\u201cThere weren\u2019t many adults in my life that really saw my perspective,\u201d he explains, \u201cor views weren\u2019t valued. I was not asked about how I felt and what I was experiencing. With the youth that\u2019s around us, they\u2019re really cultivated. So to see all them flourish and shine, it\u2019s really dope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
LaRussell put out the word some time ago that he wanted to stage high-energy hip hop events where everyone is welcome. Music in the Park on a Sunday afternoon was a natural fit. \u201cIt\u2019s my first time actually performing in San Jose,\u201d LaRussell says. \u201cThey\u2019ve been asking me for a [San Jose] show for years, and I haven\u2019t been able to find a venue to accommodate what I wanted to do,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The South Bay and East Bay talent lineup includes 1990s underground hip hop pioneers Souls of Mischief, NPR Tiny Desk winner Ruby Ibarra, San Jose native rapper Kung Fu Vampire and Misa James<\/a>, who recently was handpicked by LaRussell at an open mic he hosted with KQED.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo, to do my first time in San Jose in this fashion is just ideal and perfect. We outside. We in a park. I get to run around and play football and just be immersed in the people. And I think that\u2019s the best way for people to experience what I bring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEven when I was younger, when I was a kid, my dad used to wake me up every Sunday to go to the flea market out there. And we spend hours there just kind of getting material and moving around. So San Jose got a place in my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The excitement the upcoming show has generated is, in part, due to LaRussell\u2019s mission as a transformative entrepreneur who brings a DIY model of artist empowerment to the music business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI really see music changing. I\u2019ve literally watched the change of people going from streaming back to direct-to-consumer, back to in-real-life experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n LaRussell says he has built infrastructure and platforms for artists to go direct. \u201cI\u2019ve seen some of the biggest artists in the world doing it now, and I get messages and calls from artists, like, how is this possible? How do you do this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor me, it\u2019s much larger than hip hop. I\u2019ve innovated and changed the way music and music business looks and works today. If you look online of any artist that\u2019s like upcoming, their social media strategy mimics and mirrors what I\u2019ve done for years. You know, we\u2019ve set a blueprint for what this is and how to build your own, independent base and build something sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n LaRussell stays community-focused with backyard concerts and \u201c\u200b\u200bpay what you want\u201d pricing for some shows and album pre-orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He doesn\u2019t have a manager or agent, and does deals himself. \u201cAs I\u2019ve grown, I\u2019ve just like, gotten better and better at it. And I know what I want best. You know, someone trying to speak on my behalf can\u2019t speak the way I speak. They can\u2019t talk to it the way I talk to them. They don\u2019t see it the way I see it. So there\u2019s no point in me having a middle man because it\u2019s going to dilute my vision anyway,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m the best spokesperson for La Russell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n LaRussell references heroes from the Black Liberation movement such as Huey P. Newton in his lyrics. \u201cI feel, like, I\u2019m a pivotal piece to the revolution that began. And, I\u2019m in a state where my ancestors may not even have envisioned or seen possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen you come to my shows and you see the demographic and who\u2019s there, from 1 to 100 Black, white, Indian, Mexican, every, every fucking race. It looks like a \u2018We Are the World\u2019 commercial at my shows. The people who were fighting before me couldn\u2019t even see this, this side of it. You know, they were fighting for something that most didn\u2019t live to see come to fruition. It\u2019s very important for me to stand in my truth and who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n LaRussell is pleased to play Music in the Park\u2019s first hip hop show, 14 years after the seies was shut down for two years by city officials who believed the then-unticketed concerts attracted what they called an \u201cundesirable element<\/a>,\u201d a euphemism for pot-smoking teenagers who wore sports team jerseys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSan Jose? The reason I wasn\u2019t able to do shows out there is because the venues that I did go to weren\u2019t keen on bringing a hip hop show into the space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Vallejan playing Plaza de C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez is also historic. It\u2019s where California was founded and the state capitol sat for 16 months. That is, until Californio warlord Don Mariano Vallejo enticed hard-drinking legislators with a failed donation of 150 acres and $300,000 to build more comfortable digs\u2014in Vallejo\u2014than the edured at San Jose\u2019s cramped, leaky and poorly lit Adobe Hotel, which stood at the Plaza. That slippery slope led to today\u2019s state capitol in Sacramento, after brief detours in Vallejo and Benicia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve been able to shift the narrative and the feeling around what hip hop is and what it\u2019s supposed to be like. I\u2019ve taken it back to the core and to the root. Hip hop is unification.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n LaRussell has relationships with many of the artists on the Sept. 21 bill, but won\u2019t speculate if there will be any mainstage surprises. \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful to see us all in one place together. You know, when magical people come together, magical things happen. So who knows what will occur.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m excited. Like I said, this is my first time in. San Jose\u2019s the only place in the bay that I haven\u2019t got to do a show in. But every time I pull up there, I just walk around and people are excited and the energy is there. So I can only imagine what this show is going to be like. It\u2019s going to be a great homecoming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr. Ato Walker, local comedy impresario, co-conducted the interview and contributed to this piece. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Metro editor Dan Pulcrano leads the Metro-affiliated team that produces Music in the Park.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Music in the Park\u2019s final show of the season begins at 4pm on Sept. 21, with a bill that includes LaRussell, Souls of Mischief, Ruby Ibarra and Kung Fu Vampire. For tickets, visit CalTix.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LaRussell headlines the largest bill in Music in the Park\u2019s 35 seasons: seven acts and a DJ, showcasing deep connections in Bay Area culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14789,"featured_media":20183997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[1775],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n![\"Four](\"https:\/\/www.metrosiliconvalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2025\/09\/msv2537_Souls-of-Mischief_Facebook-1.jpg\")
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