RUSSELL! On Exploring His ‘Mother’s Land’ – An Exclusive Track-By-Track Guide

In spite of his heritage as a Filipino-Canadian singer-rapper, RUSSELL! hadn’t visited the Philippines until he turned 30 years old last year.

In an exclusive interview with Billboard Philippines, the artist explains how his sophomore album MOTHER’S LAND encapsulates his experiences having visited the country twice now, working on music in his mother’s home country. “I grew up in Canada and in America my whole life. I was Americanized, to kind of summarize that. I was in touch with my culture through what my mom taught me.” He shares, “My mom was always like, ‘I just want to see you back over there. I want to see you go to the Philippines.'”

However, on a deeply personal note, he opens up about his mother’s passing: “She passed away April 9, 2015. So that’s also the special thing, because it’s been ten years that she hasn’t been here. It’s like a ten-year thing where I feel like that much time has passed where I’m like, ‘Oh, wow, she hasn’t been here for that long, but I’m old enough now to figure out ways I can still tribute her in my life — in a grown sense.'” As such, the artist incorporated Filipino acts he’d met during his past visits to the country.

By the end of his production process, RUSSELL! ended up with a thirteen-track album with eleven star-studded features, and an equally glamorous producer list. Well-known names from all across the scene, from hitmakers like Illest Morena and Jay R, to the industry’s best producers like CRWN, Yung Bawal, and Luke April, all decorate the artist’s long-winding track list.

With that, RUSSELL! took Billboard Philippines on a track-by-track experience of his thirteen-track homecoming experience, MOTHER’S LAND.

“MOTHER’S LAND”

Billboard Philippines: What was it like working with Duaneinsane and JGREG on this?

RUSSELL!: I love Duane and JGREG, even just as people. We laugh in 80% of our sessions together. We just always joke around, they’re great. I think it’s cool because Duane’s a DJ too — I’ll be at a party and, without even realizing it’s him spinning — I’ll be like, “Yo, DJ’s killing it tonight.” When it comes to his production, he has a great sense of what BPMs work, which drums work on things, and that’s something I feel only a DJ would know.

JGREG has this amazing sense of melody. Great player — great guitar player, great keys player, (he) probably (plays) more instruments, but that’s just what I’ve seen him play. But, yeah, them both, they’re a great duo.

Can you share the messaging behind the song?

There’s a lot of the subject matter about romance and things of that nature on the album, but I wanted to at least have one where I was really, in a sense, documenting my experience here. I want to say this carefully, but what I will say is I think we’re well past the ‘Filipino pride’ songs, you know what I mean? If I did that, right, as a Canadian guy, we’ll break the ice on the subject right now, but that’s Filipino baiting — and I’m not trying to do that. For the amount of respect I have here from other musicians, I’m not trying to do that.

But I wanted to have that mention of the genuine lifestyle I lived here for a Filipino kid to listen to a song off this album that does talk about the Philippines, but in a way where they could sit and be like, “Yo, that’s cool.” Like, I wanted the Philippines and my experience here to sound cool as f*ck.

“2UP” (with Because)

What was it like working with Because?

I hung out with Because a couple of times before we even made the song, which I love. I met him at a Fly Sh*t Only party for the first time. I already knew about him, but I met him at my release, which was super cool because it was like, “Yo, I know about you and now you’re here at my show.” Then I saw him in Toronto because I think he had an event there and some time to chill, so I saw him really briefly at a concert that I did.

My friend Addie, who splits his time here (in Manila) and in Toronto, was like, “Do you want to get this song in at my spot? You can come record at my condo.” So we recorded that in my friend’s living room, which is insane.

I feel like a lot of the sound of “2UP” is really reminiscent of some OPM rap, some Filipino rap out here. Like, I love how his (Because’s) songs sound, and I think “2UP” is very much in that same pocket. So, there’s a familiarity with it here. I just kind of wanted to pay tribute to Filipino romance, you know what I mean? I feel like when you’re a Filipino dude, you just stick to your one girl and you love your girl — so, that’s kind of what this song is about.

