The team takes Run the Jewels 2 head on

Choosing an album to talk about in our latest edition of Album Club was a no-brainer. Run the Jewels 2, the latest effort from rap duo Killer Mike and El-P, is probably the most talked about rap album since the glory days of Public Enemy and NWA.

We already knew that Rice and Bread contributor Blake Morneau was coming in a huge fan, but we also decided to recruit Fester and Florida resident Josh Fountain (the man behind the glorious #fuckyoujoshfountain hashtag during Fest 13) to add some perspective.

Add in Rice and Bread co-founders Megan Cole and Jason Schreurs, who’ve been known to enjoy their hip-hop, and regular contributor Greg Pratt, who has not, and it was a recipe for some lively banter about an album that will surely polarize many music fans.

The Album Club:
Jason Schreurs, Rice and Bread Magazine co-founder
Megan Cole, Rice and Bread Magazine co-founder
Greg Pratt, Rice and Bread Magazine contributor
Blake Morneau, Rice and Bread Magazine contributor
Josh Fountain, Rice and Bread Magazine contributor

The album: Run the Jewels’ Run the Jewels 2

Jason: I guess we should let Blake start, since he’s the one that proposed we do this album. So, where should we start, Blake?

Blake: We can start anywhere. I love everything about this record. I felt like I got bludgeoned in the face by Mastodon last time in Album Club, so I needed to bludgeon Greg in the face with something heavy and aggressive this time. But this is really everything I love about hip-hop inside of a record. I’m really in love with this record.

Josh: I’m absolutely in love with it, too. There’s only two tracks that I don’t like; the first one is “All My Life,” and the other one is “Love Again,” because it has that godawful guest spot from Gangsta Boo. Other than that, I love it. Absolutely.

Greg: I’m not a hip-hop guy, so me talking about this album is going to be a little absurd, in a way. I was stoked to listen to it because I’m always looking for something that’s going to change my mind and make me love hip-hop, but this was totally not it. I didn’t really enjoy my time with this album. Coming as not a hip-hop guy, it just sounded kind of boring and generic. Also, the lyrics were outrageous, and I listen to Cannibal Corpse and stupid shit like that with ridiculous lyrics, but this was next-level embarrassing lyrics and, I don’t know, overall the album just didn’t really do much for me.

Megan: I have to say that I agreed with you, Greg, but only at first. Because there was a couple of songs where I thought it was the dumbest fucking shit I’d ever heard in my life. But then I had to put it through the lens of Killer Mike poking fun at a lot of crappy hip-hop, so when I went through it and listened again, I thought, “Oh, that’s what’s he’s doing.” But at first I was with you, especially on “Love Again,” with the female vocals, I was like, “This is horrific.” But then I listened to it again and I got that it was making fun of the super misogynistic hip-hop stuff, and I didn’t mind it as much.

Jason: Okay, guys… “Love Again” is my favourite song on the album! [Everyone laughs] I just had to get that out of the way. I like the whole album, though; I think it’s an amazing album. I’m not super familiar with the first Run the Jewels album, but now I want to trace it back. But I think “Love Again” is one of those tracks that we’ll remember for the rest of our lives, good or bad, I guess. I mean, we can’t really talk about the lyrics without blushing, but there you go…

Blake: As far as “Love Again” goes, when I first heard the hook “dick in her mouth all day,” and I’m a forward-thinking guy, I did get a little uncomfortable. But that’s probably the most respectful song that I can think of that could have a hook like “dick in her mouth all day” in it. [Laughs]

Jason: Oh, man… Okay, so does this album compare to the masters of hip-hop in your minds? Like Public Enemy, and NWA, and Run DMC, and Geto Boys and all of that awesome stuff?

Blake: It’s funny that you mention NWA, because this is very much like if NWA and Public Enemy sat around and watched a bunch of Adult Swim shows. It’s gangsta, it’s hard and they’re trying to be funny, and I find them very funny. I know some people don’t…

Josh: I like a lot of the more political aspects of the record, and definitely them putting a lot of humour in just added to it and, in actuality, it makes a lot of their points even stronger. I wouldn’t put it in the top rap albums though, because honestly it’s not even my favourite of out of the other stuff that these two have done. And also I just think that Killer Mike is, far and away, a better MC than El-P, so that’s the one thing that’s not as great for me.

Blake: Can we all agree that hearing Zach de la Rocha from Rage Against the Machine actually rap again was wonderful?

Jason: Oh, dude. When he comes in and actually does the longest verse, instead of just doing that cheesy little hook at the beginning, I was just floored. I wanted to pound a wall with my head or something.

Blake: Hearing him rap again, ahhh, it made me feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy, and angry.

Josh: It’s his first verse in, like, six years or something, and he’s still absolutely got it.

Megan: I can’t wait to send that song to my dad, who’s a huge Rage Against the Machine fan. I thought he was great on it. I mean, I agree that I’m more a Killer Mike fan than I am a Run the Jewels fan. I love the rage and anger behind the Killer Mike stuff, and while the humour here was entertaining, I think I’m more likely to go back to Killer Mike than to this album.

Jason: How does Run the Jewels 2 compare to the first one?

Blake: At first, I didn’t think it was even close, but the more I listen to it, the more it’s really grown on me. And I think I actually like it a tad better than the first one, because I think El-P has improved as a rapper between these two records. Like Josh was saying, El-P’s not anywhere near the MC that Killer Mike is, but his own personal skills seem to have gotten a lot better since last time. But I’ve always been a fan of him as a producer…

Jason: Greg, are you lost?

Greg: Oh yeah, I’m so lost. I honestly started daydreaming out the window there for a minute. First of all, I did really like the cover art. I thought that was dynamite; looks great. And as much as I’m not a rap guy, I do love the masters, like you mentioned, Jason, and this was nowhere near any of that stuff. I did find it interesting that I missed out on the humour; I totally missed that, which shows how out of touch I am with this album.

Blake: Did you like anything about the record, Greg?

Greg: I liked the angrier dude [Killer Mike]. I thought he had a great delivery, but then his lyrics were goofy. But I guess I missed the humour because it’s so out of my wheelhouse. I liked the cover art [laughs]. And I liked that it was so short. That sounds like an insult, but it’s not. I like a good, short album; I thought that was a wise move. But, overall, I will never put this on again.

Blake: I wonder how much my enjoyment comes from just being really familiar with these guys as people? Because they’re both just really intelligent, funny guys who clearly care about their fans outside of the music, so when I listen to them being brutal and aggressive, I have that picture of them in my mind. Like Killer Mike was a community organizer and El-P is doing the Meow the Jewels thing with the cat sounds, and all of the proceeds of that are going to victims of the shooting in Ferguson. They’re just really forward-thinking guys, so when I listen to their stuff maybe that’s what I’m thinking about, and it makes me like it even more.

Greg: That’s interesting, because that wasn’t my impression at all. My impression was that they were just a couple of guys talking about how big their dicks were for 40 minutes, which was a turnoff to me, as it were. So knowing that context makes a big difference to me.

Megan: I think that Greg needs to listen to a Killer Mike album!

Run the Jewels‘ Run the Jewels 2 is out now and available for free download here.