that's my that's.

Speaker 1 (31:57):
I'm doing. I'm doing I'm doing that.

Speaker 3 (32:00):
You got you doing everything since we're here.

Speaker 5 (32:05):
I made sure nobody nobody ever leave feeling like, man,
I was a waste of my time and money.

Speaker 1 (32:11):
Ever, You're never gonna you're gonna leave my show feeling
like you didn't pay me enough.

Speaker 3 (32:16):
Yeah, I'm definitely where two or three are gathered. Absolutely, absolutely,
I'm gonna take my shirt off'm my hips. I don't
know how many we're gonna come on. We did the
New Addition tour. Yeah, it was like they was like,
we want you to open. I said, open open the door.

(32:43):
I ain't open in over a decade. I said, you
know what, let's get come on And I fucked them
seats up for the love of the game. When I said,
I fucked them ushers and enjoyed us. Now he was
cool because by the time he came out during my show,

(33:06):
I don't already worked to get at least four thousand
people in there. Now he walk out and.

Speaker 5 (33:12):
This motherfucker and that that's the beauty of the moments
that it just teach you. It's like paper, like if
somebody give you ten dollars and you do what you
need to do with that teen, you could turn it
to twenty. You do what you need to do with
that twenty. It turned the foldy. So it's like it's
start with five, but that's.

Speaker 1 (33:28):
Never the endpoint.

Speaker 5 (33:29):
As long as you do what you need to do,
that five always gonna come back.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
Reciprocity and it's and it's a testament to how much
you really love this because what I'm finding. What I'm
finding is there are a lot of quote unquote artists
love it.

Speaker 5 (33:48):
If it's only by people in the crowd, there's some
niggas who won't perform.

Speaker 1 (33:50):
They blame the crowd. That's wild. That's wild.

Speaker 4 (33:54):
That's wild too.

Speaker 2 (33:55):
Are they blaming promoter or they blame everything so they
don't have to go and do something that they they
consider a job. You left the job to go after
what you loved, and if you really love this, you
will have success in it at whatever level. Everybody's level
success is different. But the true love for something positive

(34:19):
always comes out of love.

Speaker 4 (34:20):
It's just what it is.

Speaker 2 (34:22):
And like I was saying, I think that as I've
been in this music industry a really long time, I
don't see as many artists that love it. And it's
so interesting because I've had those backstage conversations and I'm
looking at the artists who I consider to be successful
in that space talk about it as if this is

(34:42):
not something they get.

Speaker 4 (34:43):
To do for a living that is a blessing.

Speaker 5 (34:46):
Like it's because the labels convince people and the people
convince people like music is in a product phase, Like
how many niggas you know, soul crack, that love crack.
It's just product that they push. You feel me, And
that's what music has become. It's like, this is how
I make my living. It's the product I pushed. So
it's like deteriorated because we've allowed people to make money

(35:09):
in it without being passionate about it, or without having
that love, or without even having to do.

Speaker 1 (35:15):
All the steps it usually takes.

Speaker 5 (35:17):
Like you can't get to the NBA if you suck,
but you can make it in music if you do.

Speaker 2 (35:23):
Yes, right, this is true, damn right, this is true.

Speaker 3 (35:27):
You don't you do not have to be qualified at
all to make money in music.

Speaker 1 (35:33):
At all at all.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
On both sides too, on both sides. On both sides, Hey,
you know what's hell?

Speaker 3 (35:42):
Look crazy?

Speaker 1 (35:43):
You don't really understand.

Speaker 5 (35:45):
Like when you coming up, you think everyone who's successful
or in a certain position is because they're of a
certain tier or quality. And when you meet people and
you go on these labels and have these meetings, it'd
be like no way, But it starts to make sense.
This is why the culture is in the state. It's
in you driving. It's some niggas that I'll see pull up.

(36:08):
I ain't getting in that car.

Speaker 1 (36:12):
You'll sign. It's like, Bro, that's him, you got him.

Speaker 4 (36:16):
Once you sign, you gotta ride with him. You gotta
ride with him once you sign. And then now you're
in the car.

Speaker 2 (36:23):
With a nigga who can't drive, with a nigga who
can't drive. Talk. This is bro, This is why you
were so important to us and why we wanted you
on this show. Bro, this is why I hit you
and I'm like, hey, and we were talking about some
other shit too, but I'm like, Nigga, you have to
come to the podcast, like, because what you're doing is

(36:48):
so important and it's honestly, Bro, it's revolutionizing the industry
because the other part is that which I love, Bro,
is that you can articulate it.

Speaker 4 (37:02):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (37:03):
It goes back to the beginning of this, Like, Nigga,
I heard you speak for right, right, I heard you
speak first, and that was the goal for me.

Speaker 1 (37:14):
Mm hmm right.

Speaker 3 (37:16):
The artistry was like, but that was the explosions and ship,
you know what I'm saying, But the foundation of it
was was it was here. That's what I.

Speaker 2 (37:26):
Get because most creatives can't tell you why they're created right,
or how they created it. They're just like, oh, you know,
I just did the ship and then it dropped music.
It's like, but you know there were steps, right.

Speaker 5 (37:38):
Can't replicate it, they can't redo it over and over
and over because they don't.

Speaker 1 (37:42):
Know what happened.

Speaker 5 (37:45):
They know what for real, you haven't seen a nigga
lift up the hood and scratch his head, like, give
me my keys back, nigga, give me my goddamn keys back.
I already know what youll script back, put my ship

(38:08):
back on.

Speaker 3 (38:11):
How long it's been making that stuff?

Speaker 1 (38:12):
So you so you dip this all right?

Speaker 5 (38:16):
Right, that's the game right now, that's the game, bro.

Speaker 1 (38:23):
They have marketing meetings.

Speaker 5 (38:26):
We get pitched marketing stuff sometimes like we just laugh.
But they have marketing meetings on how to like replicate
what we do and they don't understand we do what
we do because we are who we are. You can't
replicate authenticity like it can't. You can't just do it

(38:46):
and it happens for you.

Speaker 4 (38:47):
I'm going to give you an example.

Speaker 3 (38:48):
Right.

Speaker 2 (38:50):
We had a viral moment some years back with with
a record for Tank called when We What they didn't
understand is that he had already tapped into this space
where he was already connected to the dance community. I mean, first,
he's married to a professional dancer, you know what I mean.

(39:12):
His wife is toured the world and done the whole thing.
So he already had it insight to this whole dance
community and what they were doing and how they would
take songs and they would teach classes to these songs
and all this like and to the point where he
was showing up.

Speaker 4 (39:29):
To their classes.

Speaker 2 (39:30):
Genius, right, And then it was reciprocated by these young
ladies who grabbed the record and killed it right, took
it up.

Speaker 4 (39:41):
So we took it a step further.

Speaker 2 (39:43):
We said, oh, the next when he's seen doing this,
those girls will be with him.

Speaker 3 (39:49):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (39:50):
So we found them, put them on the show, put
them on the Soul Train Awards with him. It went up,
all these crazy things right then, from the business and
the measurement side, I start in phone calls from labels.

