Run the Jewels by Run the Jewels
If El-P and Killer Mike decided to call it quits before the 2010’s started they would both still be legends. Producer/MC El-P already set the tone for the underground/backpack era as a member of Company Flow and Rawkus Records, releasing a critically acclaimed solo catalog and running one of the most successful indie labels of all-time with Def Jux.
Killer Mike already made his mark as an Outkast affiliate that could hold his own on numerous solo releases including the classic “I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind” mixtape series. But in 2012, the oddest couple in Hip-Hop history got together when El-P produced Mike’s entire “RAP Music” album (a record that also deserves a place on best of the decade lists) and magic happened. A year later the duo decided to become a formal group, Run The Jewels was born and one of the best musical runs of the decade started.
Check out Keeyahtay Lewis’ photos of Run the Jewels from Terminal 5 in 2017.
2013’s self-titled debut matched El-P’s dense, chaotic, futuristic production with Killer Mike’s southern drawl and created something bigger than the sum of its’ parts. The songs were humorous and intelligent, aggressive and intellectual, lyrically and sonically complex but still able to get a party started, this was Hip-Hop that fell squarely between wildin’ out at a Travis Scott concert and dissecting a Nas song. The debut was followed by RTJ2 (2014), which is arguably stronger than the original and the wildly successful RTJ3 (2016).
Run the Jewel’s success is a product of two incredibly talented veterans reaching their creative peak at exactly the right time. Despite both being in the game since the 90’s RTJ was almost tailor made for the 2010’s. The intensity of their stage show made them perfect headliners at the huge festivals that dominated the decade, their ability to adopt an instantly recognizable logo and put it on a seemingly endless supply of products has made them commercially viable to a generation that has never paid for music and the political climate (Trump, police brutality, technology, privacy, etc.) was perfect for two elder statesmen to make their opinions known in their music, on social media and the talk show/podcast circuit.
Prior to Run the Jewels, Killer Mike and El-P were so far ahead of the game that mainstream success eluded them, but once they got together we all finally caught up.
-Angelo Gingerelli
