Run The Jewels - RTJ4 (Review)
Run The Jewels returns with an album steeped in accounts of racial inequality and strife...
5th June 2020
Jewel Runners
My Rating:
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9.0
/10
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REVIEW
Run The Jewels have made their long anticipated return with fourth studio album, RTJ4, an album arguably more steeped in accounts of racial inequality, police brutality, and the strife of minorities than any of their previous works, and an album that all the more relevant for it. I can almost guarantee this album will be featured on almost every major publications Best Albums list for 2020, and in the case of Run The Jewels I believe that's an earned placement.
I think it's important to acknowledge that at this point, Killer Mike and El-P (the two members of Run The Jewels) are veteran rappers, both having worked their way up throughout the 2000s only to gain widespread recognition through their collaborations. What's impressive then is how they're able to continuously bring their A game to every release, the consistency of their output putting so many of their peers and contemporaries to shame. What's exceptional is their new album is yet another extension of this, proving yet again their dominance in the hardcore hip hop genre. In fact, I'd go as far as to say the tracklist itself is one of the most even of their career, certainly more than RTJ3 which had some unfortunate low points.
The instrumentals on this album are certainly some of their most expansive and ambitious, even trading out their characteristic synths for guitars on "the ground below", a song that essentially combines punk and stoner rock with their own rapping style. If that wasn't next, the song that follows features both Josh Homme and Mavis Staples, a truly haunting and dark piece that shows each artist giving their best performances, the atmosphere here phenomenal and the subject matter grim and exposing. Even the last song throws expectations out the window by making impressive use of a saxophone, its epic wailing contributing to the pain and anguish ubiquitous with this album.
The first half of the album is somewhat weaker than the latter, featuring its fair share of truly excellent songs but falling slightly short of the same looming highs. It's also the less experimental half, again with exceptions, as more of the songs sound as if they could at a stretch fit on one of the duo's previous records. The song "out of sight" is an engaging listen, but fails to bring in a necessary extra element to go above and beyond as so many of the later songs do, making it the album's weakest song simply for not standing out, and that's about the harshest criticism I can give the album.
Conclusively, this album is a fast-paced, incredibly engaging and relevant listen, a serving of fury that was somehow able to anticipate the rising awareness for social injustices, particularly towards black people. It's an album that pulls you in from the start with enticing flows, great wordplay and polished yet jagged production, a combination that allows it to achieve the exact vibe it strives for without compromising the high standards set by the duo's previous albums. This is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most important albums of 2020, and it feels great to be able to call it one of the best too.
TRACK RATINGS (/10)
1. yankee and the brave (ep.4) - 8
2. ooh la la - 8
3. out of sight - 7
4. holy calamaf**k - 9
5. goonies vs. E.T. - 8
6. walking in the snow - 9
7. JU$T - 9
8. never look back - 10
9. the ground below - 9
10. pulling the pin - 10
11. a few words for the firing squad - 9
BREAKDOWN
Ambition: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Catchiness/Enjoyability: 9
Content/Ideas: 9
Emotion/Engaging: 10
Execution: 9
Production: 9
Structure: 9
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Lyrics: 9
Vocals/Flows: 9
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Total: 90
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