Run the Jewels Channel NYC Gang Culture in Brutal ‘Rubble Kings’ Video
Run the Jewels draw on the brutal history of gang-torn Seventies New York City in the gritty animated clip for their latest track, “Rubble Kings Theme (Dynamite).”
The clip follows a woman from a blighted section of town run by the Rubble Kings who is attacked by members of a rival gang, the Javelins, while walking home from her grandmother’s house. The woman enlists the help of the Rubble Kings and the two crews assemble Warriors-style, leading to a tense standoff on an elevated subway platform.
When the trains arrive, the gangs break for it and underground the violence explodes. The Javelins are easily dispatched, and the woman — surrounded by her own crew — approaches her attacker and delivers a devastating final blow.
Run the Jewels released “Rubble Kings Theme (Dynamite)” in October as part of the 2015 Adult Swim Singles Program, but it’s also set to appear on the companion album to Shan Nicholson’s documentary Rubble Kings. The film chronicles the rise of NYC gang culture in the late-Sixties, and explains how the warring factions made peace in the Seventies and paved the way for the birth of hip-hop.
The documentary was released back in June, but the album arrives January 15th via Mass Appeal. Along with Run the Jewels, the collection features contributions from Ghostface Killah, Bun B, TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and Little Shalimar, who also scored the film.