Producer Russell W. has released his new mixtape Beautiful Distraction
hosted by DJ Ill Will.
The tape features guest appearances with a slew of artists including Jon Connor (“Beautiful Distraction”), Freddie Gibbs (“Hold On”) and Nipsey Hu$$le (“Welcome to the Lovely Life”).
According to Russell, the offering isn’t exactly a mixtape, but more of a freebie and token of gratitude to fans. As an added bonus, he threw in an instrumental version of the project.
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“I don’t call it a mixtape. To me, it’s a free album,” he tells HipHopDX. “It’s all original so it doesn’t fit in the typical mixtape box. It’s a sophisticated blend of different genres into a hard, raw, in-your-face listening experience. It represents my evolution as an artist and a person and is a pretty clear window into my recent experiences, memories and general time period. This process involved hard work, sacrifice and commitment and produced moments I’m looking forward to sharing with my fans. I chose to do the instrumentals to give back to my fans and others who don’t have access to beats. Like I say in my record ‘I Am,’ ‘Take one for free, from you to him to her to she.’”
Naming artists like Jon Connor, Meek Mill, Drake and Kendrick Lamar as some of his current favorites, Russell, who previously worked with Jay-Z and Lupe Fiasco, looks at past production experiences as ways to introduce him to a wider audience.
“In general, I think it’s good to do features and show fans to different styles on a record,” he continues. “It represents unity in a game of desperation and gives fans a chance to hear someone that I’m down with but who they might not necessarily know. With regard to Jay, it was an honor to work with one of my idols in this game and to this day I appreciate that opportunity and am thankful for the early consign. With Nipsey, I’m a huge fan of his work. He’s an all around stand up good guy and I’m excited for him with all the major moves he has coming up.”
