LaRussell Says Kyrie Irving Bought His Album for $11,000
The Bay Area rap star is taking a unique approach to selling ‘Something’s in the Water.’
LaRussell performs at Outside Lands at Golden Gate Park on August 09, 2025 in San Francisco, California.
Photo by Dana Jacobs/WireImage.
LaRussell’s unique approach to selling his new album, Something’s in the Water, is paying off: he says he got a major endorsement from an NBA superstar. The West Coast rapper shared on Instagram that Kyrie Irving paid a whopping $11 thousand for LaRussell’s new album.
“This morning I woke up and I had a sale for $11 thousand and I'm like, who the hell would give me $11 thousand?” LaRussell says in the video. “And it happened to be number 11 on the Dallas Mavericks.”
LaRussell has announced that his goal is to sell 100,000 albums in 30 days independently, asking for as little as a dollar in support.
“I’m setting a goal for myself to sell 100,000 albums,” he said in a video announcement posted on X (formerly Twitter.) “Even if you got to buy an album for $1, $2, whatever — please help me hit this goal. I just want to show the world that this is possible independently and at home within our own region and our own people.”
This comes on the heels of LaRussell’s pay-what-you-want pricing, offer-based ticketing, and community-backed merch sales. He’s said that he sold 1000 pre-sale copies within 24 hours of the announcement, along with one supporter paying $5,000 for the album and several others paying $1,000. To sell his album, he uses EVEN, a platform that facilitates artists selling directly to fans for whatever price they are willing to pay.
The approach was heavily influenced by Nipsey Hussle, who sold his 2013 mixtape, Crenshaw, for $100 each. Saluting Nipsey’s grind, Jay-Z copped 100 copies. Clearly, LaRussell learned the right lessons.