Speaker 4 (40:02):
Hey we got this song.

Speaker 2 (40:06):
You think those girls And I'm thinking to myself, do
you know that you can't just manufacture that?

Speaker 4 (40:17):
This is?

Speaker 2 (40:17):
This has all been put in place by multiple things
that had to align.

Speaker 1 (40:24):
But you can manufacture, but in their most don't field
the same.

Speaker 2 (40:30):
And now, but it also feels manufactured, so it just
it don't stick.

Speaker 5 (40:37):
But you know what's crazy, the masses don't really care
if it's manufactured or not. And that's what I found
out they aim for. They don't aim for the people
who know it's fake. They aim for the people who
don't care that it's fake.

Speaker 2 (40:52):
Hmm okay, well in your opinion is that as sustainable
though to market people who don't care.

Speaker 3 (41:00):
I think from a big business standpoint, they don't.

Speaker 1 (41:03):
Mind about sustain it hits and.

Speaker 3 (41:05):
Moving on to the next hit because they're gonna bet
on so many of them.

Speaker 5 (41:09):
That thing is like if I can make ten million
right now, I'm not gonna.

Speaker 1 (41:14):
Wait for this thing to make me fifty.

Speaker 5 (41:16):
I'll take this ten and make another twenty and then
I'll take this twenty.

Speaker 1 (41:19):
So for them, it's like.

Speaker 4 (41:21):
It's a numbers game. Yeah, it's a numbers game, and
they got the capital.

Speaker 2 (41:24):
But they're but they're doing but they're doing that with
people's livelihood. Yes, And that's where now it gets tricky,
right because, like you said, what about the artists that
you dumped this, this, this, this, this budget into that
didn't even want to do that dumb ass shit that

(41:45):
now has to come back and pay that back if
it don't work, and it may not even really be them,
or it may not even really be what their brand is, right,
Like Larissa is a brand. There are certain things that
you have solidified that represents you.

Speaker 4 (42:05):

Speaker 2 (42:06):
You know, it's it's it's a reason why you're your
label's called good company. You know what I'm saying, Like
you really put your pennies in this there are right, Like,
but the average the average executive won't even look.

Speaker 1 (42:21):
At that because they don't have the same investment.

Speaker 3 (42:24):
Yeah you know what I mean, They don't have the
same life on the line, like they check come every.

Speaker 1 (42:30):
Two weeks regardly exactly.

Speaker 3 (42:35):
I mean, they gotta they have a you know, they
got their their stock options and there and there and
their severance paying all of these things. Like you know,
you you get fired from these types of positions, you
land softly, whereas in with us, with our lives on
the line, ain't no soft And so I think, you know,
artists need to or all creatives, regardless of how you're

(43:00):
going about it, whether it be whether it be building
or independence, you're going to need to be al rustle hm,
whether you're in that building or you're doing it on
your on your own. You have to understand how this

(43:20):
shit works and you have to have a mind of
filling in the gaps where needed, feeling in the spaces
and understanding where the fuck they are.

Speaker 5 (43:28):
And you have to, like, even if you go major
like for the system to really work for you, you
have to have your own system in place. That's why
we see so many because it's like they don't even
have a system that allows them to keep having moments
and keep making things happen. And labels want those kind
of artists, Like when they take the TikTok hit niggas,

(43:49):
it's like we'll get this quick bag, but they really
want the niggas who can't do it.

Speaker 1 (43:53):
But the niggas who can do it is like, I
ain't doing that deal you feel me?

Speaker 7 (43:57):
So it's like it's it's a void at the boy.

Speaker 3 (44:11):
You didn't seek out chasing independence or ideal or anything.
You were just you were just doing what you do right,
And tell me when you realized that me as d
is one hundred percent the way that I'm gonna go
with this. What is the moment that that defines that

(44:33):
for you?

Speaker 5 (44:35):
When I had got like the rock Nation offer and
kind of that situation, it was really kind of disheartening
to me, like how I perceived it all to where
I was like, man, if hole handling me in this capacity,
then I ain't even I ain't gonna fuck you feel me.

Speaker 1 (44:56):
It was like, ou don't.

Speaker 5 (44:57):
I'll just kind of right, it don't even really make
sense because I felt like, this is a situation where
it's a nigga, who's us one of us coming in,
So I'm like, this is gonna be handled, you know,
with a certain level of care, especially being me who
I was, So when it wasn't and I felt opposite,
it was really like, man, we just gonna rock. And

(45:17):
it's been that since, and you know, we have our
meetings and we do you know, distro deals and shit
like that. But for the most part, if it don't
make sense, I really I can do everything, like we
really figured it out, and it's like, you know, even
having a radio team, like getting to the point where
you can pay for radio promotions and shit, but at

(45:38):
the point where it's like I've embraced everything as a
I don't need it.

Speaker 1 (45:42):
If I get it, I'm grateful for it. But I'm
gonna keep on going.

Speaker 4 (45:46):
It doesn't stop.

Speaker 5 (45:46):
You ain't never got to play me on the radio.
Everybody still know me. It's some artists who on the
radio every day. And if we walk down the same street,
you gonna say La Russell and.

Speaker 1 (45:55):
You're gonna be like who with you?

Speaker 5 (45:57):
And they on the radio every day, you know, Like
I really we just was like, man, we're gonna take
this in stride and we're gonna really build something that
people can't ignore.

Speaker 4 (46:07):
No, you really are for the people. Mm hmm, seriously, bro,
like you have. You have created a space and a
brand that people connect.

Speaker 5 (46:21):
To at a human level, at human level, at a
human level. It ain't even about having their favorite song.

Speaker 1 (46:27):
It's just on some human shit.

Speaker 4 (46:29):
Tens, twenties, fifties, is my your hear that's my shit?
You know, I mean, that's my favorite you know what
I mean? But I get it.

Speaker 2 (46:38):
I completely I completely understand even more now right that
you're sitting with us and just listening to you. It
just it all makes sense, bro, It all makes sense
and and I think my the reason I want you
to come here too, though, because I'm in tank.

Speaker 4 (46:56):
Will tell you this.

Speaker 2 (46:57):
I'm a person that I recomment, you know what I mean,
And I see sometimes when people don't get it, like
I'll read your comments, you know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (47:06):
I'm like, Damn, they don't get it.

Speaker 1 (47:08):
They can't see it.

Speaker 2 (47:09):
They can't see it, like they're confused on what he's saying,
or they trying to like put some type of ego,
Oh he should have just well, one, you've never been
in this situation, so you can't just say what the
next person should have done.

Speaker 4 (47:24):
And you don't know, and in these clips, you can't
fully grasp.

Speaker 2 (47:29):
The magnitude, the magnitude of that of the person that
maybe you looked up to that damn you thought it
was gonna be different, and you just you're like, Okay,
well you know what this is gonna put me in
an overdrive in a whole nother place, and I'm gonna
focus my attention here, which for me, I look at
it and I'm like, oh, that's that was God telling

(47:52):
him you on the right path with what you're doing.
Nothing against whoever offered you anything, Yep, but no, no, no, No,
your path is this?

