RTJ4
Run the Jewels
Genre: Fuckin' Sweet
There's...a lot of things happening right now. I am not fit nor am I qualified to comment on them effectively. I'm here, in my house, paid job, complaining about how I want to go back to a physical work location. That is the extent of the problems that directly affect me. My privilege is extreme.
And yet, at the same time, over 100,000 people have died from a virus that robs them of their ability to even be with their loved ones at the end; a virus whose extent and spread could have been prevented if a certain orange moron had pulled his head out of his ass and listened to actual medical professionals rather than his own ego.
And now, hundreds of thousands more bravely stand and fight against the illegal occupation of their cities by the military, and for the same rights and equality of law that they are guaranteed by the Constitution but have been denied by a fascistic and militarized system of force in place since they were first brought here against their will 400 years ago.
Every day, social media is inundated with videos, some live, of people being attacked while doing nothing but practicing a right guaranteed them, and sometimes while doing nothing at all. Anger is not a strong enough word to describe my emotional reaction. And I know that's not enough. How can people continue to stand up for such an oppressive and totalitarian force when the evidence is plain to see?
The willful ignorance is mind-boggling.
Run the Jewels, in case you were woefully unaware, is the rap duo of Killer Mike and El-P, and everything they have ever recorded is pure gold. Every song is a torrent of rallying cries for action. Their second album, released in 2014, was widely agreed as the best album of that year, and rightly so; filled with fire-spitting rage and beats harder than a blacksmith's hammer, it was a revolution in hip-hop.
Their third album, released on Christmas Day four years ago, was made in the wake of the saddest election in US history, but before we knew just how terrible it would really be. Its songs serve as warning of what was to come, and as a guide for how to power through. It built off everything 2 had promised and created a masterpiece of political manifestos as hardcore rap. Sadly, everything happened exactly as they predicted.
Four years later, in 2020, the year of never ending tragedy, they release RTJ4, and it's as punishing and brutal as we deserve. An "I told you so" admonishment that is almost literally crushing. It is the darkest RTJ have ever gone, and it's only too prescient. Filled with rage and injected with wisdom, the bars here are razor-sharp, unapologetic, and a vicious anthem for unity against the system.
A lot of press has focused on the song "walking in the snow" and Killer Mike's verse about being choked until he gasps "I can't breathe." Impossibly, this line, referencing Eric Garner, has somehow, inexplicably, terrifyingly become all too real...again.
No. It's not inexplicable. The system is racist and violent and perpetuates systemic hatred and prejudice. That the topics of this album are anything other than dystopian fantasy is the saddest commentary on American society I can think of. The system must end.
Educate yourself
Understand your privilege
Defund the police
Black Lives Matter
