Russel Hobbs

For the company, see Russell Hobbs.

Russel Hobbs

Russel Hobbs (born June 3, 1975) is a fictional member of the virtual band Gorillaz. He provides the drums for the band. He, like all other Gorillaz members, was created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett.

Fictional Biography

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 3, 1975, Russel Hobbs was a well-spoken, considerate and respectful child. However, trouble seemed to linger around him. Originally, Russel attended The Xavier School For Gifted Youngsters, but was forcibly removed when he mauled several other students as a result of demonic possession. After being expelled, the possession and the anxiety sent young Russel into a coma. He would not wake for another four years, at which time a man called Father Merrin exorcised the demon inhabiting Russel's body.

Unable to return to the Xavier School, Russel was sent to a school in Brooklyn, in which many students were practiced in the numerous fields of hip hop. Much of his hip hop prowess comes from a bizarre but violent incident involving a drive-by shooting that killed all of his friends from the fictional Brooklyn High School in New York City. Following the shooting, the spirits of all of Russel's friends took residence in Russel's body and have possessed him at unpredictable moments ever since. The most prominent of these spirits was Russel's best friend, Del, who was based on and voiced by Del tha Funkee Homosapien. Del appears as a blue, rapping ghost in such videos as "Clint Eastwood" and "Rock the House." Russel believes the reason for his frequent spiritual inhabitations is because he "vibrates at that frequency."

During the tours after the release of Gorillaz' debut album, Russel was the first and only band member to notice that Noodle was acting strangely because she was having strange dreams involving her mysterious past.

During the band hiatus, Russel went through a terrible trauma in late 2003. Del's soul was ripped out of Russel by the Grim Reaper in late 2003 and Russel, a mere shell of his former self, took a year to recover. Shortly after the exorcism Russel took refuge in Ike Turner's basement where he began making an album called: "The Seventh Heaven Hip Hop and Harmony Album." It was canceled due to paranormal activities around the songs themselves. He was the last to return to Kong Studios. When he did return, the band was startled at the fact that his already large proportions had doubled or even tripled.

After the El Mañana conspiracy, 2-D and Russel were frantic about their guitarist Noodle's supposed death. It was a hoax, however, and the band has once again gone separate ways. It would not last too long, as it was promised by Murdoc in the autobiography Rise of the Ogre that their biggest project to date is apparently being planned. Russel was, according to Murdoc, "all good, too. He's still stitching together his taxidermy army of undead animals and practicing his drums, but I think he's getting into production. It's a great role for him because his knowledge of music's just too big for him to be stuck behind a drum kit."

On October 31, 2007, in an official mail-out, Murdoc said that, "Russel is exploring his inner demons somewhere in Brooklyn.”

Russel has not made many photo appearances since the initiation of Phase 3 and the announcement of Plastic Beach. However, what these photos do show is that Russel appears to have grown to literally giant proportions, and has lost the hats he usually wore during Phase 2, but has otherwise not changed very much. Jamie Hewlett explained in the Making of Plastic Beach DVD that his gigantic size was a result of eating massive amounts of polluted material while swimming to Plastic Beach, causing him to swell up into his giant state. A Phase 3 character ident was released before the release of Plastic Beach, depicting Russel stomping across a pier in rage and diving into the ocean, headed towards Plastic Beach [1]. It appears, from his remarkable absence in videos and pictures, that Murdoc did not intend to invite Russel back to Gorillaz for Plastic Beach. It was later revealed in a scrawled note by Russell that he believes demons (whether they are real or in his head is unknown) convinced him to jump into the sea.

In the music video On Melancholy Hill, Russel has grown extremely large (to the size of a whale) because of the pollution in the water, that he reportedly ate along the way to Plastic Beach. And is shown lifting Noodle's life boat with her in it on his head.

On March 9, 2010, he was voted the third most sexy cartoon musician of all-time by Nerve.com.[2]

Personality

Russel is severely unhinged. This may be a result of his frequent trauma from numerous possessions. His mental state has deteriorated noticeably since Del's exorcism. Despite his mental status, Russel is known to be a very eloquent speaker, largely due to the private schooling he received in his youth. Russel has also seen the Grim Reaper twice. He is on medication for his depression, psychosis, and traumatism, most likely Xanax; Murdoc (unsuccessfully) tries to calm down Russel during an interview in We Are the Dury by telling him to "Pop another Xanax" and later in the same interview, Russel talks about how his medication was wearing off during the recording of "White Light" on the album 'Demon Days', resulting in the erratic and violent drumming heard during the track. Similar odd or funny stories are tied to other tracks on the two Gorillaz albums: for example, the "El Mañana" track's rhythm was apparently born from Russel sitting on a drum machine.

He is laid-back for the most part, almost melancholy most of the time, but has very little patience for Murdoc's antics and 2D's idiocy. He is often the one who has to solve discrepancies between his bandmates, and Russel has often been forced to stick up for his often put-upon and abused bandmate 2D (though he also bullies 2D on several occasions). Russel has demonstrated both of these qualitites, when he discovered Murdoc having sex with 2D's then girlfriend (now ex-girlfriend), Paula Cracker; that was when he punched Murdoc and fractured his nose. He also claims that he will do anything to protect Noodle and the two have a close bond with each other. He is sensitive about his admittedly massive weight, which is apparently the result of a wheat allergy. Russel often calls Murdoc "Muds" and 2D "D".

Russel's hobbies include food, eating, cooking, taxidermy and trainers. Russel is a noted expert on music, not just Hip Hop. He recently put his taxidermy skills to good use by creating "Animal Kwackers", in which the user creates his or her own hybrid animal using an assortment of body parts (the legs section includes wheels) and, if they desire, name it and add it to a worldwide gallery. The reason for this is explained in the last two thirds of the Intro, which mention helping Russel to create an army of beasts. Also, when Gorillaz was featured on MTV Cribs , Russel was seen hammering something onto the "hot rod warthog" seen in the Animal Kwackers Intro. [3]

Performers

Remi Kabaka does Russel's speaking voice, Cass Browne does his drum work.

External links

• Russel's biography on Gorillaz Official Fansite
• Gorillaz Official Website.
• Gorillaz Official Cribs Episode