Speaker 3 (48:02):
That was? That was confirmation? Yes, yep, that was. And
let me show you, Let me show you what this
is so you can you can say no on your own.
I already needed you to say no. But I'm gonna
I'm gonna throw something at you that's gonna make it
make it impossible for you to roll.

Speaker 5 (48:22):
And it took me so much to grow and understand that, Like,
it was never a personal attack from anyone who's ever
offered me anything. They just wanted to assist in a
way that they could assist. It just wasn't a way
that worked for me. And get into that point and
you start to understand, like, I'm so happy none of
it worked out because I ended up here. If I
would have gotten that venue with ease, I wouldn't have

(48:45):
built the backyard. If I would have got one of
them deals early, I wouldn't have did all this and
allow people to buy shares in my songs and allow
people to buy gold cards, and allow people to get
paid royalties off of records for the first time ever.
This is the first time ever a fan could get
paid off of a song they play in their car
every day. That wouldn't have happened if I would have
signed and I didn't have stake and ownership of how

(49:05):
my music is being released and could allocate that.

Speaker 1 (49:08):
So I'm grateful for it. All I realized it was
like it was no knock. It was no knock.

Speaker 5 (49:13):
Everybody just did the best that they could, and the
best that somebody could do may not be what's best
for you.

Speaker 4 (49:19):
Can we speak on the on the gold penny, I
mean on a good penny goal car?

Speaker 2 (49:23):
Come on, yeah, So let's let's speak on the perks
of that, because that's what the cards were built on.
The perks, right, It's a reason why you're using It's
a reason why you use certain cards more than others.

Speaker 4 (49:34):
You're like, oh, it's gonna help me get flights. Who
shall know.

Speaker 3 (49:37):
Who shout not to Delta? Okay, now have shake Shack
in first class starting to sympathy. Yeah, those are the
perks cards. As a three sixty member.

Speaker 4 (49:49):
I just come on, I'm more with the John and Vinnis,
but I respect the Shakeshack.

Speaker 3 (49:53):
You gotta respect the teas fright.

Speaker 1 (49:56):
You gotta respect the teas fright on the plane on the.

Speaker 4 (50:04):
So let's let's talk about the gold card that you
got you know what I mean.

Speaker 5 (50:08):
So I started the first ever artist membership with the
Gold Card, and I really I just wanted to get
people an opportunity to buy into me perpetually. The people
who seen the value on what I was building and
was going to be around. It was like, I do
so many shows a year. If you really love me,
you gonna want to see me. But I didn't want

(50:29):
you to have to pay every single time. So it's
like I'm gonna set this membership and I let people
invest in early. Some people got a gold card for
like one hundred dollars and they be into twenty thirty shows.
They hundred thousands with me. And the Gold card is perpetual.
So when I'm doing an arena one day, if you
got one of them, you just pull up, Hey, I
got let me in whatever seat you want. The backyard

(50:52):
shows they be sold out. Now that you got a
gold card, you still in there, still get in, man,
they get first did and free tickets, And that's like
perk could being a Gold card members like, you have
access to me like shows that would be hundreds of dollars,
so whatever, you have this access, But beyond that access,
some of the gold Card members, they got my direct line,

(51:14):
like they hit I'll go play pickleball with their families
and go hang out when I'm in certain cities. Like
it's just it's real community that's built. On top of that,
I add them to a royalty list. So sometimes I'll
be releasing music and I got extra and I just
be like here, let me allocate. I'm here here, So
you'll get a random split in something that's just like
just something for being invested in l Russell.

Speaker 4 (51:37):
Amazing, that's amazing.

Speaker 2 (51:39):
Brond yeah yeah, yeah yeah, So what Okay, So to
be a member, to get a gold Card, what do
you charge for?

Speaker 1 (51:50):
It's off for base? Oh what's it worth to you?

Speaker 4 (51:54):
Okay?

Speaker 1 (51:55):
So people bottom So people make offers.

Speaker 3 (51:59):
You you get decided if you want to accept the offer.

Speaker 5 (52:01):
And it's been scaling. So, like I said, my very
first gold card, some people is getting up for one
hundred dollars and it's like they've been at twenty shows.

Speaker 4 (52:09):
Is that one hundred dollars flat feet that they.

Speaker 1 (52:11):
Want trying flat? So the gold card is one time.

Speaker 5 (52:14):
So as I scaled, that price goes up of course,
because it's like you know, I can't do them for
one hundred dollars. No more, it's more invested, but I
still I select the rains you feel me. People put
an offer for what it's worth. What is a lifetime
it shows worth?

Speaker 3 (52:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (52:27):
So every day we get.

Speaker 5 (52:28):
Offers and I go through and it's like I don't
feel like that's accommodating for what I'm building anymore, or
it's like.

Speaker 1 (52:34):
Yeah, I fuck with that, lest you do it.

Speaker 4 (52:37):
How high an offer has been.

Speaker 1 (52:39):
I've gotten five thousand dollars for a gold card.

Speaker 4 (52:42):
Oh that's amazing.

Speaker 1 (52:42):
Bro, that's amazing, Bro, jaremy jarmy. Yeah, and I've been
right now.

Speaker 5 (52:50):
Currently we got like one hundred and forty members that's
on the gold car side, so mm hmm, yeah that
is so, you know what's really dope to Ebro was
one one of my first gold car members seen what
I was doing when I first announced it. He was
one of the first office Yeah.

Speaker 4 (53:06):
Yeah people thinking from the east coast. He really from
northern Calgia.

Speaker 5 (53:09):
Yeah yeah, yeah, support it early in cop that. So
we did the gold cars and then I do royalties.
I allow people to buy a percentage of royalties from
songs because I was just like, you know, I like,
I like love crocs and I bought so many. I
was like, man, it'd be crazy to be able to
get paid every time I buy a pair, you know,
and you could buy stocking cross, but that's not the same.
It's like supporting this thing and you get paid residuals

(53:30):
from it. So I was like, imagine if you could
be able to invest in the song you love, like
you play this song every day on your way to work,
but you don't never get to make no paper from it.
I opened the door to where now you can. It's
some people who bought stock in ten twenties and baggage,
Like I just can't. You said ten twenties, My shit,
it's somebody getting paid every time you play your shit.

Speaker 1 (53:50):
That's not a russell, just because they believed in it.
And they thought that too.

Speaker 3 (53:55):
Why where are you sitting, nigga? What do you smoke?
What's going on? When you say? Well?

Speaker 2 (54:02):
He said first he had the crocks, I'm gonna just
get niggas, Get niggas FM rot.

Speaker 1 (54:11):
Man.

Speaker 5 (54:11):
I my first I did a project called Cook Together,
Eat Together, and I was like, man, it would be
really dope to give people splits who just supported me
through this journey.

Speaker 1 (54:21):
I didn't charge it nothing.

