Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels ★★★★

Year	Album	Artist	Stars	Score	Genre
2013	Run The Jewels	Run The Jewels	★★★★	80	Hip-Hop

In 2013, respected by at-the-time essentially forgotten hip-hop veterans Killer Mike and EL-P joined forces to form Run The Jewels. Together, they created an album that felt 100 percent authentic to them and was sonically different from the trappy club and R&B hits other hip-hop acts were making at the time.

The personas they were able to create were a shot of adrenaline. El-P’s in-your-face beats could knock you out. Killer Mike’s verses were equal parts funny, personal, clever and political. And as a pair, their call-and-response rapping style — highlighting their New York and Atlanta roots — perfectly built from one line to the next with almost comical amounts of bravado in their voices.

The album is energetic, funny, self deprecating at times and serious at others. But the best part of RTJ’s debut is that Killer Mike and EL-P genuinely sounded like they were having fun, which rubs off on the listener. They knew they had unlocked something special and were having the time of their lives making the music they wanted to make.