Run The Jewels - El-P and Killer Mike

I like this assumption that all long-time hiphop fans have been studiously following the career of El-P.

You added the studiously following part. I've been trying to avoid him, but not knowing who he is...

hahahahahahahahahahahahaha OMG MUSICIANS ARE IN IT FOR THE MONEY BREAKING NEWS GUYS

Check this shit out.

Super stoked to get home and DL this.

hahahaha yes obviously none of us RTJ fans have listened to golden era hip-hop, we're all like "kool g who?" and "gang starr? those two Rs weird me out omg lol" and "tupac is only a one hit wonder because of that thugz mansion joint with nas rite" and "bizarre ride 2 the boringside"

like you have to be taking the piss out of us dude i've heard of troll dedication but this is next level shit

Your attention to my indifference to RTJ is telling though. It's just not good music, I advise you to get over your insecurity with your tastes.

if we're gonna be pedantic (and this IS ILM) I didn't say I didn't know who he was, I said I didn't listen to/care about him

tbf RTJ totally pushes my old man rap buttons, I dunno about other people, but it seems on some level that that's by design.

xp

Look I'm not trying to get into this. I didn't realise this was a fan only board. I'll let you enjoy your album without my criticisms which are getting people wound up.

xxpost nah i'm sitting here laughing my ass off during a lull at work over your shit, and i'm trolling back at you because you troll literally everybody

as to insecurity over my taste i've been regularly posting in the taylor swift thread and have no trouble saying it cant wait for how you'll attempt hurt my feelings over it

Yeh of course you haven't because people listening to this album aren't long time hiphop fans. You're not who I'm talking to.

― Raccoon Tanuki, Friday, October 24, 2014 4:05 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The thing is, that, YES, RTJ is the rare non-pop-minded group that connects people who "don't even listen to rap" to longtime nerds and hip-hop heads. The last time that happened even remotely on this level was, what, Madvillain?

RT people were getting upset when you got nasty towards Whiney's article, not as much the album.

xpost probably, and to be honest did madvillain even get *that* popular outside of those who were bound to listen to it anyway?

I'm hardly a whiney stan but that's a good article. I also liked that time he interviewed E-40.

Thanks for all the kind words about the article, guys, seriously!

And, yeah, I'm not bothered by Raccoon Tafuckboi's nastiness about it one iota. Some seriously weak zings on that front

RT only posts on ILX for the money.

gettin that mad troll cheddar

RT people were getting upset when you got nasty towards Whiney's article, not as much the album.

ok wait apologies for that b/c I didn't even realise the guy who posted it also wrote it until closer inspection

The thing is, that, YES, RTJ is the rare non-pop-minded group that connects people who "don't even listen to rap" to longtime nerds and hip-hop heads. The last time that happened even remotely on this level was, what, Madvillain?

OK but that sadness b/c mv was very very good, innovative, creative, fresh, and in no way comparable

as to insecurity over my taste i've been regularly posting in the taylor swift thread and have no trouble saying it cant wait for how you'll attempt hurt my feelings over it

I have no problems with t.s but she's only the second most talented t.s out there right now w/r

the smiths have been retired for a while now

she's only the second most talented t.s out there right now w/r

irl lol

i'm not hurt, tanook, speak your mind bruh

xpost i literally am near crying from laughing so hard at this shit

"I have no problems with t.s but she's only the second most talented t.s out there right now w/r"

HAHA yes classic RT!!!

jeez am i gonna haveta killfile again, i suppose it's less ethically dodgy when the poster is a particularly thick sock

t.$

i'm not hurt, tanook, speak your mind bruh

no but seriously im not a dick like that i wouldn't have called you out like that had i known that's in fact what i was doing

so odd that what put these guys together was Adult Swim; is there a good thoughtpiece about williams street's impact/influence from and on hip hop?

