Contrary to popular belief, Run the Jewels is not a new act. Frontmen Killer Mike and El-P are seasoned veterans in the hip hop scene, both debuting their careers in the early 2000s. Their fated meeting was born from simple fun: a party encounter arranged by Cartoon Network executive Jason DeMarco, resulting in critical hit after critical hit. As a result, Run the Jewels has aged like finely-manufactured wine. Their sound is crisp, as boastful as a Dionysian party and as foreboding as the Oracle of Delphi.
Not surprising from their past successes, “RTJ4” comes back to boastfully bully its enemies and handsomely attract listeners. Killer Mike strikes swiftly and violently with his verses as he reads Noam Chomsky and Charles Bukowski while fighting trigger-happy cops; El-P brings the rhythmic punches of a training boxer as he talks about the dehumanization consumerism brings while raising a Kurt Vonnegut fist. It’s as equally restless as it is succinct, never resting on a singular silence but instead choosing to be bold and loud.
Contrary to the empty production found in many new albums, “Run the Jewels 4” is not afraid of noise. The quiet, nostalgic introduction of TV static and a show narrator opening the episodic “yankee and the brave (ep.4),” followed by harsh synths, percussion peppered by the occasional gong and Killer Mike hilariously firing on about cracking backs like a chiropractor. It’s a bold album for sure, landing on revolutionary anarchy coming off more moderate worldviews. The blaring synth transition of “holy calamaf–k” spiked my serotonin, demanding my attention to a now grimier section. Not a single moment of this album is sonically boring, and it is completely reflective of the chaotic world around it.
Like the duo’s past projects, “Run the Jewels 4” is also not an album to shy away from screaming about systemic issues. It’s an album that is not afraid to side itself against the police, against the inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants, or the tragic dying words of Eric Garner and their reflections on the current political landscape. It’s an album deeply invested in issues that have been plaguing society for years, demanding justice against a corrupt system. The real life politics ask for deliberate organization; the soundscape demands to pull the pin.
Seriousness is not just the sole contemplation of “Run the Jewels 4.” Their previous album, “Run the Jewels 3,” ditched the chaotic vibes of its predecessors and went straight into politics as the looming shadow of the 2016 elections came to a close. If “Run the Jewels 3” laid “the groundwork for the battleground ahead,” then “Run the Jewels 4” explores the roadmap to liberation. It’s an album deliberately against holding back, perfectly looping back its introduction and ending and seamlessly moving from track to track. Four years later, problematic territories are finally charted, and Run the Jewels has memorized the map all too well.
“Run the Jewels 4” is also not devoid of collaboration. Former album collaborators are back in the carefully constructed boxing ring. Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha joins Pharrell in aiding Killer Mike and El-P on “JU$T,” and Gangsta Boo is back to delivering snarky choruses on “walking in the snow.” New collaborations such as Greg Nice and DJ Premier on “ooh la la” excite both the listener and the frontmen.
Concluding, “Run the Jewels 4” is a fiery take on systemic justice. There is not a single moment in this album meant to bore, instead offering energetic torches to light the way amidst dark times. It’s both sonically and politically dismantling, and in a time where racist systems are being reexamined, it makes sense for Killer Mike and El-P to have pushed an earlier release date, while also providing a link for a free album with a donation to the National Lawyers Guild Mass Defense Fund. We need a soundtrack to accompany the oncoming accountability.
