RTJ4, Run the Jewels

All albums are reviewed on a scale from one to ten, with ten being the highest possible score.

Please Note: All views expressed here are the author’s own.

Music doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It is a reflection of reality, of an artist’s perception of society and the world around them. This is why I find it necessary to say a few words about the social and political climate in the United States, because without acknowledging this vital context, you are not actually listening to Run the Jewels. 

We’ve hit a turning point. The institutions of racism, bigotry and white supremacy that the United States has built for 244 years will stand no longer. A long overdue reckoning with history has begun to acknowledge and correct the immense injustices against BIPOC that exist nation-wide. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a majority white school in a majority white state, many of us have had the privilege of not experiencing racism in the US. We have lived complacent and ignorant, but it is our duty to face our troubling history and listen: listen to the stories of BIPOC, read the history of oppression and learn how to be an ally in the fight for justice. The America we inhabit is not equal and it never has been. Inequality exists in every fold of society, and it is vital that we all stand to eliminate it from the fabric of this country. 

As protests over systematic racism and police brutality continue across the United States, two familiar voices are at the center of this cultural revolution: El-P and Killer Mike. Since the two hip-hop veterans got together for the Run the Jewels project in 2013, they’ve continuously released music that reveals the inner workings of American inequality. The two old-heads have developed compelling personas in their music: villains in the eyes of the law and ‘Robin Hoods’ in the eyes of their listeners. They manage to terrorize the police, start riots, criticize practically every aspect of America from income inequality to police brutality and still make room for their notorious chain-snatching, uzi-toting, curb-stomping egos. 

Given their taste for villainous theatrics, it’s no surprise that the first seconds of RTJ4 are marked by a comic-book introduction of the “yankee and the brave,” two every-man heroes fighting the forces of American oppression. The first victim on their hit list? The police. As soon as the first drums break into the track we are launched into a high speed police chase with Killer Mike at the wheel. He raps with authority, guiding the car over a rearing, pavement-cracking El-P breakbeat that sounds as if Rick Rubin threw his drums through a beat repeater. As the chase continues, Killer Mike hands the wheel over to El-P (so that he can presumably shoot back at their pursuers) and El takes up where Mike left off, filling in his own side of the story with his classic balance of politics and humor. It is Run the Jewels at their purest: jaw-breaking knuckle punches of braggadocio mixed with thought-provoking societal commentary. 

The fantasy world of high-speed police chases and supervillain ventures by Mike and El serves as an exhilarating, entertaining and impactful introduction to the album. They inhabit characters that have been growing and evolving since their first record in 2013: the two menacing leaders of the insurrection. On the second track “Ooh Lala,” which features legends Greg Nice and DJ Premier, Killer Mike embraces his role as society’s Joker, a villain who won’t hesitate to declare “Fuck a king or queen and all of their loyal subjects / I’ll pull my penis out and I piss on their shoes in public.” El-P is always by his side, matching Mike’s give-no-fucks attitude with his own satirical bars. However, compared to their past projects, Mike and El are fairly measured in their attacks. Aside from that line in “Ooh Lala,” the punchlines on RTJ4 rely less on tongue-and-cheek dick jokes and more on substantive societal indignation. While they’ve always used their music to criticize the faults of America, the verses on this album find Mike and El more methodical and intentional with their words. They’ve found a balance between humor and sobriety, between the fantasy world of cop-chases and the harrowing reality of an unequal America. 

This equilibrium has found Run the Jewels producing their most perceptive, impactful and engaged songs ever. On the track “walking in the snow,” El-P and Killer Mike team up with frequent collaborator Gangsta Boo to create a masterpiece of musical resistance. From the dissonance of the first distorted guitar notes to the defiant lines of the chorus, the track vibrates with power, passion and aggression. El-P takes the lead with the first verse, beginning with a lurching flow that seems to stumble into the beat of intricate percussion and pulsating synths. He drops into the restless, uneasy instrumental with ease and authority, bringing the subject of the song into focus with each line. He rails on American oppression and ignorance, directing his anger at those who blindly allow themselves to be preyed upon by the wealthy establishment. “Funny fact about a cage, they’re never built for just one group / So when that cage is done with them and you still poor, it come for you / The newest lowest on the totem, well golly gee you have been used / You helped to fuel the death machine that down the line will kill you too,” he raps with venom in his words. His philosophy mirrors the Holocaust story “First They Came,” a vital warning to those who are complacent in the oppression of others only to fall victim to that same punishment down the line. El-P powerfully illuminates the systems at work in American society, the psychological manipulation used by those in power to maintain the unjust status quo. 

