July 18th, 2025 – Today, double-platinum rapper, singer, and songwriter Paul Russell drops his latest feel-good funk-soul concoction “Carat Cake,” out now via Arista Records. A musical gift to anyone with anything to celebrate, the blissful single is all about spoiling someone you love.
“Carat Cake” has big instant-hit energy, opening on Paul’s falsetto’d hook and chiming piano that soon bursts into a lush full-band mix of breezy soul and grooving funk: “Heaven’s sake, I might get you shining just to celebrate / Diamonds for your birthday that’s a carat cake / It’s all one call away.” Over horns and handclaps, Paul sounds like he’s singing through a mile-wide smile as he delivers one sweetly clever, swoon-worthy line after another: “Saw you in that dress, I guess I just had an epiphany / I don’t need but two girls in my life — that’s you and Tiffany.”
“‘Carat Cake’ is made for birthdays, weddings, and celebrations. It’s for the moments when you want to dance and give your all to someone you care about, which is what the song is about,” says Paul. “We wrote part of it in the house where Earth, Wind & Fire wrote ‘September’ and we hope it can become part of the canon of joyful, funky songs you can drink champagne to.”
Paul shared a series of hilarious “Carat Cake” short videos on his popular TikTok account, where he’s also been teasing the completion of a yet-to-be-announced funk-soul album. In May, he shared the flirtatious Saweetie team-up “That Girl,” a pitch-perfect tribute to ’90s new jack swing that came with a heist-themed music video. He also appeared earlier this year on the globetrotting soul-pop confection “Confessions” with Flo Rida and K-pop group ENHYPEN.
Before that came Paul’s 2024 debut EP, again sometime?, which included hits like “Slippin’” featuring Meghan Trainor and the song that started it all, “Lil Boo Thang.” The latter hit #14 on the Hot 100, made Barack Obama’s summer playlist, and has racked up 830 million streams to date. Meanwhile, EP highlight “Say Cheese” was named one of the Best Hip-Hop Songs of the Year by HipHopDX and “Eat Pray Love” got a sunny remix from Free Nationals.
Along the way, Paul has brought his undeniable charisma to performances across the globe, including stops at the White House and on American Idol, embarking on his first European run in support of Teddy Swims, and hitting North American arenas on Trainor’s Timeless Tour. “Carat Cake” takes us one deliciously sweet step deeper into Paul Russell’s new era.
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