Richard Russell (born March 18, 1971) is an English record producer and the owner of British record label

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. Although only releasing an average of six albu ...

Career

was founded in 1989 by

Tim Palmer Timothy J. Palmer (born 4 October 1962, in North Shields) is an English record producer, audio engineer, guitarist and songwriter of rock music, rock and alternative rock, alternative music. He Audio mixing (recorded music), mixed Pearl Jam's d ...

and

Nick Halkes Nick Halkes (born Nigel Halkes) is a UK based music industry executive best known for signing a breaking dance act the Prodigy and being one of the founders of the XL Recordings label. He is now an artist manager and music publisher managing L ...

to release

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

. Richard Russell joined XL as an

A & R Artists and repertoire (colloquially abbreviated to A&R) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists (singers, instrumentalist ...

scout in 1991. In 1992, Russell released a single titled " The Bouncer" as part of a duo named

Kicks Like a Mule Kicks Like a Mule is a British electronic music duo consisting of Richard Russell and Nick Halkes. Their first single, " The Bouncer", peaked at No. 7 in the UK Singles Chart when it was released in 1992. Although both Halkes and Russell worked ...

. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described the song as

rave music A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mu ...

that was "knocked into shape in about five hours" which "crossed over from pirate radio to reach number seven in the charts." Russell appeared on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' and was initially signed to London Records for an album but was dropped from London before its completion. By 2007, Russell was a chairman and half owner of the record label XL Recordings, which had released albums by acclaimed groups such as

the White Stripes The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums wit ...

Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B. D ...

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...

and

MIA Mia, MIA, or M.I.A. may refer to: Music Artists * M.I.A. (rapper) (born 1975), English rapper and singer * M.I.A. (band), 1980s punk rock band from Orange County, California * MIA., a German rock/pop band formed in 1997 * Mia (singer) (born 1983) ...

. Between 2007 and 2009, Russell worked with the American musician and lyricist Gil Scott-Heron to produce the album ''

I'm New Here ''I'm New Here'' is the 15th and final studio album by American vocalist and pianist Gil Scott-Heron. It was released on February 8, 2010, by XL Recordings and was his first release of original music in 16 years, following a period of personal and ...

'', released in 2010. He also conceived the reworking of the original album, ''

We're New Here ''We're New Here'' is a remix album by American vocalist Gil Scott-Heron and English music producer Jamie xx, released on February 21, 2011, by Young Turks and XL Recordings. A longtime fan of Scott-Heron, Jamie xx was approached by ...

'', remixed by Jamie xx and released in 2011. In 2011, Russell joined

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...

and several other producers on a trip to Congo where they recorded the album ''

Kinshasa One Two ''Kinshasa One Two'' is an album recorded by Damon Albarn alongside ten producers of the newly established DRC Music (Democratic Republic of the Congo Music) group, to benefit Oxfam's work in Congo. Background Recorded in Kinshasa, Democratic ...

'' as the newly establishe
DRC Music
(

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Music) group. The album features various producers including Russell,

Dan the Automator Daniel M. Nakamura better known by his stage name Dan the Automator, is an American record producer from San Francisco, California. He is the founder of the publishing company Sharkman Music and the record label 75 Ark. Early life Nakamura was b ...

Jneiro Jarel Omar Jarel Gilyard, known by his stage name Jneiro Jarel, is an American recording artist, music producer, composer and Disc Jockey, DJ. Recognized for his versatile, abstract, and often experimental style, he is also known for his beat-making ali ...

, T-E-E-D,

Rodaidh McDonald Rodaidh McDonald is a Scottish record producer and record company executive. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and currently resides in Los Angeles, California, United States. His production and mixing credits include The xx, King Krule, Adele, ...

and

Kwes Kwes (; sometimes stylised as ''kwes'', ''kwes.'', ''Kwes.'' or '' =o'' ) is a British music producer and artist from London, England. Kwes is also currently signed to Warp as a solo artist and released his debut album, '' ilp'' in October 2013. ...

alongside various local musicians from Congo. It was released on 7 November 2011 on CD and LP, following a digital release the previous month. In 2012, Russell and Damon Albarn co-produced ''

The Bravest Man in the Universe ''The Bravest Man in the Universe'' is the twenty-seventh and final studio album by the American soul artist Bobby Womack. Released on June 12, 2012, it was his first studio album since 2000 and his first album of original material since 1994's '' ...

'', the new studio album from

Bobby Womack Robert Dwayne Womack (; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guit ...

. In April 2012, Russell became the youngest ever recipient of the prestigious Strat Award, named after music manager Tony Stratton Smith, at the Music Week Awards in London. Russell's label,

was named Label of the Year at the ceremony. In April 2020, Russell released his autobiography ''Liberation Through Hearing'' through publishing house White Rabbit.

Production discography

- '' The Bouncer'' (1992) - co-artist & co-producer on "The Bouncer" with Nick Halkes * Gil Scott-Heron - ''

'' (2010) - producer on all tracks * Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx - ''

'' (2011) - co-producer on all tracks, commissioner * DRC Music - ''

'' (2011) - co-producer on "Hallo" and "If You Wish to Stay Awake", producer on "Respect of the Rules" *

- ''

'' (2012) - co-producer on all tracks with Damon Albarn *

- ''

Everyday Robots ''Everyday Robots'' is the debut solo studio album by British musician Damon Albarn, best known as the frontman of Blur and Gorillaz. Described by Albarn as his "most personal record", the album was co-produced by Richard Russell and relea ...

'' (2014) - producer on all tracks with Damon Albarn *

Ibeyi Ibeyi is a French musical duo consisting of twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz. The duo sings in English, French, Spanish and Yoruba language, Yoruba, In Yoruba, Ibeyi (''Ìbejì'') means "twins". Their music has elements of Yorub ...

- ''

'' (2015) - producer on all tracks * Everything Is Recorded - ''Close But Not Quite EP'' (2017) - artist & producer on all tracks * Ibeyi - ''

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

'' (2017) - producer on all tracks * Everything Is Recorded - ''Everything Is Recorded'' (2018) - artist & producer on all tracks * Everything Is Recorded - ''FRIDAY FOREVER'' (2020) - artist & producer on all tracks * Ibeyi - ''

Spell 31 ''Spell 31'' is the third studio album by Afro-French Cuban sibling duo Ibeyi, released on 6 May 2022, by XL Recordings. Track listing Personnel * Lisa-Kaïndé Diaz – vocals * Naomi Diaz – vocals, percussion, arranger (1, 4–10) * R ...

'' (2022) - producer on all tracks

References

External links

Interview, HitQuarters September 2008

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Richard British music industry executives Living people English electronic musicians English record producers 1971 births Musicians from London