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Run The Jewels (El-P and Killer Mike) – Run The Jewels album review

Everybody be cool this is a robbery! This has been a friendly reminder from EL-P and Killer Mike aka the hip hop duo Run The Jewels, and don’t forget the name.

In many ways, the collaboration between these two rappers was something of an inevitability. Both are painstakingly devoted to releasing consistently hard-hitting material while maintaining an intentional and cultivated outsider ethos. Both artists are still riding the momentum of acclaimed albums in 2012, wherein El-P handled production for Killer Mike’s effort R.AP. Music, and Killer Mike contributed the standout feature for El-P’s Cancer 4 Cure. El-P and Killer mike are also both known for delivering aggressive lyrics dense with unexpected meaning and humor. It’s safe to say these guys have a pretty similar mindset, and the fusion of their voices into one album has unleashed a menace, laying claim to everything it touches.

Setting the stage for this heist is El-P’s unique production style, laden with heavy, gritty bass-synth, searing guitars, heavy drum breaks and trap style 808’s. The beats on this album hit you in the gut without becoming overly maximal in the pursuit of a full-spectrum sound. El-P show a little more restraint than usual in his production here, leaving plenty of room for himself and formidable associate Killer Mike to wreak havoc on the tracks.

The duo tag teams many of their verses, throwing it back to a golden era of hip hop in which MCs show a tangible rapport with each other, one pushing the other to new heights. Lyrically El-P and Killer Mike sling acid, or maybe shrooms; both reference the influence of psilocybin. However, this is not enlightened flower-power rap, and Run The Jewels positions itself totally opposed to such from the very beginning. On the first verse of the album, El-P spits “Oh dear what the fuck have we here?/These motherfuckers all thorn no rose.”

Killer Mike and El-P pull no punches in putting rap on notice of their scheme to co-opt the game, yet they both appear impossibly relaxed and in their element on Run The Jewels. The effect is pure badassery with a vengeance. Killer Mike warns “Yes I bag the clams/Anyone object to the styles, get a smile and a backwards hand.” The way El-P and Killer Mike assert themselves has always been in your face without going over the top. Run Jewels doesn’t wear a chip on its shoulder, just your chain around its neck.

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Press Releases

El-P & Killer Mike are Run The Jewels and announce tour dates

El-P and Killer Mike, frequent collaborators and two of the most celebrated names in rap in their own right, confirm rumors of a joint LP and tour today as Run The Jewels. El-P’s self-produced Cancer 4 Cure reanimated Brooklyn rap last year with his signature lyrical conviction and bruising production; he also handled all of the beats for Mike’s R.A.P. Music LP, which dropped a few weeks earlier. Both won the acclaim of media and fans across the globe and led to 2012’s legendary, hugely successful “Into The Wild” tour. One year later, the duo return to satisfy fan demand and their own creative urges with Run The Jewels, cementing their musical alliance with a full album of uncompromisingly raw, forward thinking hip-hop.

As a gesture of appreciation, El and Mike will release the self-titled Run The Jewels LP for free with tastemaking Brooklyn label Fool’s Gold this June, a partnership amongst innovators that feels totally appropriate. The independent label (founded by DJs A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs in 2007) has acted as a springboard for emerging talent since it’s inception, breaking international artists like Danny Brown, Duck Sauce and Kid Cudi. Fool’s Gold’s support for hip-hop iconoclasts is unparalleled, and the label will lend their midas touch to the Run The Jewels project by creating and releasing a limited run of specialty vinyl and merchandise for die-hard fans to be sold only on the Run The Jewels tour and through Fool’s Gold’s website and physical store in Williamsburg.

Run The Jewels will follow up the release with a sprawling US tour alongside Despot (currently putting the finishing touches on his Ratatat-produced debut album) and ex-Das Racist member Kool AD. The duo will perform their new material as well as solo songs for audiences who seemingly conjured this dream bill by sheer willpower. This summer, rap’s odd couple is on a robbing spree…

STREAM RUN THE JEWELS – “GET IT” HERE:

RUN THE JEWELS TOUR DATES:

WED 7/10 OTTAWA, ON Ottawa Blues Fest

THU 7/11 TORONTO, ON Hoxton

FRI 7/12 MARIAVILLE, NY Camp Bisco

SAT 7/13 PITTSBURGH, PA Altar Bar

SUN 7/14 LOUISVILLE, KY Forecastle Festival

TUE 7/16 NASHVILLE, TN Exit In

WED 7/17 ST. LOUIS, MO Firebird

THU 7/18 IOWA CITY, IA Gabe’s Oasis

FRI 7/19 MINNEAPOLIS, MN Varsity Theater

SAT 7/20 MADISON, WI UW Memorial Union

SUN 7/21 CHICAGO, IL Pitchfork Festival

WED 7/24 EDMONTON, AB Starlite Room

THU 7/25 CALGARY, AB Republik

FRI 7/26 VANCOUVER, BC Biltmore

SAT 7/27 SEATTLE, WA Capitol Hill Block Party

SUN 7/28 PORTLAND, OR Hawthorne Theatre

TUE 7/30 SAN FRANCISCO, CA The Independent

THU 8/1 LOS ANGELES, CA Echoplex

FRI 8/2 SANA ANA, CA The Observatory

SAT 8/3 PHOENIX, AZ The Crescent Ballroom

MON 8/5 AUSTIN, TX Mohawk

TUE 8/6 BATON ROUGE, LA Spanish Moon

WED 8/7 ATLANTA, GA Masquerade

THU 8/8 ASHEVILLE, NC Orange Peel

FRI 8/9 CHAPEL HILL, NC Cat’s Cradle

SAT 8/10 WASHINGTON DC 9:30 Club

MON 8/12 PHILADELPHIA, PA Union Transfer

TUE 8/13 BOSTON, MA Paradise

WED 8/14 NEW YORK, NY Webster Hall