Run the Jewels
Run the Jewels is El-P and Killer Mike – the noise-loving Brooklyn rapper-producer and the gut-punching Atlanta MC who blended perfectly on Mike’s great 2012 album R.A.P. Music. On this release, available as a free download, the vibe is somewhere between the coherence of an album and the casual flow of a mixtape. El-P’s beats are typically dense and Mike’s rhymes rough-and-tumble. Big Boi of Outkast spits on “Banana Clipper” over dislocating synth stutter, and perennially underseen De La Soul producer Prince Paul shows up for the rattling “Twin Hype Back,” on which Run the Jewels promise to “dance on your windpipes” and make it feel like a doctor’s orders.