Bay Area Rapper LaRussell shares emotional reunion with grieving fan

Vallejo rapper LaRussell shares heartfelt reunion with grieving fan

Vallejo rapper LaRussell shared a powerful moment of comfort and connection with a grieving fan during a recent concert in Berkeley. Tera Neff has just lost her brother-in-law to gun violence in East Oakland.

Vallejo - Bay Area hip hop star LaRussell helped bring comfort to a grieving woman at a recent Berkeley concert - a fan who had just lost a loved one to gun violence.

The Vallejo rapper met Tera Neff during a pre-show meet-and-greet and later dedicated a song about violence and loss to her. It was a moment that turned into something far more powerful than a performance.

"I keep a pistol it keep me safe," LaRussell sang from his song ‘Up In My Room.’

LaRussell dedicated the song to Neff, who came to the show carrying heavy grief.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her during the concert.

"I'm feeling a lot better, thank you for having me," she replied.

Neff had bought tickets for her brother-in-law Malik Cross and her nephew Sincere.

But just a week before the concert, Cross was shot and killed in East Oakland.

The 33 year old was shot near 21st Avenue and International Boulevard. His family believes he was targeted in an attempted robbery, while driving his Mercedes. He crashed trying to reach the hospital and was later pronounced dead.

Oakland police have arrested two suspects, Yairo Palomino, 19, and Joseph Cebuano, 18, on suspicion of murder. Palomino has a prior record in Contra Costa County. 

‘Your music preached to me that day’

On stage, LaRussell shared the story of the fan he met before the show.

"There's a woman who came to the meet-and-greet…she told me that she bought these tickets for a brother, and he recently passed away… She showed me a message she was typing out, and it said, ‘LaRussell just hugged me, and it just really made me feel really, really good.' And I didn't know what she was going through, but the fact that she chose to come here today and spend this moment with us, and this is how she chooses to grieve and go through that process. Man, I'm grateful that she chose this space," he told the audience. 

Neff later shared the experience on Threads, highlighting how much that moment meant to her. The rapper later shared it on Instagram.

"I went to my brother’s funeral today, and he did the eulogy, the preacher preached, and in a way, your music preached to me that day," Neff told LaRussell during their reunion in Vallejo. "It was like, uplifting me. It made me feel good, like the love and the energy and the venue and just that moment that you made with me."

"Thank you for the hug, it really made me feel good. You would think something small like just hugging - it uplifts that person," she added. 

LaRussell said those emotional reactions are exactly why he creates the kind of music he does.

"That's what the music is for," he said. "I always battle in my mind on like, you know… because I make the slaps too, but it's very, very important for me to make life music as well - about my experience and my journey - to help someone going through the same thing. And those are the songs that's most important to me, that's most vital."

From Vallejo to Oakland: A Shared Reality

LaRussell, who often weaves pride and pain from his hometown into his music, said he personally relates to the grief and violence Neff’s family is facing.

"Man, literally where I live, I hear it every night, I hear the sirens every night," he said. "When you get so accustomed to it, you start to kind of be desensitized to your environment and to your experience. But I live it. I'm in it. I see it."

Cross had also spent his life trying to improve his community. He was a founding member of Oakland’s original Scraper Bike Team, a youth violence prevention group. He also helped raise boys in his neighborhood and worked on Neff's organization S.T.E.A.M. Against Violence, including buying robotics kits aimed at keeping kids engaged and off the streets.

"He wasn't a rapper like LaRussell, but he gave back in that sense," Neff said. "He cared for the youth a lot… he was raising boys to become men. And I want him to be remembered as a mentor, as a person that is full of love, full of life."

LaRussell said that kind of impact mirrors the legacy he hopes to leave behind.

"That's what I want my impact and legacy to be. I don't want people to leave and just think like I'm the party guy or the fun guy. No - I'm the guy that really said something, that really did something."

"It's so much more than a hip hop concert. It really is a healing place," he added. 

Neff said she never got to give Cross the tickets. She had planned to surprise him and Sincere at a special Father’s Day event -the day after he was killed.