Run the Jewels

Run the Jewels

With Run The Jewels, El-P and Killer Mike deliver an object lesson in the first principles of hip-hop. The beats are a showcase in minimalist effectiveness – walking the line between sick, infectious loops, and breaks and bridges which mirror and emphasise the stress-points of the lyrical content.

Run the Jewels is remarkably fun.

It's still going to take a much stronger, more original, and more distinctive album than Yeezus to knock this off its perch as rap album of the year so far.

It’s powerful in both delivery and in effect, without being heavy-handed or sacrificing form. Both rappers take the opportunity to show their longtime supporters that they were right all these years, that they bet on the right horses. 

It's just a distilled take on everything that made last year's albums such an event, with all the chrome ripped off and upholstery pulled out so it'll run faster, louder, nastier.

This is sound of two dons recognising their rightful place at the top of the summit, surveying their kingdom and proceeding to piss all over it. 

Run the Jewels ... is the very synthesis of El-P and Mike’s shared admiration and cohesive worldviews, an effort of the purest collaboration and mutual understanding.

Run the Jewels is savage and witty, rich in gritty truths and genuinely affecting wisdom. It may not be the best thing either artist has done, but fans of both will still find plenty to love.

It's a swaggering victory lap for two artists at the peak of their creativity; it's a record that sees their talents fused in the most cohesive way; it's a coming together of immense talents.

They have the dynamic of a vintage rap twosome, complete with the vocal cues and set-up lines that you just don’t get from artists operating out of different studios. 

It’s a harsh listen that’s likely more obscure to casual, Top-40 listeners than R.A.P. Music. That’s too bad for them, because Mike and El-P seemingly unleash every item in their B-boy tool kit this time around.