Run The Jewels – Run The Jewels 4

The vinyl is in preorder! it will be released on the 18th of September

This is obviously only an opinion, but I find there's something annoyingly goofy about Run the Jewels - and not for want of trying, either. The subjects tackled by this - and previous - records are relevant, burning topics; a good deal of complex emotions are widely felt in response to the injustices, prejudices and inequalities tackled by Killer Mike and El-P's angrily delivered verses. The same level of attention, however is not - in my opinion - afforded the lyrical content.

Musically, I actually really enjoyed the project. Throughout, the sampling is excellent; there's a rich variety of instrumentation, the beats pound and crush; overall, the production is really strong. Mavis Staples and Josh Homme bring a lot to 'pulling the pin', with its swirling synths, delayed percussion and soulful vocals. Other noteworthy moments, musically, are the distorted break on 'holy calamafuck', the pitch-bent piano sample on "ooh la la" and the sinister bass-synthesiser, weaving in and out of a low- filter effect, on "never look back."

When it comes to the words though, so, so much is left to be desired. For one, it just never lets up - which doesn't convey stamina; it's just exhausting. For its entirety, "RTJ4"'s aggression is dialled up to 11, and every other syllable is an expletive. There's something really cumbersome about the combination of such violent imagery with such heavy bass; this is a dense sound on the ear, and the unrelenting anger behind that stops being entertaining very quickly.

'I pull my penis out and I piss on they shoes in public'; 'I'm a lifetime member, fuck that fuck shit / Me and Jaime versus y'all with a knife and a musket' - all of these exemplify what I'm getting at; violent imagery (often sexual), and usually vengeful, none of which seems very clever or irable, particularly when mired in cuss-words. It doesn't help, of course, that this also suggests a sense of 'two wrongs make a right' in response to the issues Mike and El-P are exploring.

And then there is the annoying, childish misogyny. Amongst the most memorable phrases were the God-awful metaphor 'cool as penguin pussy', and - in the same song - 2 Chainz's charming response of 'I miss that pussy', sent following a text from his supposed significant other to 'stay safe'. Elsewhere, 'Vegan bitches' are [fed] dick 'cause they don't eat no steak and lobster', and Killer Mike offers a vague and enabling take on the legalisation of prostitution: 'Not a holy man, but I'm moral in my perverseness / So I the sex workers unionizing their services.'

I've long-wondered if perhaps what I don't *get* here is what someone else might not *get* about working class British struggles as voiced by first wave UK punk. But then, if you think about what punk music at its worst can be - spitting; violence; mindless, childish swearing - Run the Jewels is hardly any different. This record lacks the self-awareness or humour to frame its ferocious misogyny and ferity as post-modern or ironic - and even if it could, I don't imagine that's the intention. Critics praising the record consider it a timely commentary on the systemic tears in American society. Run the Jewels want to make that commentary; this is a serious message. But, whilst I wouldn't dispute that its songs illustrate the high-stakes tension with fitting brutishness, it feels like very little is actually done with that effect, besides predictable rhymes, lowbrow cultural references, swearing and sexist jokes.

Oddly enough, they start to turn it around on the final track, "a few words for the firing squad". This beautiful, dynamic, mini-opera of a track comprises slow-building instrumentation that forms a tight whirlpool of tension, into which are dragged a snaking saxophone lead, thickly compressed beats, and machine-gun bars from Killer Mike and El-P. Their dedication to the falsely accused and the wrongly maligned is teeming with anger at the conservative values of a society that refuses to evolve beyond its narcissism and racial oneupmanship. Evocative references to "Strange Fruit" and "The Whipping Post" bolster that frustration as enormous in its unforgivable tenure; it's as though the full weight of all-America's justified anger is crashing down on the listener as the track finds its resolution in an echoic, chasmic end.

Even then though, apparently unable to help themselves, Run the Jewels kill the mood with a film-trailer-esque outro, replete with dramatic spoken word voiceover, sound effects and corny chase music. It's a moment that really sums up the record for me - 'I get it, but the way you're going about it really undermines what you're trying to say.'

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"yankee and the brave (ep. 4)" - ★☆☆☆☆
"ooh la la" [feat. Greg Nice & DJ Premier] - ★★☆☆☆
"out of sight" [feat. 2 Chainz] - ★☆☆☆☆
"holy calamafuck" - ★☆☆☆☆
"goonies vs. E.T." - ★☆☆☆☆
"walking in the snow" - ★☆☆☆☆
"JUS$T" [ft. Pharrell Williams & Zack de la Roche] - ★☆☆☆☆
"never look back" - ★★☆☆☆
"the ground below" - ★☆☆☆☆
"pulling the pin" [ft. Mavis Staples & Josh Homme] - ★★☆☆☆
"a few words for the firing squad (radiation)" - ★★☆☆☆

THAT'S A JOKE !! there are vinyls out: oNE 4lp sET INCL: iNSTRUMENTALS AND A REGULAR 2LPp Set, GATEFOPLD; Whatz's up with discogs??

Utterly fantastic. Perhaps the best work from either El-P or Killer Mike. It's not just great timing, this album is incredible.