By CALVIN PATTEN
“So fuck you fuckboys forever, I hope I said it politely / And that’s about the psyche of Jaime and Mikey,” Killer Mike not-so-delicately explains halfway into the opening track, “Jewels,” of Run the Jewels 2, the follow up to 2012’s surprise success Run the Jewels. As evidenced by the aforementioned rhyme (and the dozens of similar quotes that follow) RTJ2 finds Killer Mike (Michael Render) and El-P (Jaime Meline) as aggressive and bombastic as ever. Invigorated by the success and notoriety of their first album and countless festival shows, Run the Jewels is back with a vengeance, doubling down on the fuck off attitude and indelible, sophisticated production from El-P. But beneath the vitriolic veneer shines an incredibly magnificent array of hip hop sensibility, with El-P’s wordplay and Mike’s staccato, shotgun syllables blending seamlessly into an anti-authoritative anthem. Get ready, because as the duo are bragging, threatening and mocking, they are also rapping circles around your favorite rappers.
Courtesy of 39:56