A Train Ride Through the Pacific Northwest to See RUSSELL! Live

Welcome to Golden Dragon, a newsletter by Eric Diep about Asians in hip-hop and my takes on trending topics in AAPI pop culture. Golden Dragon is a rotation of interviews, reviews, news, critical perspectives, and random blogs about music I recommend.

• Live Review: I traveled to Seattle, Washington to catch RUSSELL! before his tour wrapped in Vancouver.

• Album Review: KnowKnow’s new EP Mr. Enjoy da Melody as he continues his North American tour.

• Diep Cuts: Blurbs on SAILORR, Junoflo, Khantrast, Ted Park, and Saweetie.

• Send It: Jay Park and Ty Dolla Sign shoot a video; Hanumankind teases the “Big Dawgs” remix.

Over Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I took an Amtrak from Portland to Seattle to see an artist I hadn’t listened to in over 10 years. His name is RUSSELL!, formerly known as D-Pryde. Depending on your entry point to his music, you either became a fan of his R&B as RUSSELL! or you were a fan of D-Pryde when he was dropping “freeverses” and covers on YouTube.

My initiation to Team D-Pryde began with his XXL feature on The Break. I liked that he was a nerdy teenager who was lyrical, breaking the mold of what a rapper should look like back then. I started posting him on XXLMag.com after he released his version of Drake’s “5AM in Toronto.” He was an internet kid who started getting big on MySpace, using YouTube to get his music out. If you dig deep enough, there are still remnants of the old D-Pryde that bring back memories: A teenage D-Pryde rapping over “I’m Still Fly” and the video for “Bottom Dollar” that went viral featuring his singing. He was doing the rapping and singing thing during the blog era before it became the norm.

When the Brampton, Ontario native reintroduced himself as RUSSELL!, I wasn’t completely sold on his new music after playing DEARLY LOVED and the EL CARIÑO deluxe. His R&B feels like fuckboy anthems and simping over women for attention. It’s modern and I’m a purist at heart. Most of his tracks miss the passion and obsession over romance that brands good R&B. 

Maybe his live performance would sway my opinion.