It can’t be a surprise to anyone that ‘Run The Jewels 2’ is a great album, the only question is how great?
Killer Mike and El-P came together as Run The Jewels when El-P handled all of the production on Killer Mike’s brilliant ‘R.A.P. Music’. Then followed the first Run The Jewels album, which was arguably an instant classic. Its strength was in how off the cuff the album felt. Running on pure chemistry, nothing felt forced (*cough cough* Watch The Throne). The album saw two gifted rappers try an outdo each other over hard-hitting hip hop instrumentals. So if we were to call RTJ1 a calculated fluke, what of part 2? Well from the outset they are aware of the expectations. Killer Mike gives a brief but rousing speech on opener ‘Jeopardy’. Its slow but deliberate pace perfectly sets up the neck breaking noise that follows. Which brings us to El-P’s production. His production skills are pretty well renown at this point all the way back to his beginnings with Company Flow.
But this is different. ‘Oh My Darling Baby’ rattles with around 50 layers of bass, with a growl that is present throughout. It’s beyond good production, it’s as if El-P’s throwing down the gauntlet to all other producers. Which is especially prevalent in an age where lazy trap beats rule. The competitive spirit is dialled back slightly in favour of complimenting each other perfectly. It doesn’t’ mean they still don’t pull every trick to outdo each other but on ‘Blockbuster Night Part 1’ but the sound of the two weaving in and out of each other during verses, makes whoever ‘won’ redundant. The album delves deeper beyond hard rhyming. ‘Close Your Eyes (And Count To F__k)’ sees Mike and El drift from metaphor to literal descriptions of the prison system and a feature from Zack (Rage Against The Machine) De La Rocha makes too much sense. They even take the theme to a first person narrative on ‘Early’. The cliché of the graphic sexual bragging is turned in on itself with ‘Love Again’ which somehow manages to worship women as well as objectify them. Killer Mike delivers a chilling account of selling crack to a pregnant woman and his struggle overcoming who he once was. It all makes for the perfect hip-hop album. Album of the year.
