Run the Jewels 2 [Digipak] [Parental Advisory]

Rating

Album: Run the Jewels 2 [Digipak]
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Jeopardy	More Info...	0:03
2)	Oh My Darling Don't Cry	More Info...	0:03
3)	Blockbuster Night Pt. 1	More Info...	0:02
4)	Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck) (Feat. Zack De La Rocha)	More Info...	0:04
5)	All My Life	More Info...	0:03
6)	Lie, Cheat, Steal	More Info...	0:03
7)	Early (Feat. Boots)	More Info...	0:03
8)	All Due Respect (Feat. Travis Barker)	More Info...	0:02
9)	Love Again (Akinyele Back) (Feat. Gangsta Boo)	More Info...	0:03
10)	Crown (Feat. Diane Coffee)	More Info...	0:03
11)	Angel Duster	More Info...	0:05

Album: Run the Jewels 2 [Digipak]
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Jeopardy	More Info...	0:03
2)	Oh My Darling Don't Cry	More Info...	0:03
3)	Blockbuster Night Pt. 1	More Info...	0:02
4)	Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck) (Feat. Zack De La Rocha)	More Info...	0:04
5)	All My Life	More Info...	0:03
6)	Lie, Cheat, Steal	More Info...	0:03
7)	Early (Feat. Boots)	More Info...	0:03
8)	All Due Respect (Feat. Travis Barker)	More Info...	0:02
9)	Love Again (Akinyele Back) (Feat. Gangsta Boo)	More Info...	0:03
10)	Crown (Feat. Diane Coffee)	More Info...	0:03
11)	Angel Duster	More Info...	0:05

Performer Notes

Audio Mixer: Joey Raia.
Recording information: Alc Laboratories; Cosmic Zoo; Night Hunter Studios; Rare Book Room; Sneaky Studios; The Post Studios; The Space Pit.
There are those Jagger/Richards, Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis, or DJ Jazzy Jeff/Fresh Prince-styled collaborations that always seem fruitful. The music created by Killer Mike and El-P easily falls into this category, and is closest to that of Jeff and Prince's, not just because the duo fall under the same category of "hip-hop" but also because Run the Jewels 2, like its predecessor, comes with some joy baked in. It's a broken, ironic, and underground kind of joy as the hard-hitting "Oh My Darling Don't Cry" shows its pimp-hand with "You can all run naked backwards through a field of dicks" and also shows its business card because "You're in luck, it says I do two things: rap and fuck." This sophomore effort keeps the slanted spirit of the original, as mixing the attitude of N.W.A. with the weirdness of Adult Swim is both comfortable and fertile ground for the duo, but the "album" does try harder in the "serious" department. Paranoid androids like "Blockbuster Night, Pt. 1" benefit, as if Run-DMC embraced EL-P's compressed beatmaking and dropped the F-bomb whenever possible. "Early" is deadly serious with Killer Mike pleading "I apologize if it seems I got out of line sir, cuz I respect the badge and a gun/And I pray today ain't the day you drag me away right in front of my son," and that's right before things turn grave. "All Due Respect" with Travis Barker enters Death Grips' territory with punk, techno, and vicious rhymes all crawling up the spine, but this rebel music can still come with a smirk, as a stuttering Zach de la Rocha offers the infectious and weird hook on the wonderfully titled highlight "Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)." If the first album was the supernova, RTJ2 is the RTJ universe forming, proving that Mike and El-P's one-off can be a going, and ever growing, concern. ~ David Jeffries

Professional Reviews

Spin - "Last year's sturdy debut RUN THE JEWELS had a purpose all right....But it was a skeleton compared to its meatier, just-released sequel, which might be both rappers' strongest effort ever."

Paste (magazine) - "They drop conscious flows, but they can bring the ratchet rhymes typical of Southern rap too. It shows an understanding of not only the direction of hip hop, but also of the evolution and prevalent music of the last decade."

Pitchfork (Website) - "Throughout RTJ2, the duo appear limitless in their vocal capacity, whether working as a tag team, storytellers, or engaging in battle-rap one-upmanship."