American politician Stacey Plaskett quoted both Run the Jewels and GZA at the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. On February 10th, Plaskett addressed Congress about the issue and opened with a quote from Wu-Tang word-smith GZA - “The truth is usually seen and rarely heard”. Plaskett then proceeded to reference RTJ - “Truth is truth, whether denied or not”.
Run the Jewels have shared a stop-motion music video for their RTJ4 song 'Walking in the Snow' featuring action figure version of Killer Mike and El-P leading a revolution against an icy, authoritarian regime. “Everyone was very aware of the gravity of the subject matter and RTJ didn’t want to be too obvious or on the nail with the visuals, so we went with an ’80s style fantasy look with evil snow warriors and their icy king oppressing the bedroom toys. It was great to be involved with a project with a positive vibe to end a pretty fucked up year" - director Chris Hopewell said.
"I’m glad to end these terrible, difficult times [knowing] that people have genuinely had joy-filled experiences with our music. I got so many calls and videos from homies that were at protest sites where people would take breaks, give each other water, and you would hear 'Oh La La', 'Walking in the Snow' or 'A Few Words to the Firing Squad' in the street. It brought me joy to know that we were there at the times we were needed" - Killer Mike told Spin, after being chosen as the publication's Artist of the Year. His partner in jewelry admits, however, they aren't that serious a band - "we’re the anti-heroes. We’re stumbling around, and we’re crashing cars, slapping babies and getting stoned as fuck and saying the wrong thing. I’d like to think that at the end of the day, those types of heroes are obtainable for people".
An awesome performance by the Run The Jewels who did their first live performance since releasing their latest album 'RTJ4'. Killer Mike, El-P, and DJ Trackstar performed the new album in full, and they were joined virtually by several of the album's guests on the big screen behind them - including Zack de la Rocha, Josh Homme, Mavis Staples, Pharrell, 2 Chainz, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, and Cochemea, and in person by Gangsta Boo and Greg Nice. They did the performance in an empty venue with a full light show.
SoundCloud producer DJ Skarface has shared ‘Rage The Jewels’, a mash-up mix that pairs Run The Jewels instrumentals with De La Rocha’s RATM vocals. RTJ's El-P gave his approval to the project on Twitter as he tweeted “oh shit” while sharing a link to Skarface’s SoundCloud mix. Skarface has made a version of ‘Rage The Jewels’ with separated tracks available for free on Bandcamp. A name-your-price download option is also available, with proceeds from the downloads going to the National Lawyers Guild.
Lady Gaga scores her sixth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with the chart-topping debut of 'Chromatica', sold in 274,000 equivalent album units, the biggest week for any album by a woman in 2020, although she ceased promotion due to nationwide unrest over George Floyd's death, Billboard reports. 'Chromatica' album sales comprise 205,000, SEA units total 65,000 (equating to 87.16 million on-demand streams of the set’s tracks in the week ending June 4) and TEA units equal a little more than 4,000. Also new at the top 10 on Billboard 200 are Jimmy Buffet who landed at No. 2 with 'Life on the Flip Side' - earned 75,000 equivalent album units, and Run The Jewels with 'RTJ40, bowing at No. 10 - 38,000 equivalent album units earned.
"Love needs fury to fight hate. Clearly none of this is lost on the pair of indie, old head, no-fucks-giving, chain-snatching, self-professed menaces to sobriety behind this project. Their boisterous new album, 'RTJ4', makes time for trash-talking and chin-checking amid insurrection" - Pitchfork highly suggests Run the Jewels' new album (tagged it Best new music, grade 8.3). The P argues 'RTJ40 is closest to who Killer Mike and El-P are - "weary but unbroken, wary but not hopeless, eager to knuckle up".
“I want the oppressors, the enemy, to know that they haven’t created complete hopelessness yet” - El-P of Run The Jewels told Guardian about protests in the USA. He explained - “It’s getting to the point where your whole system of racism does not apply any more to the spiritual and mental mindset of the new generation. We have outgrown you, despite your best efforts to keep us in the same place. You are in power, but you are outmoded. You’re the old form of human. And the new form is coming for your neck”. His bandmate Killer Mike adds - “They’re going to preach separation, they’re going to preach fear, conservatism v liberalism – they’re going to keep stoking those fires. So, we have some action to do now. Giving a shit is the first phase: now let’s progress it”. RTJ release their new album this week.
Rapper Killer Mike of Run the Jewels has called, in a new op-ed for Colorlines, on black communities in the USA to carry guns. Black people in this country, please take full advantage of your Second Amendment rights. People of color, people who are not in the majority in this country, please take shooting, training, and the protection of your rights seriously" he wrote, adding - "The only person you can count on to protect yourself and your family is you. God gave you the right to use whatever tools available to defend your rights... God gave us the right to use all available tools to defend ourselves and that is what we intend to do".
The new breed of punk isn't so punky sonically, it's the attitude, BBC argues: 30-year-old US rapper JPEGMAFIA channels the aggression of the crowd into brutal bursts of movement that sit somewhere between an intoxicated Iggy Pop and an irate DMX; snarling Northampton rapper Slowthai blasts what he sees as the toxicity of Brexit Britain […]
