Run the Jewels stay g-o-l-d with 'RTJ3'
Killer Mike and El-P's latest album pushes production to the next level
Three albums into what’s already a proven genius pairing, Atlanta rapper Killer Mike and Brooklyn-based rapper and producer El-P deliver their most cerebral album yet with Run the Jewels 3. “Down” (feat. Joi Gilliam) kicks things off with a humble bit of rumination. Killer Mike barks: “I hope / I hope with the highest of hopes / That I never have to go back to the trap / And my days of dealing with dope / So I, I only spit fire and dope.” The cadence in his voice and the lyrical imagery in the song are delivered in such a stylistically Killer Mike way that it instills an early sense that the group isn’t throwing any surprise punches with this latest double LP. But percolating underneath the voices lie a series of powerful arrangements that find El-P’s production reaching subtle new heights with each listen.
There are no immediately arresting bangers here. Even the album’s first singles, “Talk To Me,” “2100,” and “Legend Has It” come across more like deep cuts, but that’s where Run the Jewels 3 draws strength. Neither of these guys ever catered to mainstream or underground hip-hop trends. Rather, they’ve take a deep dive into their collective subconscious and pulled out a consistently creative chain of songs that don’t suffer from the same short shelf life that plagues hip-hop in the general sense. Saxophonist Kamasi Washington appears on "Thursday In the Danger Room." Likewise, TV On the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe sings “What have you done? What are you making us do?” in “Thieves! (Screamed the Ghost).” Washington's jazz texture, and Adebimpe's vocal melodies are rich counterpoints to El-P and Killer Mike’s machine flow, expanding upon the group’s musical palette with unexpected grace, and revealing layers of depth and personality.
The album’s strongest numbers, “Call Ticketron” and “Stay Gold,” hit harder than most — they are peaks in a new musical landscape that El-P and Killer Mike have mapped out with this latest batch of songs that are best taken in not as singles, but in the context of the whole album.
With the Gaslamp Killer, Spark Master Tape, and Cuz. SOLD OUT. 8 p.m. Sat., Jan. 21. The Tabernacle, 152 Luckie St. 404-659-9022. www.tabernacleatl.com.