Just speaking on more of Because being on there, we were literally talking about him being almost one of the first to do modernized R&B here, which is sick. So, to have him on here is cool because he was influenced by my stuff. So, to be working with somebody who was influenced by my stuff and made a crazy wave here is very full circle for both of us, and we have a music video for it coming up.

“SKYWAY DRIVE” (with DENȲ)

I think this was the first collaboration we worked on for the album. I mean, DENȲ opened for my first show here, which was really cool. I got to meet here, and I always knew about like “Gusto With Ya.” That’s her hit, you know? Of course, you hear about that outside of the Philippines, but to come here and have here open to show — that was an honor.

On that day (of recording), I was on three weeks of nonstop work, and it’s just cool for the subject matter of the song when I talk about being overworked, but meeting somebody special and taking a break away from work to really focus on that person. I think a lot of my music longs for company and longs for romance, and I love how DENȲ was able to kind of like come on there and duet it out with me.

Just to name the song “Skyway Drive,” I think it was really cool to mention Skyway. People take the Skyway, and it’s a very significant highway here. I think it’s really cool when Drake mentions certain things about Toronto, and people from out of town come to the city and understand the references. So, I kind of wanted to have that same atmosphere here, like when a kid comes to the Philippines for the first time and uses the Skyway, they have a song they could play when they drive through.

“u miss me?” (with Gat Putch)

I already knew about Gat, just for him being an OG in the scene, and him being almost a leader to his crew. It was an honor to be around him and have his respect. I mean, he’s another person who was a fan of mine, you know? So, to be around somebody who’s as excited to be around me as I am to be around them is incredible. He’s a true innovator in the rap scene here.

I feel like, even just in the gangster rap scene, it’s common to incorporate melody in a lot of the songs that he makes. He’s really the hook god; he writes amazing hooks. So, you know, it’s only in Gat fashion where he’s on the hook of my song.

Can you tell us about what the song specifically means to you as well?

I mean, you know, just writing about a distant ex. I don’t have too many ex songs, I’m very much on my romantic wave. But, you know, having one ex song on the album, I think, is very relatable. Even the song title just being “u miss me?” you know what I mean? I think it’s very endemic for anybody who has an ex that they know they grew apart from.

“THE BADDEST” (with ILLEST MORENA)

What was it like working with Illest Morena?

She’s so cool. I always appreciated her ability to be a pretty girl in the rap space, but then also switch it up and kind of be like a tomboy and be very cool and badass. There’s a cool, damn near masculine energy to her where she’s just like, “Yeah, I can be feminine, but I could also box with the dudes here too.” I always appreciated that from her style because she can rap her *ss off, but she could also sing really well.

What does this song mean to you?

Honestly, I just wanted to make something for the baddies out here. There’s a cool baddie culture out here. I give so much credit to Fly Sh*t Only for bringing me out to parties here and giving me a sense of community when I do go out here in the party space. I’m able to sit at the back of the party and observe and see what they’re into. You see pretty Filipino girls go out, so you want to make some baddie music for them to really go off on, you know?

She (Illest Morena) represents that a lot. Like, she definitely represents a lot of the baddie culture out here. Illest Morena, and I’ll talk about my collaboration with Zae after, but her, Zae, Alex Bruce, this generation of women and rap here is so dope.

“MY TYPE FR” (with ZAE)

Moving on to the next track, we have “MY TYPE FR” with Zae, and you also work with Fern and Cashman on the production, so that’s the product of your collaboration with three artists. What was that like?

I’ve been working with Fern since my first visit, which is really cool — he’s a maniac on production. He’s been doing music for so long now, and he’s found his style. I think he’s really been in a crazy pocket; just his journey as a person morphing into his journey as an artist is so cool. With Cash, I’m an O SIDE MAFIA fan, a legit one. So having him involved in any way, I’m just so happy, it feels full circle. With Zae, I was also a fan of Zae. I mean, everybody knows “SUBOMOTO” — hearing that and being like, “Who is this badass rap chick?” I first discovered her on one of my first trips here.

Having Fern be the producer of that, I already knew that he would put a club pocket on this. Because, again, it’s kind of just representative of that Philippine baddie culture that I like. You know what I’m saying? The baddies of Manila. You just want to empower them as they go to all the parties here, and you see all these beautiful women there, you’re like, “Yo, these girls need anthems.” And who’s really speaking to them? It’s girls like Zae, Alex Bruce, they’re really out here, representing the pretty Filipino girls.