Speaker 5 (54:22):
I just gave them away to a whole bunch of
people who used a comment, who came to early shows,
who just was like, man, we fuck with you.

Speaker 1 (54:28):
I just show up.

Speaker 5 (54:28):
I gave hell of different people splits and that because
I was already giving my team splits. And it was like, man,
you get this percent for this, and I always have
a remainder and I'm like, I don't need all this.
Let me, you know, share some wealth. And then it
got to the point where that was so dope, and
people was like, wow, this is new and innovative. It
was like, bro, these are sellable assets. Every song got make.
I got one hundred percent, and I could sell every

(54:51):
percent one by one stuck. I got thirty five albums.
Every time I make a new song, you can go
put an offer in and say I love that song
so much, I want this percent of it.

Speaker 1 (55:04):
Can I get it for this? And I counter and say, here,
you can have it for this. And now you're getting
paid perpetually off your favorite song that ain't never existed.

Speaker 4 (55:12):
You really are fortunate five hundred companies.

Speaker 2 (55:15):
Yeah, it's so crazy, man, because it's just something completely different.

Speaker 4 (55:21):
But you remind me of.

Speaker 3 (55:27):
A og we had.

Speaker 2 (55:29):
It was one of my father's really close friends and
was super business minded. But you couldn't see it on him, right.
And I don't know if you do that purposely, where
you just like, yo, I'm just vibing, I'm chilling. Someone
doesn't just see you and go, oh he got thirty
five albums.

Speaker 4 (55:49):
Oh, you don't wear it on you? Right? And crazy enough.

Speaker 2 (55:53):
This guy was one of the biggest hustlers ever in
San Francisco who most niggas in San Francisco don't even
know him to this day. His name was Robert d
He was one of my daddy's best friends. Crazy and
I didn't really know how Richie was until he got
married and he brought out the Lamborghini as a gift
to his wife.

Speaker 4 (56:12):
And this was in the eighties. What he was having
long paper, but it was very.

Speaker 2 (56:23):
I'm the everyday man, but you know his was he
you know, he was getting his money in a different
way at that at that point, you know what I mean,
It stat your limitations is, you know, a long time ago.
But it's so funny, bro talking to you and even
just you dog, you remind me of him, so much.

Speaker 4 (56:39):
And I'm like, damn, bro, this name is Roberty.

Speaker 3 (56:43):
Because I know you can get I know you can.

Speaker 2 (56:47):
You know you can't, but you choose not to because
you have chosen to continue to scare your business, to
build up all the things that you're doing.

Speaker 4 (56:59):
Man. And it's like, but you hiding in plain sight.

Speaker 1 (57:04):
I ain't hiding at all. I don't watch it.

Speaker 3 (57:09):
When I'm watching him and I'm like, nigga, He's like, yeah,
I'm putting on the VIP wristbands. I was like, what hey,
I'm at the dough. I'm at the dough that's taking
me to church, the pastor greeting. He's greeting the sheep.
Come y'all, come on there. It's gonna be a beautiful Sunday.

Speaker 5 (57:26):
How every show is sold out with half recurring fans
half new. I got people who come to, like I say,
twenty thirty shows, I've seen the same people. You don't
go to it once you experience the show. Most people,
it's like you don't never go again because you're like,
I've seen it. But my show is different every time
because there's no set. People see me every time. It's

(57:48):
like church and I'm outside before once the door is open.
Before the show, I'm walking around take bit greeting after
the show, I'm house. I didne stood outside until the
sun with down.

Speaker 1 (57:58):
You feel me like it? I I'm fully invested in
what I'm building and the people who support me.

Speaker 3 (58:04):
Yeah, I want to. I want to talk about team building,
right because as you start talking infrastructure and and and
building up around you, these are people who have to
believe the way you believe and have to be willing
to sacrifice the way you're sacrificing. What are those early

(58:27):
conversations like and and then you allude it to like
giving your team interest in your songs and stuff like that,
Like what like what are those conversations like?

Speaker 5 (58:37):
Man, I make it easy to believe in me because
I'm gonna do everything with or without you. So like
I was always pushing this line and throughout the journey,
all my homies that's around me. It's like, if you
coming to hang, I'm pressing shirts. So if we're gonna hang,
you pressing shirt, you come to hang, I'm finna be filming.

(59:01):
So if you're gonna hang, you might as well come film.
I'm just what I'm owned, So you know, so early
it was really like all of my homies just embracing
what I was doing. I always had ideas flowing. You
can't really hang around me without being integrated. Like my
daughter's mom, y'all, y'all. All of my first company logos
was us drafting logo together and writing scripts and everything,

(59:22):
because it's like, that's that's.

Speaker 1 (59:24):
What I'm owned.

Speaker 5 (59:25):
So if you around me, just naturally you take that on.
And early on, like we ain't had no paper, So
it was like I needed everybody to help me. But
it's like I can't really pay you, but what I'm
gonna do, i'ma buy food. I'm gonna make sure everybody eat.
If you need gas, I'm gonna give you gas so
you can get here to and from. I'm gonna make
it as easy as possible for you to support me.

Speaker 1 (59:45):
And then I came up.

Speaker 5 (59:46):
It was like, man, I'm finna give everybody shares. If
you help me shoot a music video and people watching
that with my song get It, I'm gonna give you
a percentage in the song because I know that they
listening to the song because they seen that video and
they loved it. My directors, my engineers, my producers, my
Homie and my management ad man, if you touched a
project that I worked on, you getting something. So it's like,

(01:00:10):
if I can't pay you up front, let me pay
you perpetually. And that might not equal nothing now, but
I know where I'm going and who Lar Russell gonna be,
and there's gonna be a point where you don't have
to work today because of work you did five years ago.

Speaker 4 (01:00:25):
That's a great trade off if you truly believe.

Speaker 1 (01:00:27):
If you truly believe, it's an exceptional trade off.

Speaker 3 (01:00:33):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:00:33):
So that was my way of really getting people in
to rally around early.

Speaker 5 (01:00:36):
And like I say, I was always I'm the person
who I'll run out the booth here, record, run back in,
do my own thing. I hit the pord on camera,
go to the front. All of my early live sessions,
I was working with a bunch of different artists. They
even though I did music. Some artist's introduction to me
was me behind the camera just telling them, hey, this
is how we run this to play. They ain't even
know until I enviral one is like bruh, that was you. Yeah,

(01:00:57):
I'm behind it. I played whatever role it's necessare to
get a w Still till this day, my little homie Malachi.

Speaker 1 (01:01:06):
I'm a sit azide. Let him eat. This is his turn.
I don't I never mind sharing my platform in my space.