This first verse alone would make the track stand out, but it’s Killer Mike’s second verse that solidifies it as one of the most vital and emotional songs in the entire RTJ catalogue. Beginning with references to the terrible school-to-prison pipeline, Mike seamlessly transitions to virulent criticisms of the fear mongering pushed by American mainstream media. “And you so numb, you watch the cops choke out a man like me / Until my voice goes from a shriek to whisper, ‘I can’t breathe.’ / And you sit there in the house on couch and watch it on TV.” The rage bubbles up behind Mike’s voice, threatening to boil over at any moment. He wrote this lyric in 2019 about Eric Garner. Now its words also speak about George Floyd. Killer Mike has spent his entire 45 years of life fighting for justice and equality only to see Black people continue to be murdered by America with no substantive remorse. He is done with your meaningless twitter rants “calling it a travesty,” your lack of empathy, your hesitancy to fight for your fellow citizens. You have a choice now, ride with him or get the fuck out the way.

“Two dudes who were born in 1975 are not supposed to be allowed to be at the cutting edge of music,” El-P told GQ this year, yet RTJ4 finds the duo at the height of their powers. Killer Mike is able to reel off devastating combinations of lyrical rhythms and rhymes all while keeping his perspective clear and the subject precise. While his verse on “walking in the snow” is the most impactful on the album, his closing bars on “goonies vs. E.T.” show us why he’s been one of the most technically skilled MCs in the game for twenty years. He embraces the elasticity of his voice and strong pronunciation, weaving his bars through the beat with unmatched precision. For El-P, RTJ4 finds him producing some of both his best beats and bars. He masterfully uses various lyrical cadences, such as in the first verse of “pulling the pin,” to build agitated tension and couple the staggering beat with the rap on top. In addition to his impressive verses on the record, his beats are meticulous and organized. Already a legend in the underground community, El reaffirms this status with instrumentals that range from the hard-hitting “yankee and the brave (ep. 4),” to the simplicity of “JU$T” and bubbling tension of “pulling the pin.” His beats are layered with stunning sample work and delay, but they never feel cluttered or over-the-top. He creates forceful instrumentals that work to the two rappers’ strengths seamlessly. 

While the album’s balance of reality and fantasy works to the various strengths of the RTJ duo, it is the moments of explicit revolt and calls-to-action that make this record so essential. The brutal honesty and unfiltered commentary of tracks such as “walking in the snow,” “pulling the pin” (which features an incredible Mavis Staples feature) and “JU$T” (which features a classic Zack De La Rocha verse) make this record a soundtrack for the fight against injustice. It is the strength and wisdom of two legends in their forties, two men who have never given up the fight. On the closing track on the album, “a few words for the firing squad (radiation),” they step back and take a moment to personally reflect on this journey. They make their priorities clear, with Killer Mike rapping “Friends tell her [his wife], ‘He could be another Malcolm, he could be another Martin’ / She told ‘em, ‘Partner, I need a husband more than the world need another martyr.” For both Mike and El, their families and communities are what keep their fires burning. As the closing track builds with an ambient tapestry of synth chords, Mike gives one final message: a dedication. “This is for the do-gooders that the no-gooders used and then abused / For the truth tellers tied to the whippin’ post left beaten, battered, bruised / For the ones whose body hung from a tree like a piece of strange fruit / Go hard last words to the firing squad was, ‘Fuck you too.’”

WORDS BY JASPER NELSON, FEATURES EDITOR