Album Review: Run the Jewels 3

Run the Jewels
Run the Jewels 3
Mass Appeal / RED
https://runthejewels.com/

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Run the Jewels shook dinner tables this holiday with the early release of their third self-titled album, adding a needed slice of rap-realness to everyone’s typically mundane holiday playlists. On Christmas Day, they made their album available for free download, unbeknownst to fans expecting it in January 2017. Seasoned rappers El-P and Killer Mike collaborated to create their debut self-titled album in 2013, to much success and positive reviews. They went on to drop their sophomore self titled in 2014 that included surprising artist features, and another hard dose of their charisma and talent that took the music world by storm.

Run the Jewels’ charisma, collaborative skills, and two-toned dynamic is clearly working, and RTJ 3 is no exception to their consistency. El-P’s quick, cerebral raps and technical mixing intertwined with Killer Mike’s thoughtful, smooth, visceral rhymes is the flagship of this album that continues to please over and over. It’s clear from tracks like “Hey Kid” and “Kill Your Masters”: El-P and Killer Mike are angry, and they will vocalize it with passion and volume.

Previous critics of RTJ’s third album say it doesn’t diverge significantly from the previous two albums’ style and form, or introduce anything new. But if nothing’s broken, why fix it? RTJ’s sound is a thoughtful blend of hard, fast beats and impressively intricate raps that switch back and forth between the two rappers seamlessly. El-P shows off his slick rhyming skills and mixing in “Call Ticketron,” and Killer Mike surprises listeners when he drops his voice — which is typically uncharacteristic — and delves into subdued, monotone, yet lightning-fast rapping that breathes a new intensity. It is a new feat for Killer Mike and adds something different to their usual sound.

There are subtle nuances within the music that pushes the envelope of advocacy and critical thinking further and further — “2100,” an anarchist-fuelled anthem to tumultuous, harrowing current events, places Run the Jewels in a political, unapologetic frame. They examine society top down, asking the question “how low before the hate that we hold leads us to another holocaust?” RTJ creates a controversial, radical narrative that is raw and critical of the United States, unpacking the unrest occurring across North America, and showing the true colours of the war-hungry, racist and hateful society that is ever-vocal. Their track suggests unrest and injustice as commonplace — generations of children are growing up with president-elects telling them to hate. El-P pleads for future generations: “I just want to live, I don’t want to ever load a clip.”

RTJ’s radical narrative serves up anger, action, and an unapologetic look into North American society this holiday season. Kudos to Run the Jewels as they produce another set of bangers with a political, powerful purpose — although from Killer Mike and El-P, nothing less is expected.