A smiling black dude from Atlanta and a goofy-looking ginger guy from Brooklyn walk into a bar. There’s no punch line, that’s just hip-hop’s hardest hitting duo, Run The Jewels.
Run The Jewels is Killer Mike (the smiling black dude) and El-p (the goofy ginger). In 2012, they worked on each other’s solo albums, became best friends and created the duo. In 2013, they released their self titled debut album which was hailed as one of the most original hip-hop albums of the decade. Now, in 2014, their album “Run The Jewels 2” has been released, but not how the band originally intended.
Four days before “Run The Jewels 2” was set to be released, a low quality version of the album was leaked online. The duo’s response? They released the album the next day, three days before the intended release date, for free in pristine, high-quality audio. The physical album is still available for purchase, and it comes with enough extra goodies to make any fan squeal.
Despite releasing the album for free and nearly half a week before its original release date, the album has been selling extraordinarily well. Within the first day, “Run The Jewels 2” had broken into the iTunes best-seller list and a quick scroll down the duo’s Twitter page will net you a whole mess of fans admitting that they were intending to pirate the album, but because it was officially released for free by the group, decided to buy it instead.
Record sales are plummeting. Thus far, 2014 is looking like it might be the first year to have not a single album go platinum (1,000,000 or more albums sold), something that has never happened since the inception of the platinum record by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1976.
An artist’s success is no longer based on record sales. With the undying behemoth that is social media, it is important for artists to create personal connections with their fans, and for other fans to see those connections be made.
Killer Mike and El-p are doing just that, and it is paying off. The duo are best friends, and all their fans get to be best friends with them too.
But how is the actual music? Frankly, it’s fantastic.
El-p’s production is huge, noisy and groovy as all get out. Both Killer Mike and El-p’s rapping is on point. Their hip-hop chops have definitely improved since their self-titled debut, and you can tell they have influenced each other. El-p is no stranger to the down low funky southern drawl, and Killer Mike can be heard spitting verses that would make the Beastie Boys proud.
If Killer Mike is a Rottweiler, then El-p is a German Shepard and their barks fill space like nothing else. El-p’s massively raucous beats would crush anything else, but these two dogs ride them immaculately.
The features on this album are unexpected, and fit perfectly. Zach De La Roche (Rage Against the Machine) has a verse on “Close Your Eyes” and Gangsta Boo (Three 6 Mafia) drops a verse on “Love Again” that would make Don Quixote blush. The best part about the features is that, despite how big Killer Mike and El-p sound, they are almost dwarfed.
Run The Jewels is doing everything right. Their fans love them, they love their fans, they love each other and they make fantastic music.
