Packed into a gritty, bare-bones music venue on the edge of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York, on a Sunday in July, about 500 fans of Bay Area rapper LaRussell were taken to church. Except there was no pastor or choir and no pews. Instead it was a 2 p.m. show for independent artist LaRussell, spreading his own gospel through catchy dance music and clever wordplay. “Brooklyn, I’m ho-ome,” LaRussell exclaimed with his distinctive West Coast flare. And while a midday hip-hop show

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