Larussell

A West Coast rapper with an authentic, heartfelt flow, LaRussell Thomas is also the founder of Good Compenny, an organization that helps to promote rising Bay Area artists. LaRussell was born and raised in the northern part of Vallejo, California, a city with a rich vein of individual hip-hop talent. He began to rap at the age of eight but found his early education to be uninspiring. He was subsequently enrolled at Vallejo's Peoples' High School, where he blossomed in comparison. Upon graduating, he became a father to a baby girl, causing any tentative hope of a music career to be put on ice. Instead, to provide for his daughter, he took on a well-paid job at an aerospace company. LaRussell remained in the position for six years -- occasionally releasing music on the side, under the moniker Tota -- before deciding to quit to pursue full-time involvement in the music business. In 2017, he created Good Compenny and released further singles as Tota, such as the injustice themed "Cyntoia Brown" and the autobiographical "6am in Vallejo." He described January 2018's The Field Effect as his first proper project, and the reaction it brought motivated him to kick on. In July, he issued the sprawling album Never Forget Who You Are, and subsequently spent much of 2019 and 2020 releasing freestyle raps over his own compositions. June 2020 brought Silence Won't Save You, his first project released as LaRussell. That December, Good Compenny launched its own live performance video channel, not too dissimilar to the Berlin-based Colors Show. Its inaugural video featured LaRussell performing "Do That Little Dance," which helped promote the simultaneously released The Field Effect, Vol. 2. Other artists given a boost by the platform have included Iman Europe, Tah-Hir, Zharmila, and Jazs. Around this time, the famed, Brooklyn-based luminary Hovain Hylton began to manage LaRussell's affairs -- a useful move, as while LaRussell oversaw his business on the West Coast, Hylton could do the same for the East Coast. 2021 brought Marlin 7, the first of several projects to be produced by Tope, and he worked with the likes of Skeyez, RRAREBEAR, Armani DePaul, and Dom Bailey. The expansive LaRussell & The Homies: Live at the New Parish was issued in May 2022, as was Justin Credible Presents: LaRussell, an eight-song EP featuring guest spots from Glacier Boyz, Samuel Yun, and Jordan Jackson. The Tope-produced Days Like This, Champagne Gummies, and 96' Bulls were all released before the end of the year. ~ James Wilkinson