Big Gay™

Ayyyee bitches I’m back w/some sexy fucken Russel hobbs art for y'all (well as sexy as this piece of shit can be). I know Gorillaz doesn’t make (for the most part) vaporwave music. And Russ is canonically more into hip hop but I’ve been getting some strong vaporwave vibes off of him so- yeah

An aesthetic for the best drummer in the world Russel Hobbs 

sunshine boy

It’s Black History Month, and I wanted to draw Russel and Del, as they’re great black characters with amazing talent behind them.

Russel is voiced by Remi Kabaka, an amazing drummer who’s performed with The Rolling Stones, Stevie Winwood, Paul Simon, Rhythm of the Saints- And obviously Gorillaz, who of course have so many fantastically talented black collaborators, especially on Humanz, which was hugely about the lives of black people and the injustice surrounding them.

Benjamin Clementine, Grace Jones, Peven Everett, Little Simz, Vince Staples, Danny Brown, Kelela, Jamie Principle, Zebra Katz, Mavis Staples, Anthony Hamilton, D.R.A.M, Pusha T, Popcaan, and De La Soul, are all stunningly amazing artists and have made Humanz come alive.

Russel, after Phase 2

 (mm good shit. this wasn’t specified to be an /reader so i’m just gonna make a fic about papa russ having a nice relaxing day)

It was in the late morning, nearly noon, when Russel woke up. He was surprised to see the number 11:30 glancing back at him on the clock. He’d gotten enough sleep that night. The corners of his lips twitched upwards. He felt…. Refreshed. Yeah, that was the word. Refreshed.

Sure, he was a bit sleepy still, but a bit of extra drowsiness was a normal thing to shake off after waking up in the morning. He sat up, a long yawn escaping his mouth. The house was quiet and peaceful. Very serene. Unusual, but much needed.

Katsu, who had slept in his room, was curled up on the bed beside him, purring softly as he realized that Russel was awake. He stroked the cat’s fur with a light hand, a smile playing on his face. He couldn’t help but love how easygoing the cat was around him. It was nice, to have someone around him that wasn’t always worrying about him. Because he knew it was what they all did. Noodle, 2D, even Murdoc, they all constantly worried for him. Because of all of the ghosts and demons and his mental illness. It was good to have people that cared about him, but they acted like the demons completely and entirely defined him. Like he wasn’t his own person or something. So it was nice for Katsu to not act like that and just treat him like any other human.

He moved carefully as to not disturb the cat beside him, and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He carefully stepped into his cozy pair of slippers, then stretched out. Looking out the window, he glanced at what it looked like outside of the house. Beautiful was the first thing that came to mind that could possibly describe the day. He let out another yawn and was reminded of his slight lingering sleepiness. Maybe he could have a cup of coffee with breakfast. Surely he’d need to make breakfast, unless Noodle had already made some, but he didn’t really mind. He could make himself some pancakes or something. Probably 2D too, if he hadn’t gotten himself a heaping bowl of cereal before Russel got to the kitchen, and maybe even Noodle if she wanted any. He didn’t mind. Murdoc most likely wouldn’t even be awake, but that was good since Russel didn’t want his good day spoiled by Murdoc being cranky.

He made his way to the kitchen of the abnormally peaceful Spirit-House, pleased that not a spirit was in sight to ruin his mood. He could tell that sounds were coming from the TV, where Noodle and 2D were watching Night of the Living Dead and eating their Lucky Charms. He smiled. He could tell that they were in good moods as well, and that their happiness and focus on the movie were making the house a bit calmer. Murdoc was reading a newspaper and sipping from a mug of tea at the kitchen table, the crumbs of a muffin he’d eaten scattered on a napkin in front of him.

It was more than wonderful to see that all of his bandmates were having as good of a day as he was. Though, who could be in a bad mood when it was so beautiful?Russel hummed to himself as he got his coffee started and moved to work on his pancake batter. Eventually, his whole breakfast was all fixed up. He dumped a bit of syrup on top of his stack of pancakes, and settled down in a seat at the kitchen table with smile. 

As he nibbled on his small stack of delicious pancakes, 2D and Noodle stood as the credits rolled and walked into the kitchen to set their bowls in the mess of dishes on the counter. 2D beamed and sat beside him as Noodle set a bag of popcorn in the microwave.“Wanna watch some zombie movies with us?” He asked, tilting his head like a puppy and grinning. “Dawn of the Dead’s next! You can bring your pancake in there, or we can wait ‘til you’re done, if you want to watch with us.”Russel smiled, held up a finger as a signal for 2D to wait until he swallowed his food, then he responded. “Maybe once I’m done,” he said, 2D’s grin proving contagious as soon he couldn’t help but grin as well.Noodle was soon cheerfully smiling where she was stood, too. “We’re on a marathon,” she explained, still not tearing her eyes away from the popcorn as it spun in the microwave. “Murdoc, you can even watch with us as well if you want.”Murdoc looked like he was sucking on a lemon with the sudden sour expression on his face, but it warmed up and he sighed. “S’pose I don’t have anything else to do….”