“CANDY RED 2” (with PARIS. & Nueve Lio)

I’m so happy the song came about. I mean, PARIS. and Nueve Lio are the new wave of the Filipino-American young boy wave. They’re young, they’re in their early 20s, and they’re friends, so it explains how they’re both able to synchronize in their pockets really well with that West Coast Melodic rap. Seeing Nueve Lio come up in that right now, and really being the voice for a lot of Filipino kids out there, it’s cool. They embrace here too, their yearning for the same thing I’m yearning for, to like learn Filipino culture as an Americanized Filipino kid.

It’s a part two to a song I have called “Candy Red,” which is one of my bigger kind of upbeat songs. Here, we’re hitting a West Coast pocket, because again, talking about partying in Poblacion, I noticed they really like West Coast rap. So just having something for those parties as well, and some player sh*t, you know? Got to rep it for the guys too. Shout out to my Filipino guys. We did three anthems for the baddies, we got to do it for the fellas too, you know?

“IN N OUT” (with MBNel)

Here, you were working with Luke April and Yung Bawal. What was that like?

I love PLAYERTWO, and I love Luke. Great guy, and he has a great sense of music. Just working with him too, he was very encouraging of me using my voice and complimenting me as a singer a lot — so that fired me up. Then having Yung Bawal on there, it was legendary, you know? He’s literally the same guy as me; He loves cats, hip-hop, and grew up on a lot of anime. Personalities were on point, and when that happens, you know the music’s going to be great.

When I got in with them, I was like, “We need to make something for MBNel because he’s coming here soon.” MBNel’s usually in a West Coast pocket, so it’s just cool seeing Filipino producers understand the West Coast, Californian sound pocket and being able to get into that mood, but also incorporate their musicality to it. That was really fascinating seeing them being able to do that.

Just MBNel coming in, it was my first time meeting him — which is cool because sometimes you meet an artist on the other side, it’s a little different because you have your crews, and you have your teams, it’s just like being an American, that’s what it is. How I put it is, he’s in the motherland, I’m in the motherland, it’s different for us. We’re in a place that we’re both not as used to. So, to be around him in that environment is cool. We got to actually vibe and be around each other. We made two songs that night, actually. I hope the second one comes out.

“SPECIAL2ME” (with Yuridope)

Can you tell us about the introduction here? Where are you picking up all these kinds of samples from?

Yeah, well on that one especially, it’s funny. The homie doing the balut guy [impression,] that’s my homie Wayne, he was in the studio with us. If you actually hear throughout the album, a lot of the subject matter on the album, it’s not purely about being Filipino in the Philippines and things of that nature. I feel like these songs are incredible singles, and that’s what people love out here, right? But there had to be some way to tie it all together to make the listener feel like they were in Manila themselves.

So, my experience here is walking a lot. I love walking, so I walk this city a lot. I went to therapy, and one thing that therapy taught me was to be very present. And when I’m here, of course, I love listening to music as I’m walking, but sometimes I’ll unplug and just listen to the sounds of the city to really get a feel of where I am.

“boracay blues”

We took a trip to Boracay, and we did a concert there, like an unplugged session concert. We have a day there to go island hopping and do the whole thing. I had to be a tourist, you gotta be a tourist, right? I was just kind of immersed in the beauty of really blue water; the water was incredibly blue. I’m a city kid, so when you’re around islands, it’s definitely different — it’s like a whole 180 switch. So I just kind of got immersed in that whole energy of being in a relaxed island space, because I’m so used to chaotic city energy.

I made it adamant to create there, I was like, “I need one song here. Just one song here.” By the end of our island-hopping day, everybody was tired, but I was just like, “Yo, let’s get one in.” So, we made a makeshift studio in the hotel.

That’s one of the two solo songs on there, so I just wanted to capture that vibe and get a little intimate. It’s sort of like an interlude too, which is great.

“IKAW RA” (with Midnasty)

Now this is a special one.

