Gotham Spotify Playlist: Run The Jewels

Get to know one of the most successful independent rap groups of all-time.

Brooklyn producer/rapper El-P (aka El Producto, aka Jamie Meline) and Atlanta rapper Killer Mike (aka Michael Render) are two of the hardest-hitting independent rappers in the music industry right now. Both men spent years struggling to make names for themselves in their respective communities, becoming huge in the underground scenes. In 2013, the duo (both near 40) united for Run the Jewels, a free digital download which took the rap community by storm. Ever since, the duo has released hit album after hit album, on track to becoming one of the most successful independent rap groups of all-time.

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RTJ’s style can be best described as “bravado and defiance in the face of sheer doom.” The lyrics contain themes of existentialism, anti-fascism, braggadocios joking, and pop culture, all delivered with potent lyricism and quick wit. El-P spent years running an independent label in New York where he worked with independent artists like Aesop Rock and Das Racist. Meanwhile, Killer Mike came up in the new wave of ATL rappers as a political voice in the aftermath of Outkast. After incubating in their respective locales, the two have combined their personalities and styles to create something entirely new that has taken hold in the rap community.

Also, this Portlandia skit with them is amazing:

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Enough geeking out, here’s the Run the Jewels playlist.

Spotify

1. Run the Jewels (Run the Jewels) — This track introduced RTJ to the world and set the tone for the groups dynamic and sound. After previously collaborating together on Killer Mike’s R.A.P. Music and El-P’s Cancer 4 Cure, the two artists come out swinging on this track. Once the beat drops, El-P and Killer Mike hit with rapidfire vocals and take you on a wild ride for all three minutes. The lyrics focus primarily on resigning to the fact that the world is a messed up place, and resolving to enjoying it at all costs.
2. Talk to Me (Run the Jewels 3) — “Talk to Me” was the first single released off the groups most recent album. A much more refined sound than their first album, the production is smooth and uplifting. Meanwhile, the lyrics from both artists touch on political issues in a refined and nuanced way. Killer Mike, who was known for his aggressive activism on songs like “Reagan”, takes a much more subtle approach with his lyrics (“My job is to fight for survival in spite of these All Lives Matter ass white folk”). Meanwhile, El-P’s lyrics offer an aggressive yet comedic approach to the same topics (“Brave men didn’t die face down in the Vietnam muck so I could not style on you”).
3. Blockbuster Night Part 1 (Run the Jewels 2) — If you haven’t added this song to your gym playlist, give it a shot. You’ll be deadlifting 500 before you realize that your body physically can’t. This song was the first track released off Run the Jewels 2, offering a more harnessed sound than the duo’s first album. El-P and Killer Mike take the underlying aggression from their initial music and release it in full force in both the production and the lyrics. The track was most recently used in Marvel’s Iron Fist to great effect.
4. Legend Has It (Run the Jewels 3) — It’s difficult to isolate what makes this song such a hard hitting success. The beat has some of the most powerful hits and drops El-P has ever made, but the words perfectly walk the border between aggression and clever bragging. Probably the highlight of the song comes at the end of the second verse, where El-P takes his own lyric (“I’ve got a unicorn horn for a cock”) and substitutes the last word for his then-girlfriend (now fiancé) Emily Panic, telling him “Stop”, maintaining the rhyme and cleverness of the lyrics.
5. Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck)(feat. Zach de la Rocha) (Run the Jewels 2) — There is a very clear connection between rap and punk music. Both contain themes of raging against the system, not to mention similar tempos and intensities of the music. On “Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck)”, RTJ celebrates this connection with an onslaught of politically based lyrics. Featured on this track is Rage Against The Machine’s Zack de la Rocha, who provides a verse and is sampled for the beat. de la Rocha has since collaborated with El-P on his song “digging for windows”, released in September of 2016.
6. Call Ticketron (Run the Jewels 3) — Of all the songs in this playlist, “Call Ticketron” has the dirtiest beat of them all. It’s from another dimension. The song is a celebration of the duo’s rising success, emphasized by their repetition of “Run the Jewels live from the Garden”. Although RTJ hasn’t headlined Madison Square Garden (yet), they did open up for Jack White at his concert there.
7. Get It (Run the Jewels) — “Get It” was the first single from the first Run the Jewels album, introducing the new group to the world. The beat is reminiscent of El-P’s original production style, coupled with experimentation in darker tones. The lyrics by both artists are both noteworthy, Killer Mike stands out as he showcases his lyrical brilliance on the track, culminating with one of his hardest lines ever: “ Mike’ll fuck a rapper’s life up like Mo’Nique did to Precious.”
8. Love Again (Akinyele Back) (Run the Jewels 2) — It’s funny to think of this track as RTJ experimenting with traditional rap themes. The song is a love song of sorts, but like most rap songs about love, it’s primarily about sex. Specifically, dirty sex wrapped in a dirty beat. The song features Gangsta Boo on a verse that’s harder than Killer Mike’s and El-P’s verses combined.
9. Thursday in the Danger Room (feat. Kamasi Washington) (Run the Jewels 3) — This song is a gut punch by a sliced onion. By far the most touching and vulnerable song that RTJ put out, the lyrics allow El-P and Killer Mike to reflect on their friends who died along the way. El-P discusses his best friend Camu Tao, who died of lung cancer in 2008. His verse doesn’t just reflect about watching his friend die, but goes so far as to say that he sometimes wished that Camu was gone already since it was so hard watching him live in pain. Killer Mike’s verse, while focused on the larger themes of poverty and crime in the ghetto, concentrates it through the story of a young friend who was murdered for his chain. The song features Kamasi Washington, the saxophone player who was featured prominently on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly.
10. Banana Clipper (feat. Big Boi) (Run the Jewels) — While not the most prominent RTJ song, Banana Clipper is awesome because of how it channels a distinctly Atlanta feel. The song features Big Boi, who brought Killer Mike into ATL rap prominence, but at the end of the day, RTJ still dominate the track.