Paul Russell

It’s March 2023 and the LA sun is beating down arduously on the concrete highway, as Paul Russell drives to his “desk job” in the world of business start-ups. Nonchalantly listening to a podcast, a sermon recounts the tale of Daniel from the Old Testament: “Daniel fasts and God blesses him, making him 10x better and stronger than his peers in similar circumstances”, Paul scrupulously relays. Mulling over the story’s meaning, while praying about its hidden truths, his phone fleetly buzzes with a text from a friend: “Your music is about to grow 10x this year.” Jolting to attention, Paul Russell brings the car to a halt; he pulls over and abashedly scrambles a pen and paper proceeding to note every metric of his musical journey. From monthly listeners to streams, no statistic escaped his scrutiny.  

Months flew by, and as the biting cold of winter settled in, Paul found himself reminiscing about that fateful spring day when coincidence struck a little close to home and he scoured every nook and cranny to locate the piece of paper containing his spring statistics. Amidst the clutter, he unearthed the worn document. Bemused, he stood in disbelief, pondering whether it was sheer luck or something more mystical at play: his friend was right, his spring stats did indeed multiply tenfold compared to December’s present day. 

 “I couldn’t believe it. I felt like it must’ve been set up. It just goes to show that some things in life are orchestrated and meant to be,” Paul says with zest and candour as he takes a short trip down memory lane recounting that fairy-tale moment. “I got ‘10x’ tattooed on me because of it,” he confesses with his mischievous Southern drawl. Such mythical incursions and otherworldly happenings are not a surprise after speaking with Paul for a mere few minutes: it’s as if he attracts goodness, divine intervention if such a thing, radiating a halo of positivity and beaming up a room with his cheesy grin and kick for life.

When we call, he sits perched on his hotel balcony overlooking Brussels – a pit stop on a European radio promotion tour for his latest hit ‘Say Cheese’ – dressed in a beige scoop neck knitted jumper that holds his silver chains atop, complemented by his curly locks and frosted golden tips. “The waffles here are crazy good. I’ve had them three nights in a row,” he exclaims, chuckling like a kid in a sweet shop. A few days prior, Paul was in the hustle and bustle of London, sitting on the iconic red couch of The Graham Norton Show and later setting the stage ablaze with his performance. “It’s weird because seven months ago, I was working a desk job, now I’m here. I sat next to all these madly famous people. Right now, my job is to travel to all these fun places, I’m telling everyone that I’m working on my new bucket list because everything’s checked out,” Paul says, as his pupils widen with a humble wonder. 

It’s true Paul Russell’s journey into the music scene has been extraordinary, like a feverish dream turned reality. Music has always been a background hum in his life, a passion simmering on the sidelines while he pursued political studies at the illustrious Ivy League Cornell University. But for the Texas native, music was always more than a mere hobby: it was an itch he simply couldn’t ignore. So naturally, he had to imbue his degree with a tinge of musical goodness. That’s where his moniker ‘Paulitics’ comes from, “It’s a self-homage to the moment where everyone told me to get into politics. But for me, music became my new politics.” Under Paulitics, he became a BNOC, piquing every cliché’s ears as he dished up resonant lyrics that navigated the choppy currents of young adulthood to a medley of differing genres, from trap-inspired hip-hop beats to tender acoustic folk-y offerings.  

Though releasing a slew of singles during his time at college, it wasn’t until he graduated and stepped into the corporate arena as a business analyst that he began questioning his career path. “[It] was my dream job at the time, but the more I did it, the more I felt like it wasn’t rewarding… I wanted to make more of an impact”, Paul confides. As monotonous spreadsheets piled up and boardroom meetings became tedious, he found himself rushing home as soon as the workday finished to offset his emotions by making music. And this music wasn’t some mere creation, it was music that surged in popularity, demonstrating his protean artistry for all to behold. From ‘Ms. Poli Sci’ – a mellow number full of easy-breezy beats and unmatched wordplay gaining over 27 million streams to date – to the laid-back offering of ‘be that too’ – a track he released just a few months prior to smash hit ‘Lil Boo Thang’ – his creations were full to the brim with promise. For Paul, though, this music was “just for fun”, explaining that he “didn’t start seeing the potential of making a living out of it until I started to put stuff out on TikTok”.  

Dropping a 20-second-long snippet of his song ‘Lil Boo Thang’ – a track tinged with ‘70s soul and R&B intricacies— on TikTok, it wasted no time captivating even the most discerning music aficionados, swiftly circulating around social media and amassing over 11 million views. Soon, labels began clamouring for Russell’s attention and he fleetly inked a record deal with Arista Records of Sony Music, turning his dream of becoming a musician into a concrete reality.  