Speaker 3 (01:01:12):
I just want to get a w Do you think
it's important for I mean me and myself? Like I
would tell my daughter, I say, you know, I want
you to sing, I want you to use your gifts,
but I also want you to understand how it all works,
so that when it comes to articulating what you need
and what you want and the vision of a thing,
you know exactly who needs to beware in order to

(01:01:36):
accomplish that thing. And I feel like more more artists
need to understand more than just being an artists like
they have they have workshops like like at some of
the acting schools right where well at uh, I think

(01:01:57):
it's my at my at my daughter school, it was
where you have to you have to play a part.
You have to play every part in the production. So
you don't just get to be an actor. At some
point you have to be part of the glam squad.
Another point, you got to be part of wardrobe. No point,

(01:02:17):
you got to be part of lighting. Another point, you
got to be behind the camera, like you being very
hands on with all of those things, I think makes
it a lot easier for people to follow you, yes,
because they.

Speaker 1 (01:02:37):
Respect so differently.

Speaker 5 (01:02:39):
Man, I think every artist is different, and if like
you're not going to be that, make sure you have
someone in your team who is.

Speaker 1 (01:02:46):
But I've been able to like do what I.

Speaker 5 (01:02:49):
Do because everyone, everyone who's on my team, I taught
how to do their role. Like I didn't have anyone
who had experience coming from the game. Everyone who's on
my team we learned it together because I had to
do it. I edited album covers, I did the photo shoots.
I've edited videos, I direct video. I still edit posts

(01:03:09):
and schedule posts, and I administer my own public I
go in and submit myself. I've done every role, so
it's like no one who can come in and tell
me we can't get that done.

Speaker 1 (01:03:20):
You can't get that done. I can get that done.
So if you can't, you in the wrong spot.

Speaker 5 (01:03:26):
I need somebody who can't get it done, because I
could get it done, but I can't. I wouldn't have
that respect and be able to speak like that if
I didn't have that experience. But I think you doing
every role gives you a certain respect for different people.
I don't walk into a building and not greet everyone
from the janitor to the president because I've been a
janitor before. I'm not gonna walk past you because I've

(01:03:48):
been one of them and I was walked past. I've
been the president too, so I don't need you to
give me a certain level of reverence because I've been
that too.

Speaker 1 (01:04:09):
You feel me.

Speaker 5 (01:04:09):
If you don't do every role, you don't have the
same respect and value for the people in those role
to give them what they need to do with successfully.

Speaker 1 (01:04:16):
I can't nurture you if I don't know how what
a success ful arussell man. I think I'm living it
every day, you know.

Speaker 5 (01:04:28):
I get to I go do stuff like this, and
I get to go home, and I get to go
see my child, and I get to go to the
school and see the kids, and I get to see
my parents, and I get to help out my family,
and I get to waiving a new generation of talent,
and I get to see my homies and positions that
they've never been in. Like me and Tea both start

(01:04:50):
teas from clear Lake. I'm from Valleo. Most people don't
know what those two cities are. There was no resource,
no infrastructure there you walked out and you was like, man,
I know you, I see you. That ain't never occurred, Like,
these are experiences that we don't We are beyond grateful
for that.

Speaker 1 (01:05:06):
We really sit in.

Speaker 5 (01:05:07):
So I'm living in Like, success for me is this
being able to show up as myself and be valued
and appreciate it as myself. We start doing like daily shows.
Because I was telling the homies, I was like, man,
I just want to get paid to live. I don't
want to have to rap and perform. I don't want
to have to dance. I want to get paid to
be Larussell. So let's just document Larussell and share the

(01:05:30):
moments that we think is special and people gonna pay
me to be me, not to do a specific thing.
Some rappers don't get interviews in podcasts because they can't
come speak. You just want to see in rap. If
they ain't rapping, the opportunities is going in, you feel me.
So for me, the success is being able to show
up as myself every day and being able to monetize that.

Speaker 3 (01:05:51):
Yeah that's fair, and now that's great. The singer girls
crazy that you head on to this Yeah yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:06:02):
Monster, Yeah she was cooking.

Speaker 1 (01:06:04):
And Chante's another like my ears and eyes.

Speaker 5 (01:06:08):
You know, some days I'd be like, man, I need
to take a job at the label, just so I
can have the opportunity to give infrastructure and change what
the culture looks like. Because I could see it and
hear it. He found Schantay. I was shooting a live
session for another artist and she was singing background and
I was like, Nah, you need to be on one here.
She did her session that day. I was like, I'm
finna hit you this week. I'm gonna call you an uber.

(01:06:30):
Come to the crib.

Speaker 1 (01:06:30):
We did a whole ep in that day. Help write
all the songs.

Speaker 5 (01:06:34):
I mixed everything, myself, recorded everything, released it and landed
on a decent side playlist. Start moving, start building her
buzz and her energy snooped all reposted. The Lion said,
way before he even knew who I was, just off
that work. I put so much time, investment, energy and
money and work into her because I seen it and
I felt it, and as a real she tried. She
whipped me on tiny desk from me and it's like

(01:06:55):
I never I just have to. When I see something special,
I gotta help in whatever way I can. And I
can't do everything, but I'm always do something.

Speaker 2 (01:07:05):
Speaking of Tiny Desk, I want to thank you what
I do. That's my nephew that plays saxophone for you.

Speaker 4 (01:07:12):
Yeah, what, that's my name. That's my nephew, Trey. You
know what I'm saying. I mean, you know, I didn't
say his real name out here, but but this is
like that's family.

Speaker 1 (01:07:26):
Like.

Speaker 4 (01:07:27):
So to see him. I remember the day he picked
up the saxophone.

Speaker 2 (01:07:33):
I remember his grandmama, Diane, you know what I'm saying,
taking him and taking him to little jazz clubs and
you know what I mean, and in him this becoming
a career for him, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 4 (01:07:44):
And to see him on Tiny Desk was like one.

Speaker 2 (01:07:48):
Of my proudest moments, bro, because I remember, you know,
when they would come to LA because I was already
out here and I remember going to like a Grammy
camp that he played.

Speaker 4 (01:07:57):
In in high school.

Speaker 1 (01:07:59):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (01:08:00):
Now seeing this, it's amazing, Bro, It's amazing. Julie with
Julie bro in a backyard, which is a whole.

Speaker 4 (01:08:10):
Nother legendary moment.

Speaker 2 (01:08:11):
Richie Rich blowing out his knee in the backyard, like
it's crazy the things that you've been able to set
up man and put together for the crib. One for
yourself absolutely, but just even for the crib man, of
how you have brought this really positive spotlight on home,

(01:08:33):
it really means something to me, you know what I mean,
because you know, everybody that would find out my background
over the years would always be like, nigga, what the
fuck when they start really finding out what I came from?
And really what the Bay is? Right, and we know
it because we grew up in it and you know,
we experienced all of it. So to for me, I

(01:08:56):
always wanted to do things in a certain manner so
that the you know, I was a representation of a
light that came from home because it was a lot
of you know, a lot of shit going on right.
So to see you now as a young artist who
has fully brought people to your backyard and shown this

(01:09:20):
very positive thing, man, like, I can't thank you enough.
Like it makes me feel good to see, like you said,
people flying from around the world, artists that we never like.

Speaker 3 (01:09:34):
Bro.

