“RTJ4” is finally out! There aren’t many surprises there, but that doesn’t stop you from getting high.
1) Now is the best time for this release
The tandem decided not to wait for the usual Friday and released the album on Wednesday against the backdrop of the ongoing protests in the United States. And Run the Jewels’ music really fits the global agenda perfectly. It has always been both aggressive, but at the same time directing that aggression toward the good and kind of saying: fight for your rights, but don’t forget that the main thing is peace and fun.
2) Killer Mike > El-P.
Throughout the years of RTJ’s existence there has been a perception that El-P is still a bit of a frontman. He’s in charge of the music, much more visible in the media space, and on the albums his lines were more vividly peppering the listener’s head. “RTJ4” is a Killer Mike benefit. Throughout the album he is non-stop gibbering away at the utter absurdity and then going into activist mode and talking about what’s wrong with modern America. About the second one – below, the best of the first: “Bitch, we cool as penguin pussy on the polar cap peninsula”.
3) RTJ doesn’t have anything to surprise anymore, but it doesn’t have to.
The new album Run the Jewels is basically just another Run the Jewels album. Their music has already been compared to chainsaw, anvil, weapon of mass destruction – and nothing has changed here. It is still loud music, endless insolence and aggressive humor, sometimes poorly blending with the peaceful life stance of both participants. Just what everyone loved the tandem of these men.
They are both 90 years old – and here we want to be happy for El-P and Killer Mike who at first spent more than ten years building a perfect reputation in the rap underground and then came to success with a wider audience with their most fan project that never pretended to be serious.
4) They are still the most stylish rap group.
It’s not about expensive brands; the members never became addicted to them. It’s about how RTJ has turned the band’s logo into the best rap logo of at least the last decade. It’s recognizable, it’s easy to represent with two hands (one is enough if there’s a buddy around), and it’s just as easy to upgrade for the next cover.
And it looks perfect on merch. There’s nothing unexpected: t-shirts, hoodies, caps, mugs – but it looks so cool that you want to buy everything. Delivery to the CIS is present.
5) Pharrell and 2 Chainz fit like a glove.
The main difference of “RTJ4” from the previous albums – there are some superstar guests. Yes, the previous two albums featured Zach de la Rocha from Rage against the Machine, but in terms of the modern pop scene the participation of 2 Chainz and Pharrell is like a new stage. The presence of both was surprising: one is about a whole different kind of rap, the other makes cotton candy music, how would they fit in? In the end, 2 Chainz recalls coming out of poverty in his verse, and Farrell flies in on a track about class inequality. This shouldn’t be surprising, by the way: Pharrell had time to weave social commentary into the band NER*D’s work, too.
6) “Ooh La La La” is the best song in Run the Jewels history.
You know that unpleasant feeling when you turn on an album you’ve been waiting for and you hear the best song a couple of months before it comes out? That’s the same story with this one: not a single track stands out more than “Ooh La La La”. And I still have the feeling that there was nothing more powerful in RTJ’s discography before.
7) And then there’s a song that feels like it’s based on last week’s
The song “Walking in the Snow” has held the number one spot in views on Genius since its release. El-P has already clarified that they recorded it last year. I had to clarify because Killer Mike’s verse seems to be dedicated to George Floyd: “You’re so numb, you’re gonna watch a cop choke someone like me until my voice drops to a whisper, ‘I can’t breathe.'” Here Killer Mike refers to the circumstances of Eric Garner’s death: in 2014, he told the cop who strangled him 11 times that he couldn’t breathe – and he died. In his verse, Killer Mike laments that people’s maximum is to write an angry tweet. In 2020, things worked out a little differently.
8) Is “RTJ4” the band’s best album?
I don’t think so. Let’s be honest: All four Run the Jewels albums can be included one after the other and not really notice how one flows into the other. Unless it’s by the highlight songs that stand out. In this regard, I want to arrange them like this: “RTJ2” – “RTJ4” – “RTJ3” – “RTJ1”. They still don’t have any weak albums – thanks, guys.