Although ‘Lil Boo Thang’ is a funky upbeat track laden with feel-good vibes, the song was penned during a difficult time for Paul. “I was working lots and working late. I wasn’t seeing my friends as much. I kept thinking to myself, ‘What am I doing with my life?’ and so the song quickly became my outlet to make me feel like I was living a better life. I was transporting myself to a better time,” he says. Pressing play on a cadre of music that guaranteed to put a smile on his face, he found himself enveloped in whimsical celebration, surrounded by friends, revelling in the moment. This escapism to happier times is why Paul believes the song resonates with people worldwide: it wields positive vibrations and fosters a sense of community, as it carries the legendary bounce of the Emotions sample ‘Best Of My Love’ and the sanguine joy that follows suit. “There’s a lot of negative music today. It makes you feel bad about the world after listening to it. I’m trying to make music that counteracts the negativity,” promises Paul. 

It makes sense that the artist has set his sights on making feel-good anthems. Possessing a cheeky chappy charm, Paul channels his authentically buoyant persona into intellectual wordplay and bubbly melodies. Prioritising the narrative arc, his music “comes from the heart”, with candidness guiding every lyric he pens. Musing on life’s ebbs and flows, his lyricism is rooted in the belief that there’s always something to look forward to, so even when not feeling his usual upbeat self, Paul draws inspiration from cherished memories. As an artist, his abundance of joy doesn’t just result in tracks teeming with glee, it creates what he affectionately refers to as “cookout music”.  

What is cookout music? You may be asking yourself. Paul explains, “Well, a cookout is a BBQ. And cookout music…” he smiles, “is music that is digestible enough to sing along and is familiar enough that everybody in the room can feel like they connect to it. It’s communal. That’s how I make music. When I’m in the studio, I imagine myself with a bunch of people. The best musical experiences are had when you’re with people.” 

Arguably earning the crown for the quintessential cookout anthem, Paul’s latest release, ‘Say Cheese’, is a three-minute celebration of life and a testament to the idea that anything can happen. Making the song on his birthday – only a few weeks after ‘Lil Boo Thang’ skyrocketed up the charts and into our lives – amidst a joyous time, it was only natural for him to create a feel-good record. “The track is authentic to how I was feeling at the time. I just quit my job, I was super happy. It was a representation of how I was feeling,” Paul tells me. Racking up over 200 million streams on Spotify, the track is a buffet of funk and pop, laden with a boisterous rhythm, ecstatic hooks and an earworm chorus. Right from the beginning, a trumpet solo sets the tone. Why the trumpet? Simply because “nobody’s making happy music anymore, so you hire a trumpet player to get to work”, Paul joked on TikTok. 

While ‘Say Cheese’ maintained the infectious pop charm of ‘Lil Boo Thang’, the trumpet and interlocking grooves – characteristics of the funk genre – alongside a driving hip-hop beat, presented the singer-songwriter with a moment of contemplation. He questioned whether integrating these elements would stay true to his artistic vision. “After ‘Lil Boo Thang’ I sat down and thought whether I should make stuff that sounds exactly like that track. But the more I made music, I started gravitating towards some of the things I had connected to in the past. That’s where ‘Say Cheese’ came from.” Referring to his childhood growing up in Dallas, Texas, you could catch him doing three things: one, learning how to wail on the trumpet; two, spitting bars during lunchroom rap-battles; or three, strumming the ukulele he learnt because his crush played one too. While his father’s jazz and funk records boomed through the walls of their home, so did his sister’s love of ‘90s hip-hop and R&B. Finding common ground in both musical styles is why Paul joins the pool of artists who refused to be placed inside the constraints of one genre. 

“It’s hard to define myself as one genre. Every genre has baggage. Most people would say that I make pop music, which may be true, but sometimes it can be used in a derogatory way depending on who you’re talking to. In my music, there’s a lot of rap influence, but there’s a whole ecosystem around hip-hop and my music has grown outside the traditional rap ecosystem. I do a bit of everything: hip-hop, funk, soul and pop,”  

In Russell’s eyes, he’s only just getting the ball rolling, figuring out what it means to make a living from music. “What is the world I’m building as an artist? I don’t know yet. I’m still figuring it out. You have to boil yourself down, figure out who you are and what you stand for: it takes self-awareness. You have to know yourself and be ok with everyone else knowing you. It’s a work in progress”, he vulnerably shares. And what better way to embark on a journey of self-discovery as an artist than crafting an entire album? Set for release this summer, the project promises to be a reintroduction to his uplifting ethos, as he navigates listeners through life’s twists and turns. Until then, his agenda is bustling with shows: from embarking on a European tour with breakthrough soul sensation Teddy Swims, to piquing the ears of pop princess Meghan Trainor – who asked him to open for her US tour this autumn – it seems like Paul’s whirlwind year is set to continue into this one. Whilst travelling the world for his music may still feel wild and weird for Paul Russell, it won’t be long before his authentic tracks swiftly shoot his star into the stratosphere. “There’s always something to look forward to in life—that’s my message. I want to make music that’s the soundtrack to the best moments in people’s lives. Be happy. Tomorrow is a new day.”