Run the Jewels

Excellent rap.  I've already talked some about each of their albums, 2013's Run the Jewels and 2014's Run the Jewels 2.  They made a ton of the "best album of the year" lists from last year, and I think it is fully deserving.  You are not going to get generic rap trope about drugs and cash and pimped rides. No party tracks on here about popping Crystal or strippers.  But you'll get Killer Mike's gruff sound that slides between laconic flow and staccato firing, and the strange-but excellent beat making skills of El-P, along with his dense rap style.  One of my favorites off of the first album - "Banana Clipper"

Killer Mike is an Atlanta rapper, who I first heard as part of Outkast's music.  His solo album, R.A.P. Music was a really good disc, and he has some other albums and mixtapes out there as well. A few months ago, I saw part of an impassioned speech Killer Mike gave before a St. Louis show, getting emotional about the way that Michael Brown was treated by police and the apathy of most Americans in watching the issues with police come to light. Interesting to see, and made me realize that none of the rappers (at least not mainstream ones I have listened to) are really pulling the Public Enemy move by challenging the system.  Where is "By the Time I get to Ferguson?" or "NSA's a Joke" (I probably just got on a watch list somewhere)?  

El-P produced R.A.P. Music, and after that album the two of them launched this Run the Jewels project.  El-P has been in a number of rap groups and projects over time, including Company Flow and Central Services.  I've never heard any of their stuff before.  I got excited reading about a jazz collabo that he did (High Water) as I loved the old Jazzmatazz albums that Guru did.  Unfortunately for me, this is just straight jazz.  But his solo stuff sounds a lot like the RtJ stuff.  It's good.

Combined, these two dudes make tough sounding rap over excellent beats.  It just works so well.  The beat on "Oh My Darling Don't Cry" is just so damn heavy - I love when it kicks in and you hear Killer Mike say "Oh My!"  The hit so far off of this album is the one with Zach De La Rocha, of Rage Against the Machine, called "Close Your Eyes (And Count to F**k)," and boasting about 6.7 million runs on Spotify.

Holy crap, that video is amazing.  Better than half the action movies out there and it only took a few minutes.  And the song is kick ass as well.  Tough beat under that repetitive sample and great verses from each of the guys.  "I'm Miles ahead of you, you can suck my Bitches Brew."  The second most popular track on Spotify is 'Blockbuster Night Part 1":

Just non-stop action on top of a good basic beat.  You know I'd love to hear more stories - that is my favorite type of rap - but I can't mess with the fact that these two fire out great metaphors and turns of phrase in each track.  Beat on "Lie, Cheat, Steal" has this awesome, ominous quality, and then the chorus kicks in with an entirely different, brassy, funky sound. "Love Again" is wonderfully NSFW with a grinding, glitchy beat.  Looking forward to seeing this pair face off in October.