I was home later than expected today, having been stuck in a traffic jam for about an hour. This was unpleasant, but it was made better having a good record to listen to.
Disc 1501 is…. Run the Jewels 4
Artist: Run the Jewels
Year of Release: 2020
What’s up with the Cover? The usual Run the Jewels symbol of the two finger point and the sideways fist. They’ve kept with the metallic theme from RTJ3, although these hands look less refined – like maybe in a post-apocalyptic future we rediscover the technology for making metal hands, but no longer have the precision machine tools to craft them as intricately as “the ancients”. Metal hands! Coming to a future near you. Or not.
How I Came To Know It: I’m an avowed fan of RTJ, and this was just me buying their latest album when it came out.
How It Stacks Up: I have four Run the Jewels albums, which is all of them. Of those four, RTJ 4 comes in at #2, bumping the also-awesome RTJ3 down one spot in the process.
Ratings: 4 stars but almost 5
It was a hard task to match the excellence of their previous three records, but damn it if Run the Jewels didn’t pull it off.
So much of modern rap is about stealing a hook and rinsing and repeating it. Run the Jewels are a throwback to the golden era of rap where all you needed was a sick beat, great rhymes, and a killer flow. As a duo, El-P and Killer Mike actually do that one better, providing two killer flows.
Like a lot of people, I was initially drawn to “Ooh La La.” The song’s hook is more of a hook converted into a beat itself. It has a sweet sample of Nice N’ Smooth from when they were guesting on the Gang Starr track “DWYCK”. “DWYCK” is one of my favourite rap songs of all time, but Run the Jewels are not content to sit on a single sample, they turn it into a new groove all its own and buoyed by some creative and compelling rhymes the song quickly unfolds into a fresh modern rap classic.
Here and throughout the record, each DJ has his own distinct but complementary style. El-P skating his rhymes over the top of the beat like a water spider, and Killer Mike thumping his flow down like an extra bass drum. While I have more of Killer Mike’s solo work in my collection, when it comes to Run the Jewels I cannot pick a favour. They are both at the top of their game, and the combination of their sound is better than anything either of them does in their solo career.
As for sick beats, RTJ4 has plenty to offer. Alongside these, the boys do a dizzying array of samples and soundscapes, all layered one on top of the other so intricately it would make Public Enemy proud (they even throw out a reference to early PE on “Out of Sight” with “my motherfuckin’ Uzi weighs a ton”. Unlike Public Enemy’s frantic energy, RTJ always feels like they are sinking further and further into the pocket, yet they never lose momentum in the process.
The songs vary between tracks on social justice and “we rap better than you”. Despite these being very traditional themes, the album feels fresh and powerful. RTJ breathe life and electricity into both, leaving you feeling both thoughtful and cool as fuck.
The whole record is under 40 minutes, with the vast majority of the tracks under three and a half minutes. Within each of those three and a half minutes El-P and Killer Mike cram a shit-ton of incredible rhymes, paying homage to past greats while simultaneously securing their place among them.
Best tracks: Yankee and the Brave (Ep. 4), Ooh La La, Out of Sight, Holy Calamafuck, JU$T, Never Look Back, the Ground Below
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