Run the Jewels 2 [10th Anniversary]

by Run the Jewels

Overview

There are those Jagger/Richards, Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis, or DJ Jazzy Jeff/Fresh Prince-styled collaborations that always seem fruitful. The music created by Killer Mike and El-P easily falls into this category, and is closest to that of Jeff and Prince's, not just because the duo fall under the same category of "hip-hop" but also because Run the Jewels 2, like its predecessor, comes with some joy baked in. It's a broken, ironic, and underground kind of joy as the hard-hitting "Oh My Darling Don't Cry" shows its pimp-hand with "You can all run naked backwards through a field of dicks" and also shows its business card because "You're in luck, it says I do two things: rap and fuck." This sophomore effort keeps the slanted spirit of the original, as mixing the attitude of N.W.A. with the weirdness of Adult Swim is both comfortable and fertile ground for the duo, but the "album" does try harder in the "serious" department. Paranoid androids like "Blockbuster Night, Pt. 1" benefit, as if Run-DMC embraced EL-P's compressed beatmaking and dropped the F-bomb whenever possible. "Early" is deadly serious with Killer Mike pleading "I apologize if it seems I got out of line sir, cuz I respect the badge and a gun/And I pray today ain't the day you drag me away right in front of my son," and that's right before things turn grave. "All Due Respect" with Travis Barker enters Death Grips' territory with punk, techno, and vicious rhymes all crawling up the spine, but this rebel music can still come with a smirk, as a stuttering Zach de la Rocha offers the infectious and weird hook on the wonderfully titled highlight "Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)." If the first album was the supernova, RTJ2 is the RTJ universe forming, proving that Mike and El-P's one-off can be a going, and ever growing, concern. ~ David Jeffries

Product Details

Release Date:	12/06/2024
Label:	SEEKER MUSIC GROUP
UPC:	8721093624622

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Run the Jewels   Primary Artist
Margot   Strings
Travis Barker   Drums,Featured Artist
Killer Mike   Vocals
James McNew   Bass
El-P   Vocals
Zack de la Rocha   Vocals,Featured Artist
Boots   Vocals,Featured Artist,Featured Artist,Featured Artist
Despot   Featured Artist
Michael Winslow   Vocals
Smoota   Trombone
Kareem Bunton   Vocals
Little Shalimar   Guitar,Co-Producer,Synthesizer
Isaiah "Ikey" Owens   Piano,Soloist
Gangsta Boo   Vocals,Featured Artist
Matt Sweeney   Guitar
Wilder Zoby   Organ,Keyboards
Trackstar the DJ   Scratching
Diane Coffee   Piano,Vocals,Featured Artist
Wiki   Featured Artist
Kenya Hawkins   Vocals
Shay Bigga   Vocals

Technical Credits

Killer Mike   Composer
El-P   Composer,Producer
Nocando   Engineer
Zack de la Rocha   Composer
Boots   Composer,Additional Production
Jaime Meline   Composer
Torbitt Schwartz   Composer
Despot   Composer
Joe LaPorta   Mastering
Joey Raia   Mixing
Bradley Post   Engineer
Nicholas Gazin   Artwork
Little Shalimar   Engineer,Producer,Additional Production
Nicolas Vernhes   Engineer
Wilder Zoby   Producer,Additional Production
Jordan Asher   Composer
Simen Solvang   Engineer
Leon Kelly   Engineer
Michael Lukowski   Art Producer
Run the Jewels   Composer
Wiki   Composer
Michael Render   Composer