The Grim Reaper was also present during this event. At some point, Russel and his friends were shot and killed in a drive-by shooting that took place one night outside of a 7-Eleven store, and all of their souls subsequently possessed his body. The priest who exorcised the demon from Russel while he was in a coma recommended him to Brooklyn High School, which is where Russel's love for hip hop began. He wouldn't experience a supernatural event again until years later at the Xavier School for Young Achievers after being possessed by a demon and defending himself from a student who attacked him with a sword. Russel speculates that this may have been his first encounter with the Grim Reaper, who he would encounter multiple times later in his life.
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Terrified, Russel closed his eyes and held tightly onto his blanket, and once he opened them, everything appeared to be back to normal, and he was with his parents on a train back home. During this encounter, Russel heard the Miles Davis song " It Never Entered My Mind" playing. One winter night while on the way home to Brooklyn from Harlem with his parents, an ominous figure suddenly emerged from the shadows and his parents froze as the figure approached Russel with a cryptic statement about dancing with the Devil. His first encounter with the supernatural occurred when he was just four years old. Originally from Brooklyn, Russel has experienced paranormal activity since his childhood. Russel was born on 3 June 1975 in Brooklyn, New York, United States. Russel's fictional backstory of being possessed by the spirits of dead musicians is what originally inspired the usage of collaborators and guests on Gorillaz' albums. Russel's speaking voice is provided by drummer and DJ Remi Kabaka Jr., who has been an actual drummer and producer for Gorillaz since Humanz in 2017.
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He was originally loosely based on American rapper and actor Ice Cube (the cousin of rapper Del the Funky Homosapien, who raps on "Clint Eastwood" and " Rock The House" as Del the Ghost Rapper).
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He is referenced in the lyrics to the Gorillaz track " Clint Eastwood". Russel Hobbs was originally conceptualized by Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn in 1998 as a metafictional representation of the hip hop aspects of Gorillaz, embodying the spirit of the bands' collaborations with various rappers over the years.