Just over a week ago on the 24th of December 2016, Run the Jewels released their third studio album simply titled Run the Jewels 3. The album was expected to drop on the 13th of January 2016 so it was quite the Christmas surprise to hear that it was dropped earlier than expected. The drop was accompanied by a hilarious YouTube video which sees RTJ and some PR executives pitching ideas on how to orchestrate a surprise album drop.
This project consists of 14 tracks, a noticeable increase from RTJ1 which had 10 and RTJ2 which had 11 (12 if you count the iTunes bonus track). Just like the previous projects all songs are produced and written by El-P and Killer Mike. There’s no filler content or skits to give the album an inflated appearance. It’s just song after song from track one to the end. It has more features than previous projects; 7 featured artists to be exact, namely Joi, Danny Brown, Tunde Adebimpe, Boots, Trina, Kamasi Washington and Zack de la Rocha.
The story begins right from the album cover. The artwork is the usual RTJ symbol of one hand in a balled-up fist and another pointed towards it in a gun-like gesture. The hands are made of gold on this cover and the balled-up fist which was carrying a chain is empty. As per an interview with Spin magazine RTJ mentioned the following:
“For us, the RTJ1 hands were about ‘taking what’s yours’ – your world, your life, your attitude. The RTJ2 hands were wrapped in bandages, signifying injury and healing, which for us represented the growth in ideas and tone of that album. For RTJ3 the bandages are off, the chain is gone and the hands have been transformed into gold. For us this represents the idea that there is nothing to take that exists outside of yourself. You are the jewel.”
The album is not a particularly political one as we might classify most Dead Prez or Immortal Technique projects but it can’t be denied that politics is a recurring theme in RTJ3. Mike is known for speaking his political views outside his music so it’s not a surprise that it was incorporated in his music once again, especially after taking into account that it was dropped in a year when a controversial figure won the US presidency. The politics is enveloped in a dark humor and sarcasm of sorts and is most prominent in the song 2100 which begins with “how long before the hate we hold lead us to another holocaust?”
It’s not album that one can easily decipher lyrically in one listen because the lyrics are not simplistic and straight-forward in nature. So it has replay value. You’re guaranteed to unearth new gems over multiple listens. The production is on point, the lyricism is of top notch quality and the back-and-forth between Mike and El-P is flawless. From a mix perspective it’s clean and easy to listen to. Everything that needs to be heard is heard; that’s helped by El-P’s production style which is unorthodox but bit filled with too much stuff and leaves enough for the vocals to cut through. My personal favorite tracks are Everybody Stay Calm, Talk to Me and Legend Has It but the entire project is stellar – pure, unadulterated hip hop.
The record is solid, entertaining and has its own sound that helps it to stand out from everything else that’s out there at the moment. It’s amazing that such a great record is given out for free, but as RTJ has mentioned before they use the album as a platform to gain supporters who eventually buy their merchandise and go to their shows, so their bases are covered. Speaking of shows the Run the World tour is currently underway. So you can buy tickets to see the group live if they’re performing near you.
So you may ask; is the album worth listening to? Yes it is, and it’s available as a free download so you have nothing to lose. If you like it you can support the artists by purchasing your copy on iTunes.