Speaker 2 (01:09:35):
We know what cash money note none to the two
thousand men to the Bay Area, oh god. And we
know about that legendary concert that got turned upside down
back in the days. You know what I'm saying to
now him being in your backyard and it being so

(01:09:55):
much love and appreciation.

Speaker 1 (01:09:57):
And what's crazy is people don't understand like the sacrifice
it takes to make culture happen and represent it in
this way.

Speaker 5 (01:10:05):
I love it so much. Like Juvie was in the
backyard because they was coming to Frisco, and I was like, man,
I told his manager, shout out to dame manager. I said,
I'll do the Frisco show with you. You could throw
me on the bill. I don't need no money, just
have Juvie come to my backyard. I do shows at home,

(01:10:26):
and I could make you know what I make easy.
But it was like sacrifice that because I know this
moment is special. Just give me that, and we would
end up rocking and selling out midway.

Speaker 1 (01:10:36):
You feel me.

Speaker 5 (01:10:37):
I didn't get no paper from that because it didn't
matter because I knew what we was gonna build. But
just for these cultural moments to exist, it's like I
put whatever I got to put on the line so
people could have experienced this. Because we don't have one
on six in Park no more. We don't have Rap City.

Speaker 1 (01:10:52):
The basement.

Speaker 5 (01:10:53):
We don't have nothing that truly represents us and our
culture and how we be outside. You can't look on
TV now and see us not in our form. You
can see us fighting and shouting and doing and all
this other shit, but you can't see us in our
form being godly and right, how we rocked, why we
were bringing it back.

Speaker 4 (01:11:15):
You've brought it back.

Speaker 2 (01:11:16):
You brought it back, and not even just even bringing
it back like you've You've brought just like I said,
a different light, you know what I mean. Like people
that come from my generation and era of the Bay Area,
there were a lot of artists who wouldn't even come
to the Bay They would skipping over because shit was happening.

Speaker 4 (01:11:35):
Niggas was trying to get out of them. The niggas
are coming to your backyard, Brofferent. You know it takes
to get a nigga to.

Speaker 1 (01:11:43):
Come to your crib on God, we don't go to
parties at houses. What we ain't going at your house?

Speaker 4 (01:11:53):

Speaker 2 (01:11:55):
So for you to be able to establish that man
and make people feel so comfortable and feel like they
were a part of it and they're part of your family,
you know, what I mean. Like, I watched the clips
of like you and your Mama in the garage, Bro,
I've seen it. I've watched y'all talk about how y'all
had to get the press machines, and I'm like, Oh,
this is amazing, this is amazing. You talking about your

(01:12:17):
daddy was hustling back in the day, like the whole
I get it. I understand it, Bro, I get it.
And You've brought the world to your crib man man.

Speaker 5 (01:12:30):
And that was my goal, Like, I just wanted people
to be able to witness humans in a way that
we see them and interact with him every day. I'm
a regular, everyday nigga like you. I'm somebody you can
go outside and see somebody just like And I just
felt like that representation was lacking. It was like, where's
all the regular niggas that I grew up around that

(01:12:51):
I see?

Speaker 4 (01:12:52):
Where's the good time?

Speaker 1 (01:12:53):
Where is that?

Speaker 4 (01:12:54):
You know?

Speaker 5 (01:12:54):
If you have kids there demo five to sixty five
don't exist. You can't go to no other hip hop
show and get people from five to sixty five of
all different races. I don't have a core demographic. You
go on to one of my shows, you're gonna it
looked like it's like what the hell the world? Five
to sixty five every race, Congra.

Speaker 3 (01:13:19):
You're elevating, like you're elevating the stock and positivity and
doing things the right way. Like it's it's not that
you're by yourself, it's that people have been afraid to
be it and you're leading the charge. You're giving. You're
giving those people, those creatives, even those businessmen and women

(01:13:42):
you're giving. You're giving them the hope that they need.
You're giving them the gas that they need to step
out into the forefront. People want to be like yeah,
people want to be loved, People want to be positive,
and sometimes they just need they just need the right example.

Speaker 1 (01:14:03):
You need to see it.

Speaker 3 (01:14:04):
They need the right push.

Speaker 1 (01:14:05):
You have to see it. You have to see it
in your life, like represented representative.

Speaker 3 (01:14:10):
And so you're galvanizing certain troops and a certain thing
that is making this world a really cool place. Man.

Speaker 4 (01:14:22):
What's next for good company?

Speaker 3 (01:14:27):
Man?

Speaker 5 (01:14:27):
We did our first like we're throwing festivals next year.
So this year for my birthday, I was able to
do Solona County Fairgrounds, which is the fairgrounds at my home.
They haven't had a hip hop show there since the
eighties and nineties, Like this was the first time that
we had people in there in that capacity, and now
it's kind of opened the door. I've been really working
with my city, meeting with city managers, meeting with the police,

(01:14:50):
meeting with the fire, meeting with the council, like I
had a council meeting at my house for all the
upcoming council members, Like I'm really integrated in my city.
Goal next year, I'm doing even more residencies. I'm home
all year for the most part, just building that community there,
having people come in so we can experience what I've
been able to experience. When I come to LA I

(01:15:12):
usually think I was gonna have to move because I
didn't have infrastructure. So I'm building all the infrastructure so
all of our artists can come back home and we
can still get the same reverence and respect and still
get the same opportunities, but we could do it at home.
So my goal is really just we're building all of
that at the spot. I just wake up every day
and I do my work, and whatever comes from that

(01:15:33):
I accept.

Speaker 1 (01:15:34):
You know, I don't. I don't really dream too far ahead.

Speaker 2 (01:15:38):
No, that's great, bro, You really, you created your own residency.
At your residence, it's everybody trying to get to Vegas.

Speaker 1 (01:15:48):
I'm going to be heard, and it was beautiful about
what we built.

Speaker 5 (01:15:55):
Like all of our tickets is offer base, right, So
I never wanted to charge people a certain That's why
it'd be hard for me to do like the deals
with certain shows, because I never wanted to tax people
for an experience that was priceless. So when I started
offer base, my average ticket price started at like seven
dollars ten and it's just slowly scaled up and up.

(01:16:16):
You know, there's gonna be a point to where it's
so in demand. And I don't scale up in venue.
I keep doing small venues, like I sold out fonder
like two years ago, and I never went back to
a thousand plus cap so I keep it small.

Speaker 4 (01:16:27):
So people, what type of venues do you like to
do as far as like cap wise.

Speaker 5 (01:16:32):
For two fifty three hundred, because I could really build
a certain intimacy. Five be cool too, But I can
really build a certain intimacy how I do my show,
and I could see everybody and I could speak to everyone.
When it gets beyond that, it's just hard for me
to really be able to give everyone the experience.

Speaker 1 (01:16:49):
How I like to give them.

Speaker 4 (01:16:50):
You start looking at the exersign.

Speaker 5 (01:16:52):
Right right, it'd be too much. So I love the
intimate shows because it's real. Everyone who leads really feel
like they had a moment with me, and I pulled
people on stage and give testimonies, and I give some
people chances to wrap and sing.

