Run The Jewels - El-P and Killer Mike

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.

please don't associate with me with racoon

Big difference between "not my cup of tea" and "fuck this sucks objectively and only idiots who want to be cool would like it."

being insulted by RT is actually sort of gratifying

btw tanuki are basically raccoons so isn't his name redundant?

i have to admit i found the last RtJ album to be a little predictable and samey compared to the KM and EL-P albums that had preceded it. it felt very much like a side project. curious to hear this one though.

It's a "side project" in the same sense that skateboarding videos are

i honestly can't imagine anyone who likes rap music not enjoying this on some level

What if they're dicks?

I'm not a huge RTJ enthusiast (although I did like the Killer Mike album El-P produced a lot) but his reasoning for disliking them is just really weird.

xxp ehhhhhh I wouldn't go nearly that far

i mean, i'm not saying the world should be i-i-i-i-love company flow/i wanna be down, I'm saying anyone with even a passing interest in rap music should be able to hear this record and say, at the very least, "This is pretty decent"

So far think I still like the first one better fwiw.

But still, whiney otm.

"this is better than mad decent" certainly

idk put a dick or clit in yr mouth and consider this album a lil more

It's a "side project" in the same sense that skateboarding videos are

― Vomits of a Missionary (bernard snowy), Saturday, October 25, 2014 8:26 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

explain

Wellll I'm pretty drunk but the point I was trying to male was that it's nothing but awesome highlight-reel-type shit

probably "highlight reels" woulda made the point clearer than "skateboarding videos" but hell that's where my mind went ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i like the album, but it seems weirdly abrupt. every song seems like its been edited a little too sharply.

i like that about it. great running record (lol). don't really understand why track three is basically the doctor who theme. that and jeopardy. they watch tv i guess, like people

enjoyed yr article whiney

btw tanuki are basically raccoons so isn't his name redundant?

actually tanuki aren't racooons at all. The mystery deepens

this is a pretty fun exciting album but the production/songwriting is kind of foursquare... as w/ the first RTJ the song structures are very conservative and samey. the stuff on the solo albums was more ambitious in that respect./

yeah samey puts the finger on the problem for me, not enough diversity between songs for me to keep attention. not surprinsgly, crown is my favorite track on this.

thank u thomp

btw tanuki are basically raccoons so isn't his name redundant?

No, you're wrong. Which as you listen to RTJ in your free time is probably a running theme for you.

i honestly can't imagine anyone who likes rap music not enjoying this on some level

.