Russ P finds strong voice on return to hometown Memphis

Hal Jaffe

Rapper Russ P has rebooted his career with the catchy single "Dirty Taylors" and a load of material on the way.

Sunday's "Memphis Unplugged" concert at Minglewood Hall's 1884 Lounge is not, as the name might suggest, an evening of acoustic performances. Rather, it is a showcase featuring up-and-coming hip-hop and R&B talent like Jessica Ray, Cerioso, Kris Thomas, PAT 24seven and DJ Dnyce performing with co-presenter David Parks and his band Trump Tight.

"Unplugging our ears to new live shows can help continue the tradition of our musical history in Memphis," said promoter Ty Sanders, Parks' partner with whom he previously produced the similarly themed "The Show" and "Rising Stars" concerts.

For at least one artist on the bill, Sunday's show is less a coming-out party than a shot at redemption.

Three years ago, Memphis native Russell Polk, who raps under the name Russ P, was living in Atlanta, where he had a major-label deal. Then, almost as suddenly as it came, it all went away.

Down but not out, Russ P returned to Memphis a year and a half ago. Now he finds himself on the rise again, with one of the hottest local singles of the year in "Dirty Taylors" (with its insanely catchy refrain, "Everything clean but my money and my Taylors"), a much-buzzed-about new single called "Bail Money," plans for two full-length records, and the backing of the city's biggest and most illustrious studio.

"I really didn't have a for-sure game plan. I just needed to come home and find myself again," Russ P says from Ardent Studios. The 29-year-old recently become the first rapper to sign with the studio's mainstream label, Ardent Music. "And when I got here, it seems as soon as I put my feet on the ground, things started to happen."

Russ P believes show business is in his genes. His estranged father, also named Russell Polk, was a popular dancer and singer in his youth, and Russ P says that growing up in Orange Mound, he exhibited the same need to perform from an early age.

"I always tried to be an entertainer," he recalls. "I was trying to make people laugh. My mom says I would get on people's nerves. Always trying to say, 'Look what I can do.'"

At Greater Hope Baptist Church, Russ P would sit in the front pew, not so much to absorb the lessons coming from the pulpit as to watch the band.

In middle school, Russ P began to dance like his father, and at Wooddale High School he began to join in at lunchtime when other kids would rap. At the same time, he met his best friend, De Angelo "D-Low" Curney, who began to open the gospel-weaned prodigy to hip-hop.

"The only rap I knew was Triple 6," says Russ P, referring to Memphis Oscar winners Three 6 Mafia. "(D-Low) turned me on to Wu-Tang Clan and Jay-Z, and that's really when I fell in love with hip-hop. It was like they were talking about something subliminal or something. They were opening my eyes and making me think a little bit. Making me go and look and read what word he used and do research."

After high school, Russ P. came under the wing of local singer-producer Doramus Roberts, who nurtured the young rapper -- then performing as Real McCoy — on the road and in the studio and featured him on his 2005 album, The Truth and Then Some, which contained the regional hit "Freaky Mood." Roberts also reacquainted Russ P with his Wooddale classmates in Kinfolk Thugs, who also featured him on one of their early mixtapes.

"I was terrible," Russ P says with blunt honesty. "Back in the day, I wanted to be Jay-Z. Everybody was trying to tell me, 'Man, you sound like Jay-Z,' but I was in denial. After awhile, I realized you have to have some influence from somewhere."

It was a call from former Memphian and producer Elvis "Blac Elvis" Williams, whose credits include hits for Fergie, Usher and Beyoncé, that brought Russ P to Atlanta. Almost immediately, he was recording with Yung Joc and hanging with T.I. and Jamie Foxx. Eventually, his contacts landed him in front of Universal Records, which signed him to a record contract. He released one song, "Superstar," but disputes between his management and the label ultimately imploded the deal, and in the end Russ P separated from both.

Russ P returned home determined to bounce back: He began networking and meeting local deejays, and he and D-Low opened a small studio called Sky Lyfe Music. He also hooked up with management firm Street Savvy Unlimited, and teamed with producer Tone Yates.

With momentum building, Russ P went to Ardent to record a video for "Dirty Taylors." There his sound caught the ears of an unlikely advocate.

"The song was constantly being played here," says Ardent comptroller Elizabeth Montgomery-Brown. "You could not walk from one room to another without hearing it, and it really spoke to me. It was a super catchy song, and I felt the artist had a lot of talent and deserved to be heard."

Montgomery-Brown lobbied hard to add Russ P to the label's stable, which also includes rock acts Jump Back Jake and Star & Micey. Next month, Russ P's first full-length effort, The Russell Polk Project, will hit the streets under the Ardent Music banner. The record collects his previous singles plus some new tracks, including "Dreamin,' " an unlikely collaboration with rock band Lucero.

Russ P is planning a regional tour next month with PAT 24seven. And in early 2012, he will hit right back with B.O.A.T.S., a new autobiographical album whose acronym stands for "based on a true story."

"In my music I take from everything," he says. "All the ups and downs. It's my story. It's inevitable. My music is how it's supposed to be. My music might change three months from now, but it's going to be what it's supposed to be because I've got more of a story to tell."

'Memphis Unplugged'

7 p.m. Sunday. 1884 Lounge at Minglewood Hall, 1555 Madison. Admission: $10 at the door. For more information, call (901) 312-6058, or visit minglewoodhall.com.

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