Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels Review

Ayyy, what’s gucci? On thursday I had a meeting with my German professor and somehow we came to the topic of music and he recommended me “Run The Jewels”. I met up with Mike afterwards and Mike said that he listens to them, so I decided to check them out. I’m glad I did, they go hella hard.

Also, if you are visiting the blog, could you please take a moment to do the poll to the right of the page? It would help me decide what to review next.

Run The Jewels 

Run The Jewels consists of El-P and Killer Mike. El-P makes the beats and raps and Killer Mike raps. It’s a weird duo, because El-P is a white dude and Killer Mike is like a big black thug. They’re both on Fool’s Gold label, which is my favorite label. 

Run The Jewels

Damn. This is how you begin a project. This beat is just plain filthy. El-P and Killer Mike just destroy this beat. Hard Verse after hard verse. It’s dirty. I really like the way that these two sound together. They describe things so vividly, they basically paint pictures with their words. I really like the line:

“And the crowd chants: ‘Get that paper!’

And the mob says: ‘Kill that Witch’”

I have no idea what he means with the mob and the witch, but it sounds awesome.

I also think it’s crazy how in verse 2 Killer Mike talks about shooting a poodle, because it’s owner wouldn’t give him her jewels.

Banana Clippers feat Big Boi

This track is insane. They weave in and out of their verses effortlessly. The beat in this song is insane. They destroy this beat. This track is one of the reasons that proves why they are an insane rap duo.  High energy and smooth flows all the way. Big Boi also has a verse at the end, but it doesn’t even sound relevant to the song. Not saying that it’s a bad verse, but it doesn’t even compare to how hard El-P and Killer Mike go. 

I like how Killer Mike starts it with the line:

“I move with the elegance of an African Elephant.”

Think about that. Elephants are huge and like I said before Killer Mike is a big black thug. Yet, Elephants are smooth when they walk and have a certain elegance to them. 

I also like the line from Killer Mike, where he goes:

“Producer gave me a beat,

Said it’s the beat of the year.

I said El-P didn’t do it,

Get the fuck out of here.”

He’s saying that if El-P didn’t make the beat, he doesn’t want it. Thats friendship. 

I’m still amazed by how hard they go and how insane the beat is.

36” Chain

This song is amazing. Crazy beat, but what do you expect? At first it’s a kind of simple beat, but then it gets crazy. 

I love the hook of this song. They played at the Pitchfork Music Festival and they said that you don’t need a gold chain to feel like you are awesome. You should always walk around like you have a 36” gold chain around your neck and not have a worry. 

In this song you can really see Killer Mike’s southern influence. It’s a very good song with really technical rapping. This is one of the most impressive songs on the album.

The music video for this song is completely redic but adds to the song I think.

DDFH

Killer Mike delivers a really deep verse about how the black community is still treated horribly and he also says that he smoke weed out of this reason. He’s specifically talking about living in New York City. He smokes dope to deal with the paranoia of going to jail. New York is kinda known for being a rough place for minorities to live. (Stop and Frisk laws, etc)

I think that El-P’s verse is about hopelessness, but it was hard for me to fully understand it, even with the lyrics in front of me. I think it’s feasible that his verse is truly about hopelessness due to the hook.

The hook of this song pretty much summarizes the message of the song.

“Do Dope. Fuck Hope.”

I can’t really relate to this, because I don’t do dope and I have hope. But I’m not in the same position as they are, so I can’t really say anything about that. Something that kinda bugs is the fact that El-P is on this song. I mean I get that they are a rap duo and shit, but homie is a white male. He faces none of the problems that Killer Mike faces.

Sea Legs

This song is bonkers. El-P is an insanely talented rapper and he goes so hard in this song. He weaves these crazy visual descriptions. My favorite part from his verse has to be:

“So I move through the room like an animal fooling a master,

but I ain’t got love for the hand with the food,

Matter of fact I’m drooling at that shit.

I don’t only bite but I’m rapid.

Try to pet my fucking head again and
I’mma put a tooth through the hand that you jack with.”

I don’t know why, but I get such a vivid image from those lines. I just see a dog or a panther or some shit biting the hand that is trying to pet it. It’s also a metaphor to show that oppression is often disguised as safety. Oppression is a central message of this project. 

I also like the line:

“Get a couple good drinks in the kid,

I can flip out on a friend, take a drink, fuck a chick that I shouldn’t

Oh god, I am one of those Mad Men.”

Everyone can relate to this, we all do stupid ass stuff when we drink. I like the Mad men reference a lot.

I like the hook. It’s a metaphor for how they are trying to cross the sea from being underground to being mainstream.

Killer Mike takes shots at the self-proclaimed Hip Hop kings. This is seen from the line:

“Real Shit I came for the Jewels

I’m the killer of kings and fools.

I’m the reason the season of treason starts this evening.”

He says that he destroys even the best mainstream rappers and whack rappers. This Project got released during the summer, which was also the summer of “Yeezus” and “Magna Carta…Holy Grail” by Kanye and Jay-Z respectively. He’s saying that he destroys them rap wise and personally I think he’s true. I think Kanye and Jay-Z were slacking off with their albums, whereas this album is tuned to perfection. 

Job Well Done feat Until the Ribbon Breaks

This song blew me away. They sampled one of Killer Mike’s old songs. Let that sink in for a moment. They sampled his own song for a new song. That’s tight yo.The verses are nasty. Nasty in the good way that is. I like El-P’s verse the best. He keeps listing things that their album does to people and things and it’s pretty amusing. Killer Mike shows how technical he can get. The real gem (jewel reference, get it?) to me is the hook. They barely have any features on it and this guy is a R&B guy, but he sounds dope. 

No Come Down

This song is about their experiences about tripping on drugs. I like the verses, but Killer Mike definitely has the better one in this song. Killer Mike sums his whole verse up in one line when he says:

“True Romance, in one lap dance”

During his verse he takes drugs with this stripper and feels as if he has fallen in love with her and spent his whole life with her in the span of one lap dance. What struck me with this is how vividly and how well he tells this tale.

Get It

This beat is sick. I really enjoy this song. High energy, superb lyricism and crazy smooth flow. This song has the most technical rapping in my opinion. I really like the verses that they start off with introducing themselves. Again this song is filled with the vivid imagery that makes these two so impressive.

Twin Hype Back feat Prince Paul

This song is basically a dedication to “Twin Hype,” but it goes so much harder than they ever could have gone. I like the raps in the song, but the Chest Rockwell parts are just awkward to me. I don’t really like them that much. 

Again, they are being hella technical and basically showing off their skills.

A Christmas Fucking Miracle

This is my new favorite christmas tune. It starts off all christmassy and then goes into a hard bass beat. 

They rap about staying true to yourself and not letting outside forces influence you.

El-P also talks about growing up on the streets in Brooklyn. He also talks about how love is a positive energy and that we should all have that in our life.

Killer Mike talks about never going soft and always doing his best. I’m still so impressed by how they can paint such vivid images with their words. 

The lyricism in this album is completely redic. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard such a technical rap style. I also think it’s crazy how vivid the images are that they paint in this. The energy never slows down in this. It keeps going and going. The beats are produced to perfection, but what else can you expect from El-P?  I really, really enjoyed this album. It most def in my top 3 releases of the year. I’ll give this a 9.5/10.