Racial tensions in America are reaching a sickening breaking point. Police officers assault protestors, military police flood the streets of major cities, politicians turn a blind eye. Across the globe people are protesting, fighting for equality and the fair treatment of black citizens by government and law enforcement. Now we have a soundtrack for this resistance.
Run The Jewels have always been political, their music possessing a biting, politically charged fury and an aggressive attitude of resistance. Killer Mike has also been a vocal spokesperson for the Black Lives Matter movement in recent years and the group have always used the platform to tackle issues of race and police brutality in America. Linked below is Killer Mike’s incredibly powerful speech on the death of George Floyd made several days ago in Atlanta, if you haven’t seen it already I recommend you watch it.
Dropping early and free to download, the duos’ latest endeavour takes the fury, politics and activism of their previous work and spins it into an album that feels perfectly tailored to the current outcry and fury. ‘The world is infested with bullshit so here’s something raw to listen to while you deal with it all’ reads an accompanying post.
When the world needed them most, Run The Jewels returned.
Coming in at 11 songs, just shy of 40 minutes, RTJ4 might be one of the group’s tightest and most consistent projects to date, with some of their most politically barbed bars.
Opening with the jackhammer drums and tight flows of ‘yankee and the brave’, Run The Jewels make a strong mission statement for the rest of the album. The beat kicks and bounces with that beautifully vicious edge, vocal delivery is razor sharp and lyrics tackle issues of race and police brutality with that quintessential RTJ fury. This is followed up by another of the previously released singles, an ODB influenced boom-bap style banger featuring Greg Nice and DJ Premier. The cascading piano sample, slapping drums and old-school Premo aesthetic lend themselves perfectly to the duo, who cut and weave between samples and kicks with remarkable dexterity. Lyrics are blood soaked and bullet-riddled, painting grimy vignettes of violence and rebellion on US streets.
‘out of sight’ is another interesting cut, keeping up the momentum with a high energy, stuttering vocal sample layered over a clattering beat. Killer Mike delivers a rapid fire verse, one of his best on the album, as he skips over the instrumental, paired well with a punchy set of bars from EL-P. 2-Chainz makes a guest appearance, delivering a surprisingly great performance as he brings his signature southern growl to the track. This leads into the more minimal, sinister instrumental of ‘holycalmafuck’ that paces malicious under Mike and El-P’s verses. It’s a nice change of pace from the roaring instrumentals of the previous tracks, but still retains that gloriously fuzzy and raw production aesthetic.
‘goonies vs E.T’ offers another high-energy and high-intensity banger where pitched down vocals and warped samples accompany the duo’s dense and raging vocal performances. Lyrically, it has the corrupt and racist governments and justice system in its sights, and goes for the jugular in spectacular fashion.
‘walking in snow’ is one of the most political and racially charged tracks on the album, with Mike referencing the deaths of black men at the hands of law enforcement and uttering a devastating “I can’t breathe”. I know this was recorded before the death of George Floyd but this line hits so hard and close to home after recent events, a proper chills moment on the album.This is one of the most important and confrontational songs I have heard in a long time. If it makes you feel uncomfortable, good. It’s meant to.
The duo follows this up with a track that brings in the legends that are Zack De La Rocha and Pharell Williams, ‘JU$T’ being another high point on an already brilliant album. Although not packing quite the punch that previous De La Rocha collaboration ‘Close Your Eyes’ did, this is still a great track with a great instrumental, a brilliant verse from the Rage Against the Machine frontman and some potent lyrics about slavery and race in America.
‘never look back’ is probably my least favourite track on the album, not to say that it’s not still great. The buzzing, Blade Runner-esque synth sample adds a grainy sense of nostalgia to the track and the lyrics are punchy and vicious. It just doesn’t pack quite the same heft as the album’s earlier tracks, not hitting quite as hard as it could. Still, I really enjoyed it.
This is quickly remedied by the pounding, relentless instrumental of ‘the ground below’ that hits like a tonne of bricks. Killer Mike’s opening bars on this track are standout, as he kicks and stomps over the beat spitting bars about God and Godzilla. The sung lines add a different flavour to the song and the punky guitar riff (what I believe is a flipped Gang Of Four sample) gives it a character that sets it apart from the other tracks.
The penultimate cut ‘pulling the pin’ offers another interesting aesthetic for the duo, with an eerie and cascading loop unfolding under some Cannibal Ox style flows. Mavis Staples features with a soulful, powerful verse that offers a warm contrast to the jilted flows of Killer Mike and El-P. Josh Homme from Queens Of The Stone Age also gets a credit, his scuzzy, desert rock guitar lines offering a biting through-line that drives the track and plays off the duo’s vocals like a lightning strike.
This whole, unrelenting and exhausting ride is brought to a close by ‘a few words for the firing squad’, where saxophone squeals and ominously building drums offer a backdrop from Run The Jewels to showcase their strongest suit - punchy and potent verses. Political yet heartfelt, tackling race and love in America, the track offers a more personal and emotional close to the album. It’s not the sort of track I’d listen to in isolation, but in context of the album it works perfectly.
Run The Jewels 4 is everything a Run the Jewels album should be - vicious, confrontational and uncompromising. It mixes harsh truths and increasingly relevant politics with raw, rough and roaring instrumentals and some truly great verses. It was written and recorded months before the current situation in America, yet it feels so perfectly suited to the current moment in both it’s lyrical content and punky, punchy instrumentals.
Never has an album felt so relevant, and never has it felt so necessary.
8.5/10
Alex Thompson
Killer Mike Speech
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