Raccoon Tanuki your aesthetic criteria are so weird and out-of-touch. which is fine as long as you recognize, & don't try to foolishly potshot a "target audience" that is much bigger/represents a larger % of the total 2k14 rap fanbase than you probably realize

im glad racoon (or someone who doesnt seem to care about being perfectly rational and logical and consistent) is posting about music.

not heard this album yet but there is something weird about how much crit-love el-p has gotten, maybe since the first RTJ and the killer mike album he made. its nice and more straightforward, this newer phase of his, but i miss the 'i want to fuck with your head' motives of the def jux era. even if it has been a steady trajectory hes been on since ill sleep when youre dead. killer mike will always be a personal favourite, but i might be the only person who prefers his verse on snappin and trappin to most of what hes done later (though i do like the first allegiance tape). theres always been something a little contrived about his work with el-p, i cant quite explain it. all the tag team finesse is there, you can tell they know what works about epmd and run dmc, etc, but i never get the feeling these two really *connect*. theres just something that clearly appeals to people about el-p producing a street-rap guy, and about killer mike being produced by a former nerd/backpack guy. its like everyones dreams for a reversal of rap's bifurcation in one swoop. old-school heads like the nods to the mid/late 80s, younger kids like... well im not sure what they like actually. is their audience a slightly older one? sometimes i think i would have liked it more if el-p just took more of a sage francis type career route.

actually iirc when i saw them live in london, the crowd was mostly older guys and that kind of 'yeah this is what real rap is meant to be' audience. which is obv the type of thing a lot of non-rap listeners who only like rap when its more right-on seem to like.

...obv, while allowing a bit of petty-street-crime vicariousness via the group's title. was weird to get the email addressing their fans as 'jewel runners'. oooh, so dangerous.

Kinda wish there was less El-P rapping on this one tbh. And fewer guest stars.

Yeah he's OK but the draw of the whole thing is killer mike

Fave guest spot is easily gangsta boo.

El P has never accepted that he can't and shouldn't rap. Guess why.

I used to love this song but this is as good as el-p ever got at rapping, as it he can't do it. He just blurts out loads of words. The beat at this time was incredible, obviously. This "jewel runner" cash grab he and mike are doing now is just lame to anyone who's a hip hop head for longer than a few years. It's like preferring modern more accessible and clever marketing Nasir Jones over 90s Nas. There's no defence for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k47VVqMiUTg

I understand clowning El-P for being "a red-headed goon with no flow" (as one ILXor memorably put it) but if you can't hear that his skills have improved since he started working with Mike then I don't know what to tell you

The dude has lyrics, check the first verse of A Christmas Fucking Miracle or his verse on Crown. You expect him not to rap?

To me this is all about image. Get yourself a cool cover and a cool name and an under the radar status your half way to making it.

You expect him not to rap?

[Verse 5: El-P]
With the pull of a pin a grenade
Get a crowd to they feet and a soul to its options
I'm a fool for the win I been made
To be loud while these other cats drowning in softness
In a urn or the dirt get tossed in
With a grin or a smirk get accosted
I'm a sin on the verse like a kid in a hearse
Or a nun in a cum shot (stop it)

This "jewel runner" cash grab he and mike are doing now is just lame to anyone who's a hip hop head for longer than a few years.

you should stop saying demonstrably untrue shit like this, young man

StillAdvance, the whole "these guys come from two different worlds" element that you think is the appeal got people to pay attention to R.A.P. Music MAYBE

If you don't think the appeal of the RTJ albums are more about what they have in COMMON, then i don't know what to tell you

Part of what I like about RtJ is that their antisocial schtick basically beats all the young 'horrorcore' cats at their own game, probably cuz they're wise enough to focus on craft & wit over some naive concept of 'expression'

xxxp that's not bad, i'm not sure what you're trying to say

this has held up to 24 hours of looped listening so far and kept me from trying taylor swift's album

"StillAdvance, the whole "these guys come from two different worlds" element that you think is the appeal got people to pay attention to R.A.P. Music MAYBE"

not saying its the only reason, but im sure theres something people like about RTJ in the same way they like about seeing idk, mel gibson and danny glover lol

I don't even know what point you're trying to make anymore

his point: rap is for raccoons

Whiney, great article.

And I think I'll stop reading this thread now.

Nothing El-P does has replay value to me, hope this one is different.

I love this one more than the last.

What music does this Tanuki guy listen to? If I don't much care for it I'm going to head over to those threads and tell him that his music is not good and he is bad for liking it.

Naaaaaaaah

Meh, i'm not impressed with the album yet. It's very good and whatnot, but I have come up to terms with the fact that RTJ is just not my cup of tea.