In 2012, Brooklyn producer, emcee and former Definitive Jux boss El-P teamed up with Atlanta rapper Killer Mike for R.A.P. Music. For Killer Mike, it resulted in a project so strong that he became more known for his rap career than his affiliation with OutKast or his Grammy for “The Whole World.” The southern production on R.A.P. Music was a stark contrast from the dystopian sounds that El-P used to soundtrack his dexterous raps on albums like I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead and Cancer4Cure. Sans the country beat and hook, the precursor to the group persona they would assume as Run The Jewels surfaced on El-P’s verse on Killer Mike’s “Butane (Champion’s Anthem).” The first words of the verse are, “I’m a Grinch with a grin I will shit on your kids” and the rest of the verse provides such imagery as robbing a Brinks truck and snorting enough coke to be missing a nose like the Sphinx. As such, the first Run The Jewels album was defined by trunk-rattling beats and a negotiation of Killer Mike and El-P’s respective styles to form the villainous duo that their stick up logo suggests. With more emotional range and better guest features, Run The Jewels 2 further develops the formula of its predecessor.
While Run The Jewels was the best rap album of last year, there was the feeling that it did not always play to Killer Mike and El-P’s strengths. The album sounded like a vacation from the more dire lyrical content of R.A.P. Music and Cancer4Cure. Perhaps the most serious song on the EP-sized album, “DDFH,” was more stoned conspiracy theorizing than political commentary. While not every verse is tip-top on the sequel, the duo get a pass because El-P sounds compelling throughout the album and the song concepts are much more developed. “Crown” is more serious than anything on Run The Jewels, opening with a touching verse about Killer Mike’s guilt over selling crack to a pregnant woman. Of course, this immediately follows Three 6 Mafia’s Gangsta Boo’s absurdly crass verse about a man she had sex with who fell in love with her.
That said, Run The Jewels 2 is not merely the sum of tough guy talk and emotional depth. If this album was as off the cuff as their last album, it could be perceived as the same thing. The beats are hard as pavement, the two best friends are up to their old shit talking shenanigans, there’s a raunchy guest feature, a hook from an artist that a lot of people don’t know and a feature from a rapper that was commercially successful at the turn of the century. The sequel is the more calculated of the two and the big payoff comes in the form of killer hooks, such as the ones found in “Love Again (Akinyele Back),” “Early,” and “Blockbuster Night Part 1,” which beat many of the hooks on Run The Jewels, because the duo and their guests reach further than the hooks of tracks like “No Come Down,” “Sea Legs,” “DDFH” or even this album’s “All My Life.” And while the hook on “Lie, Cheat, Steal” does not look very fresh on paper, Killer Mike brings a southern fried accent on the hook that he has yet to bring to the Run The Jewels project, but would be easily recognizable for those familiar with Killer Mike’s solo work.
What’s admirable about Run The Jewels 2 album is that despite staying within the blueprint of their last release, there are risks taken by the duo that differentiate the two albums that consistently pay off. For instance, lacing Zack de la Rocha’s voice into the beat on “Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck)” and even featuring him on a verse could have turned out to be as underwhelming as his appearance on “Melding of the Minds” from last fall’s Deltron 3030 album Event 2. Instead, it was his best hip-hop verse since 1999’s “C.I.A. (Criminals In Action),” where he sounded like he belonged on the track with KRS-One. Moreover, Travis Barker’s inclusion on “All Due Respect” could have sounded gimmicky, but he complements El-P’s all over the place production to take the appearance of jungle music. It’s rather transcendental from a production standpoint, providing the most original beat El has conjured for the Run The Jewels project.
With a rich bank of cultural references from over 15 years ago and enough fresh ideas to be worth listening to, El-P and Killer Mike are a vital act in hip-hop. This is a personable duo that can play to large festival crowds, make a powerful statement about the government and successfully reference Akinyele, MJG, and The Weathermen. Whether this album is better than Run The Jewels is irrelevant. The two have cemented their significance to 10s hip-hop with the fourth great album between them.
Album Rating: 4.5/5