Vallejo rapper LaRussell brought local flavor, nervous energy and a heavy dose of sentimentality to Outside Lands as he treated the audience — which ballooned throughout his set — to a slate of Bay Area anthems.
“I was nervous for nothing,” he said early on in his afternoon performance at the Lands End stage on Saturday, Aug. 9, shaking off the festival jitters.
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After playing a handful of songs off his latest album “Good Ethika,” the North Bay artist banged out renditions of chart-toppers like Too Short’s “Blow the Whistle” and Tupac’s “That’s Just the Way It Is.”
Though he admitted to being intimidated by the massive size of the venue — Golden Gate Park’s Polo Field — LaRussell had plenty of fans cheering him on. His contemplative lyrics were buoyed by the beauty of Oakland-based vocal ensemble Collab Choir, as well as a flutist, harpist and pianist.
The result: high vibes and a positive, contagious energy…