Thanks to his upbeat 2023 viral hit Lil Boo Thang, Paul Russell has won hearts across the globe. Here, he talks his early folk projects, school rap battles and trading in his nine-to-five for stardom...

WORDS: Miranda Bardsley

As Paul Russell prepares for his first-ever BBC Radio 1 performance and a television interview with Graham Norton, it’s hard to believe that this time last year, he was still envisioning a career in tech.

“For most of my life, if ...