Speaker 1 (01:17:05):
It's just a different style of community.

Speaker 5 (01:17:07):
I've been able to build through that, so I've been
trying to keep it there, and it's built a demand
within the price to where it's like, you know, I
never wanted to charge people crazy, but with the offer
based system, some people just come straight in. They like,
I want one hundred and fifty four a ticket, and
it's like, that was my dream to be like a
top tier artist that's worth that. But I never want

(01:17:27):
to attack somebody that. So it's like I do shows
and some people get in for ten dollars and some
people pay one thousand dollars, and it's such a beautiful
thing because the people who pay a thousand don't have
an issue with it because they know their thousand dollars
allow somebody to get in here for one dollar.

Speaker 1 (01:17:42):
I had to show.

Speaker 5 (01:17:43):
One time, I passed the mic around and Bro was like, man,
I paid one dollar to get in this show. I'm
going through the roughest time in my life. I would
have never been able to see nobody else for a dollar.

Speaker 3 (01:17:52):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (01:17:53):
And it just was like I can never change that,
Like that's what makes it so special. It's like I
can't do everyone for a dollar, but I get to
integrate those in. I get to do a big melting
pot of people who are never getting experienced. When I
was young coming up, I didn't go to live.

Speaker 5 (01:18:08):
Shows, right, I didn't get I didn't get those experiences
of opportunities. But I get people that chance now to
maybe experience something that might be life changing for amount
that makes sense for them in their life.

Speaker 2 (01:18:19):
But you're you are a real representation as a child
of hip hop. Yeah because j Cole Dollar, the Dream,
Nipsey Hustle, Proud to Pay.

Speaker 3 (01:18:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:18:35):
Like these are things that have been that that that
were started and implemented that you have grown into your
own brand. Is that that is a part of you
are and are even you know Ryan Leslie with superphone
where people could call him, you know what I mean?
Like all of the things that we've seen over time

(01:18:56):
you've implemented all of those into your brand and your
business plan of really touching the people, of really touching
the people, Bro, Like you said, for someone one person
in the crowd to in a sense, man, take care
of the tickets for people another ten twenty people in

(01:19:16):
the crowd because they can they can afford it. But
then then those other people that are just like Bro,
I wouldn't have been able to see you.

Speaker 4 (01:19:22):
It's amazing, Bro.

Speaker 5 (01:19:24):
And it's just like I've really taken everything that once
worked on the block and just added technology and infrastructure
around it. When we're younger, it's like, hey, this is
for twenty end, bro, Like, oh I only got fifteen,
give me fifteen.

Speaker 4 (01:19:38):
Give me fifteen.

Speaker 5 (01:19:39):
But next time you see you here gonna be like, man,
I appreciate you for getting me right here fifty you
feel me after Trunk still works, Everything that once worked
still works. It's just they've convinced everybody that that has
been rid of, and it's like that's insane. I still
go shake hands and do physical product and I'm still outside.
That's still work when people want what you got. Yeah,

(01:20:01):
So the people who like who ain't out there doing it.
No moments like no, you don't stop. You don't stop
that part like at the digital aspect, but still get
out there. These people came to see you and you
hiding backstage the whole show.

Speaker 1 (01:20:13):
How that makes sense? You know, you really have to.

Speaker 5 (01:20:17):
You gotta get back to their roots if you want
something that's rooted.

Speaker 2 (01:20:20):
Because if you're a star, you're a star regardless. You're
a star regardless, it don't matter if you are a
hitting star or somebody who's shaking every hand. And the
person that showed me that with him, you know what
I mean. If you go back on our careers. Tank
was already tanked before I started working with him and
managing him and being a part of the business with him.

(01:20:41):
And I used to just remember, I'm like, Yo, this
nigga really shaking every hand, he's really signing every autograph,
he's really taking every picture, and Nigga, we gotta get
on this flight.

Speaker 4 (01:20:55):
And every now and then I have to nudge him, like.

Speaker 2 (01:20:58):
The door door, but the people, but the people on God,
but the people right, And it never dimmed his light.

Speaker 4 (01:21:06):
It actually brought a brighter light to him.

Speaker 2 (01:21:08):
In my opinion, right where you have these certain artists
that think in their mind they can't see me, or
they got to drive me up to the plane and
then they got.

Speaker 1 (01:21:17):
To put me on the plane after.

Speaker 2 (01:21:19):
Everybody's a ridiculous and it's like, actually, you know the
flight attendant, it is treating him better because he spoke to.

Speaker 4 (01:21:29):
Her, you know what I mean? Or are they wait
on that this week? Maketure?

Speaker 1 (01:21:34):
Want you get off this?

Speaker 4 (01:21:36):
Yeah, let's justlte. It's all good.

Speaker 1 (01:21:38):
Bro.

Speaker 5 (01:21:39):
When we get people back conditioned to like humanity, it's like, yeah,
you could be famous and all that, but you're a human, bro,
You're a human. Like, let's let's get on the basis
level of that. Let's just let's be on that first.
Then you know, you could be everything else, but on
the on the check and work box, Like, let's just
be human first.

Speaker 1 (01:21:57):
It ain't no way. You walked in there and you
walk right pack ask him and you see him there.
You can't be that big. We're the same height. You
feel me like, you gotta be human?

Speaker 4 (01:22:20):
Yeah, nah, I love it, bro, I love it well.

Speaker 1 (01:22:26):
We got yeah yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:22:37):
Brother Larussell, Brother Larussell, what you're doing is amazing out
here in these streets. Some would call it Superman, it's
the Superman music. You're a brand man, you're a business man,

(01:22:59):
but you a gift that hard. I want to know
some of the music that has inspired you along the way.
Here we call that show what we call it.

Speaker 4 (01:23:16):
Top fun.

Speaker 1 (01:23:20):
Your top five, yea, come on, top five.

Speaker 4 (01:23:29):
You're tough on me, easing.

Speaker 1 (01:23:35):
Worry.

Speaker 4 (01:23:38):
We got to know though, you go get all this
shows a co you.

Speaker 3 (01:24:19):
Brother Larrussell, your top five R and B singers.

Speaker 5 (01:24:30):
I don't necessarily have a top five, but I'm gonna
give five that's been really impactful on my journey. I'm
gonna go like Jennings, that album must be nice and
stick up kids, and she got you.

Speaker 1 (01:24:46):
I know that whole a you.

Speaker 3 (01:24:49):
He appreciate this God absolutely that album.

Speaker 4 (01:24:56):
It means something.

Speaker 5 (01:24:57):
It means something and this life. If you're watching this,
forget the desk, come to the backyard, come to We're
gonna give you that moment that is deserving that you
that you earned it, your workfow and it's gonna be
so culturally representative. Come to the yard and play with

(01:25:18):
our homies and just we need that. Outside of that
t paying three Rings album, hmmm.

Speaker 3 (01:25:27):
They don't give his credit.

Speaker 4 (01:25:31):
Paying a bad.