Midnsasty is… they’re the heroes where they’re from, you know what I mean? That was a collab we were talking about on my first visit, but we didn’t get to get it done on that visit. But when I came by the second time, we made our way to Dumaguete to work on the song. It was another case of them being fans of mine from back in the day, and that full circle moment where we get to meet up and actually make a song and actually hang out. It made the experience so much better going to their compound and hanging out with them, having coffee.

When it comes to the song, it was funny because the moment I landed there, we were driving in the car, and I just tried to take as many videos to remember the atmosphere as much as I could because it had this very homey island atmosphere I loved. It was the energy there that was just unmatched. They were telling me how veterans retire there and spend the rest of their lives there, and I could see it. It’s very laid back, very homey, and a lot of solitude.

But, driving through, I was like, “I want to encapsulate this somehow sonically. Somehow get this island mood right, with the right drums.” Mind you, we made five or six songs on that visit; we made damn near an EP, so a lot of work got done for as much as we chilled.

“CRAZY4U” (with Denise Laurel)

I love bubblegum pop records. That’s something I really love. I’m tatted up, I’m from the city, X, Y, and Z. I hang out with a lot of like, my crowd is very rowdy and rugged, you know? But apart from the ruggedness, I still like some bubblegum pop. Like a lot of childish fun pop music, [I get a] lot of influence from K-pop, P-pop, you know what I mean?

As much as I’m a guy who loves hip-hop and R&B, there’s still an appreciation I have for K-pop, and that was one moment on the album where I wanted to capture that energy, because there’s an audience and I’m part of it. I’m just showing people that it’s not always like tense R&B and hip-hop all the time; we can have fun. I can box along with the pop guys, too. But, funnily enough, I grew up in pop writing. I grew up writing in those rooms and making music in those rooms in L.A. So to get my chops off on this album is great, and for somebody like Denise [Laurel] who understands P-pop and K-pop really well.

It worked, you know, she put me onto a song called “Bubblegum” by New Jeans, and I said, “We need a song like that on this album.” To get in with her and make a funky, fun pop song for the album, it just went hand in hand.

“ON MY WAY” (with Jay R)

Jay R, the king of R&B. Gotta say that before I say anything else.

He’s always been somebody that I’ve seen as a big figure here, even before doing R&B as a rapper; I knew about him, and we have a lot of mutual friends. He had also heard about me before, and he came out to my show in L.A., and the fact that I brought out Jay R at my show, that’s so sick. It was dope, and we formed a relationship and a bond through that.

That was something that kind of relieved me, in a sense, because they say never meet your heroes, right? But meeting him, it was like, “Oh cool, you’re the cool OG, you know what I mean? And you’re still so young at heart. You got like a young spirit, and you still got hunger to work and make new records.” So, I love that for him because I want the same career trajectory, like still being out here doing collaborations with the youth and really empowering the younger artists.

But yeah, going to Jay R’s house, we wanted to make one count. I was at the tail end of the album, trying to find an outro, something to encapsulate a mood. We got to make damn near a choir anthem, a church anthem. The subject matter isn’t very churchy, but like the anthemic kind of vision of the chorus, it sounds like you have a whole choir behind you.

Like soul, almost?

That’s something I actually really wanted to touch on here, too. You know, Filipinos, I feel we have soul. I’ve said this in an interview before, but I feel like the reason we’re able to tribute black music so well is because we have soul – there’s colonization in our bloodline, you know what I’m saying? We’re kind of able to take some of that pain and put it into the soul of our music.

Jay R’s got so much soul, it’s incredible. His voice is buttery, but there’s some sort of pain in there with his voice, too. That’s what I noticed about a lot of the singers out here — there’s a pain in their voice. They went through something; there’s soul in there. So, that’s something I really pride myself on when it comes to my heritage, you know what I’m saying? There’s pain in our bloodlines that we showcase through our art. Whether it’s fashion, whether it’s music, all those elements, we showcase that pain, but we do so beautifully.

So, the song is called “On My Way,” because it’s like, “I’m not there yet. Still on my way there. Maybe I’ll always be on my way.” That’s the thing, and it’s about being okay with that. The final product is dope, but what really counts is the journey.