Lil Turkey Thang: Paul Russell brings his viral hit to Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

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Paul Russell‘s viral hit “Lil Boo Thang” has taken him to some unexpected places, and this week it’ll be the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. He’ll be performing on the Jennie-O Big Turkey Spectacular float, and his family is coming from Texas to watch.

“We’re going to do Thanksgiving in New York, which should be fun,” he tells ABC Audio. “I don’t know what we’re going to eat because we won’t be able to, like, do the regular traditions and such. But yeah, it’s super different … it’s going to be interesting.”

“I’m excited to have them there, and not only just for Thanksgiving itself, but they’re going to come to the parade and hang out and everything. So it’ll be a cool, a cool moment,” he adds.

It’ll also be a full-circle moment, since Paul grew up watching the parade.

“I remember always, every Thanksgiving, we’d sit up and watch it,” he says. “It’s nuts thinking that there’s going to be people who are like, ‘Oh, there’s …,’ you know? They’re watching me. It’s insane.”

But there have been a lot of insane moments for Paul recently, like hearing “Lil Boo Thang” in the wild.

“I’ve been getting a lot of support in sports … you know, obviously Texas, where I’m from, so you’ve got the Texans and the Cowboys playing it in the stadium,” he says. But he says he’s also heard the song during basketball games, and rugby and tennis matches.

“A friend of mine sent me a video where he was watching the highlights of the U.S. Open,” he says. “And you could hear in the background what they’re playing in the stadium — and it was my song. And so it still blows my mind to hear it in different places that I wouldn’t expect.”

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