Run the Jewels 2
It’s important to note that Run the Jewels 2 is an album—it’s on a real label and you can pay money to own it. And the transition from mixtape-to-album explains every progression El-P and Killer Mike have made in the past year. This is the most viciously realized rap album of 2014.
Nearly two decades after rocking the underground realm with Funcrusher Plus, El-P has cut down on his dense cultural references and mile-a-minute musical approach to make way for accessibility. This gave Killer Mike enough room to slip in and form the much lauded bad-guy duo Run The Jewels. Instead of hustling to…
Killer Mike and El-P are back to take care of some unfinished business with the stunning Run The Jewels 2.
Functional hip-hop duos are a rarity these days. It takes work to balance out strong personalities that have a lot to say.
The music created by Killer Mike and El-P easily falls into this category, and is closest to that of Jeff and Prince's, not just because the duo fall under the same category of "hip-hop" but also because Run the Jewels 2, like its predecessor, comes with some joy baked in.
Until tracked down and handcuffed by something better to listen to, Run the Jewels have seized the crown of Best Rap Album of 2014 and sped off, getaway-style, into the black night.
"I'm gonna bang this bitch the fuck out," yells Killer Mike before the opening track of Run the Jewels 2.
Album review: Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels 2. Killer Mike and El-P are still fiery, still furious – and still fantastic…
Run The Jewels 2 not only resumes the lyrical onslaught of its predecessor, but expands the duo’s purview both thematically and sonically.
The American hip-hop duo don’t entirely avoid off-colour lyrical cliches, but their second album is full of power, writes<strong> Paul MacInnes</strong>
Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 2 review: Big up, big up, it's a stick up, stick up.