Speaker 5 (01:25:33):
Man, from the songwriting to the singing to the performance.

Speaker 1 (01:25:39):
And let's lead. Let's lead a performing and go to
just human. I was on the road with pain.

Speaker 5 (01:25:44):
I see him going to these places in Greek and speak.
I see him walking to his hotel through the street as.

Speaker 1 (01:25:50):
A human just and you can't. It's just different. I'm
gonna go.

Speaker 5 (01:25:59):
Lauren Hill mis Education, one of the greatest albums ever,
one of the greatest writers ever. I gotta go, Michael Jackson,
you do, you gotta go Michael Jackson. And then I'm
gonna go. I'm gonna go Oldest Reading because sitting on

(01:26:21):
the Dock of the Bay is one of my favorite
songs ever.

Speaker 3 (01:26:26):
Mm hmm, interesting young man. Yeah, ready, come on like that? Yeah, okay,
your top five R and B songs.

Speaker 1 (01:26:37):
It could all be so simple.

Speaker 3 (01:26:40):
You know.

Speaker 4 (01:26:42):
You'd rather make it off.

Speaker 5 (01:26:45):
Amy Winehouse mm hmmm back to black Yeah yeah yeah,
Amy wine House tears dry on their own. M life
Jennings must be nice. And then I'm gonna do Joh,
I'm not letting out, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:27:08):
Yeah, Joh. We need you in the yard to the yard. Yeah,
I've been trying to go get all.

Speaker 3 (01:27:14):
All come on that's my guy.

Speaker 1 (01:27:18):
Yeah, I love you.

Speaker 3 (01:27:20):
I like what you're doing.

Speaker 4 (01:27:25):
Oh yeah, yeah, we.

Speaker 3 (01:27:31):
Ain't saying no names, Scott, I ain't saying no names.
I ain't saying no names. I ain't saying no names
for you. Was who used what you need? Don't say
she ain't saying no names.

Speaker 4 (01:27:54):
You're gonna break that damn keyboard.

Speaker 3 (01:27:56):
Get another one.

Speaker 4 (01:28:00):
So we had a very important part of the show. Bro.

Speaker 2 (01:28:04):
The segment is called I Ain't Saying No Names, where
you tell us a story funny or fucked up? Are
funny and fucked up? The only rule to the game
is you can't say no names.

Speaker 1 (01:28:16):
I feel like every time you get put in situations
like this, like everything just kind of go out.

Speaker 3 (01:28:20):
Yeah yeah, hm hmm.

Speaker 4 (01:28:23):
Don't worry, we'll edit. We won't give you the clock.

Speaker 1 (01:28:29):
Mm hmm.

Speaker 4 (01:28:31):
Mo.

Speaker 3 (01:28:31):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:28:31):
Some of these some of these you know, these travels,
these these offers. You know, somebody that walked past you.

Speaker 1 (01:28:44):
It got like an industry story or just like it's
up to you. It's you got something.

Speaker 5 (01:28:49):
Just yesterday, we was moving around all day and my driver, Tito,
the cool ass nigga, we met him on our trials here.

Speaker 1 (01:28:55):
Oh my driver r were moving around and we come
out the building and hop in a truck and I'm like,
what the fuck is that? He was like, it's the food.
It's the food. And we looking around the car. There's
no food in the car, and we were just like

(01:29:15):
the food that came out your ass.

Speaker 4 (01:29:18):
It was.

Speaker 5 (01:29:19):
It was like the worst male possible. Like Mally was
behind me and his old face was like, what the
fuck is that?

Speaker 1 (01:29:28):
That was like some recently funny ship that just had
us dead.

Speaker 4 (01:29:31):
So blamed the imaginary food that food said it was
the food.

Speaker 1 (01:29:35):
There was no food in the truck, just just it
was the wind. Guys rolled up.

Speaker 4 (01:29:44):
And give me a couple of minutes. Guys, don't get
in he himself.

Speaker 1 (01:29:51):
Yeah, we had to go in on that.

Speaker 4 (01:29:56):
Bro.

Speaker 1 (01:29:57):
Hold are you thirty?

Speaker 3 (01:29:59):
I just turned thirty, young legend, Come on, young legend, pioneer.
And you you're you're you're you're building, you're trailblazing, bro.
And it's admirable at your age, your wisdom and your
understanding even beyond that, your application not just saying a

(01:30:22):
thing but doing a thing and and leading by example,
like crew, that is what we own. This is how
we do it. Yeah, and if we don't know. We'll
learn it together. Like let's build community. All of that
is you're going to live forever, you want to live forever,

(01:30:45):
somebody is going to be it's going to have an imprint,
a Larussell imprint, the Book of LaRussa on them as
they move forward in life. Yeah, and that's really the
goal of all of this, right to lead, leave something
really good behind. And you're you're you're you're well, well

(01:31:06):
on your way man, and we salute you, We appreciate you.
I know, I know the I know the Bay Area homie.
He's he has an affinity for you that that's just
out of this world. Man. And like he said, thank you,
brom because because this is not like for us. You know,

(01:31:30):
this right here is about you. It always is about
who's sitting in that chair. And whoever sitting in that chair,
we learned something from m and for lack of a
better word, we steal stuff from you. Got oh, we're
gonna be pulling some l Russells, come on.

Speaker 4 (01:31:50):
The difference is we wish you.

Speaker 3 (01:31:52):
Were absolutely oh yeah, we got we're gonna throwing but
we we are learning from you, King. So it is unlimited.
This appointment, man, keep going to keep keep killing.

Speaker 1 (01:32:10):
Man.

Speaker 2 (01:32:11):
What's the name of the book you wrote? I wrote too,
so my first okay, I was just gonna say the one.

Speaker 5 (01:32:16):
Okay, come on, Yeah, your first one is called The
Bullshit We Tell Ourselves, and then my last book is
called Limitless, and I'm working on the third.

Speaker 3 (01:32:25):
The Bullshit We tell Ourselves Hard truths. Come on, you
gotta be tough when you're looking in that mirror. I'm
gonna keep it honest.

Speaker 4 (01:32:37):
Can't lot to yourself, can't lie to you.

Speaker 3 (01:32:39):
Don't love a lot of anybody else, I don't a
lot of yourself. Yeah, there's no progress in them. Yeah,
that's a whole. That's a whole. Other part, that's a wholes. Second,
I'm My name is Take And this is the R
and B Money podcast, the authority on all things R

(01:32:59):
and B. Yeah, and this has been the education Yes Ugglers.

Speaker 1 (01:33:10):
Fire R and B Money.

Speaker 2 (01:33:14):
R and B Money is a production of the Black
Effect podcast Network. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows. Don't forget to subscribe to and rate our show,
and you can connect with us on social media. At
jy Valentine and at the Real Tank. For the extended episode,

(01:33:36):
subscribe to YouTube dot com, Forward, slash r and b
Money

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Hosts And Creators

Tank

J. Valentine

Popular Podcasts

Fudd Around And Find Out

Crime Junkie

24/7 News: The Latest

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}LaRussell