Paul Russell, singer, songwriter, rapper and top up-and-coming artist is celebrating the ride of his viral single “Lil Boo Thang,” and a remix with GRAMMY-nominated, dance music DJ and producer Galantis, is out today via Arista Records (December 15).
“It’s crazy. The ‘Lil Boo Thang’ song is something I wrote in my bedroom and so now, like, having thousands of people that I’m about to sing in front of is just like… this doesn’t make any sense,” Russell tells Celeb Secrets host Juliet Schroder backstage at the 102.7 KIIS FM’s Jingle Ball in Los Angeles earlier this month.
“When I first made the song, I didn’t know how to clear it,” Russell confesses. He admits the demand for the song’s release was apparent, but he was still familiarizing himself with the process of songwriting and the process of getting it out into the world.
“I had no idea how that process worked at all. For like months I was trying to figure out how to get in contact with the emotions, and we had all of these random people reaching out and it was the most scary process because I didn’t know how long it was going to take. I was getting DMs from people like, “We need this song!’ The song was able to come out eventually but I was like, ‘These people are going to kill me if this song doesn’t come out. If I see your face again and the song’s not out, I’m going to be so pissed!’”
Performing at multiple stops on the national radio tour, which ends in Miami/Fort Lauderdale tomorrow (December 16) with Y100 Jingle Ball, Russell divulged on his favorite part of being on the road.
“It’s a lot of fun. Favorite memories is meeting other artists. That kind of thing is crazy, and just being in front of a bunch of people and singing something you wrote is just insane and people actually knowing it! Like people singing along and their mouth moving and I’m like, “Oh! You know the words!”
“Lil Boo Thang” has amassed over 175 million streams worldwide and only gaining more. The single reached No. 5 at Top 40 Radio, is the No. 3 most played song across all radio formats and hit No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s made its rounds on social media as well becoming the No. 1 most used song on Instagram Reels in the USA, made it to the Top 15 on the Billboard TikTok chart and landed on Spotify’s Today’s Top Hits playlist and Pop Rising playlist. The 26-year-old act couldn’t be happier.
“I had no idea,” Russell tells Schroder when asked if he knew when writing the song if it would be a hit. “I thought, ‘Oh, I like this, but even at that point, I didn’t even know that I was going to be able to release it. It was a fun little piece of content and then I saw people really loving it on social media and it was like, ‘Wow, what if we tried to make this into a song.’ So it was all these little moments in this process but there was never a point until it came out that I was like, yeah, I got a hit.”
Former NFL pro turned television host and actor Terry Crews even made a video using the sound leaving Russell ecstatic.
“I was in line at a burger restaurant with some friends and then I had my phone out and then I got the notification like, ‘Terry Crews mentioned you in a video’ and I showed my friend and was like, yeah, these are the kinds of notifications I get these days and it was the craziest likes of my life.”
https://www.tiktok.com/@terrycrews/video/7283629564222278958?lang=en
Throughout the year, Russell has performed on TODAY, Live with Kelly and Mark, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Jimmy Kimmel Live. Now, the hit singer will be performing live on December 31st on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2024.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uCGYrFgLXE
The No. 1 Billboard Emerging Artists Chart topper is set to release “a lot of new music” in the new year and aims to have a “nostalgist” vibe that has “kind of a 70s feel to it” but also intends to keep it contemporary.
To keep up with Paul Russell follow @paulrussell on Instagram, @PaulyRuss on X and @paulrussellmusic on TikTok.
Check out our interview with Russell below and let us know what you’re thinking by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sliding into our DMs on Instagram at @celebsecrets.
With reporting by Juliet Schroder. For more coverage from iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2023, click here.
