Run the Jewels 2

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Run the Jewels 2
File:RunTheJewelsRTJ2.jpg
Studio album by Run the Jewels
Released October 24, 2014 (2014-10-24)
Recorded 2013–14
Genre Hip hop
Length 38:56
Label
Producer
Run the Jewels chronology
Run the Jewels
(2013)		 Run the Jewels 2
(2014)		 Meow the Jewels
(2015)
Singles from Run the Jewels 2
  1. "Blockbuster Night, Pt. 1"
    Released: September 2, 2014
  2. "Oh My Darling Don't Cry"
    Released: September 30, 2014
  3. "Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)"
    Released: October 13, 2014

Run the Jewels 2 is the second studio album by American hip hop duo Run the Jewels, which consists of Killer Mike and El-P. The album was released early for free on October 24, 2014[1] and the following day on iTunes. It was made available on CD and LP through Mass Appeal Records on October 28, 2014.[2]

Run the Jewels 2 received widespread acclaim from critics for its darker and more layered production, Killer Mike and El-P's lyricism and chemistry and its guest contributions. Several publications also ranked it as the best album of 2014, including Pitchfork Media, Complex and Stereogum.[3][4][5] The album debuted at number 50 on the US Billboard 200, selling 12,000 copies in the first week.

A parody remix album, Meow the Jewels, was released for free featuring beats created entirely from cat sounds. In addition to Meow the Jewels, a standard remix album was scheduled to be released through Fool's Gold in 2015 as well.[6]

Singles

On September 2, 2014, Run the Jewels released a song titled "Blockbuster Night, Pt. 1", as the album's first single.[7] On September 15, 2014, Run the Jewels released "Oh My Darling Don't Cry", the second offering from the album.[8] "Oh My Darling Don't Cry" was later released on September 30, 2014, via digital distribution, as the album's second single.[9]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 89/100[10]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 4.5/5 stars[11]
The A.V. Club A–[12]
Consequence of Sound A–[13]
The Guardian 4/5 stars[14]
HipHopDX 4.5/5[15]
Los Angeles Times 3.5/4 stars[16]
NME 9/10[17]
Pitchfork Media 9.0/10[18]
Rolling Stone 4/5 stars[19]
Slant Magazine 5/5 stars[20]

Run the Jewels 2 received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 89, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 35 reviews.[10] David Jeffries of AllMusic stated, "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."[11] Brian Josephs of The A.V. Club stated, "The sequel takes the simplistic thrills of the debut and expands the duo's natural chemistry. With Killer Mike grounded at the album's emotional core, El-P is free to indulge in his intrepid production tendencies."[12] Pat Levy of Consequence of Sound said, "An album like RTJ2 is rare. Decades from now, this album may just be revered as one of the best hip-hop records of our era, the total synchronicity of two talented artists reaching the apex of their prime."[13] Paul Maclnnes of The Guardian stated, "While the duo deliver hard-nosed disses at a rate of knots. Early, meanwhile, matches distorted synth with an old-school storytelling piece about pursuit and arrest by the police. It's an unrelenting style, which may sound like overkill to some, but there's no disputing its power and sophisticated composition."[14] Kellan Miller of HipHopDX stated, "Throughout RTJ2 [El-P] holds his own rhyming alongside a superior wordsmith."[15] James Rainis of Slant Magazine stated, "RTJ2 is the rare sequel that bests the beloved original in almost every facet."[20] Dan Rys of XXL said, "For people looking for soulful, melodic hip-hop, this is not the album to pick up. Neither is it one for the kids who just want to repeat two words over and over again and call it a hook while jumping up and down and punching the air repeatedly. When listening to RTJ2, those feelings are translated into punches aimed at faces instead of spaces, and they always connect. The beats are grimy—typical of an El-P-produced project—and add even more grit to an album that doesn’t ooze confidence so much as shoves you in the chest with it."[21]

Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times stated, "Run the Jewels is the team of two indie titans, El-P and Killer Mike, who have upended convention by remaining idealistically true, artistically adventurous and creatively emboldened well into their second decade as rapper-producers. The pair's second album, released as a free download last week, proves it 11 times over."[16] Al Horner of NME said, "Cranking the urgency and confrontation of last year's self-titled debut to neck-breaking levels of intensity, RTJ2 is an urgent, paranoid album for a violent, panicked time. It's a bleak future Run The Jewels envision for America, but as long as Mike and El-P are collaborating, at least the future of hip-hop is in safe hands."[17] Ian Cohen of Pitchfork Media stated, "Sounding like nothing else and answering to nobody but its creators, Run the Jewels 2 is in a class by itself."[18] Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone stated, "On their second album as Run the Jewels, noise-loving Brooklyn rapper-producer El-P and Atlanta's Killer Mike make the most explosive hip-hop you'll hear all year."[19]

Accolades

Rolling Stone named RTJ2 the "Best Rap Album of 2014", noting that "the appeal is still in their giddy disses, labyrinthine boasts, alliteration, bravado, alpha male antics — basically the stuff that Killer Mike and El-P enjoyed about rap in 1989."[22] Pitchfork Media placed the album at the top of their list of "The 50 Best Albums of 2014", saying that, "occasionally, you receive the anti-heroes you need, and this was the year when we realized how right they’ve always been. No other album distilled such unrestrained fury, nor reminded us how frustratingly little has changed. When this record’s truths become unrecognizable, we’ll know that we’ve finally made progress. We can chart our evolution from here."[3]

Country Publication Accolade Rank
United States The A.V. Club The 20 Best Albums of 2014[23] 2
Billboard Ten Best Rap Albums of 2014[24] 2
Complex 50 Best Albums of 2014[4] 1
Consequence of Sound Top 50 Albums of 2014[25] 2
Pitchfork Media The Best Albums of 2014 1
Rolling Stone 40 Best Rap Albums of 2014 1
Spin 40 Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2014[26] 1
Stereogum 40 Best Rap Albums of 2014[5] 1
Vibe 46 Best Albums of 2014[27] 2

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 50 on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 12,000 copies in the United States.[28]

Track listing

No. Title Producer(s) Length
1. "Jeopardy"  
3:21
2. "Oh My Darling Don't Cry"  
  • El-P
  • Little Shalimar[b]
  • Wilder Zoby[a]
 3:24
3. "Blockbuster Night, Pt. 1"   El-P 2:32
4. "Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)" (featuring Zack de la Rocha) El-P 3:54
5. "All My Life"  
  • El-P
  • Little Shalimar[b]
 3:07
6. "Lie, Cheat, Steal"  
3:28
7. "Early" (featuring Boots)
  • El-P
  • Little Shalimar[a]
 3:44
8. "All Due Respect" (featuring Travis Barker)
  • El-P
  • Little Shalimar[b]
  • Wilder Zoby[b]
 2:47
9. "Love Again (Akinyele Back)" (featuring Gangsta Boo) El-P 3:45
10. "Crown" (featuring Diane Coffee)
  • El-P
  • Little Shalimar
 3:45
11. "Angel Duster"  
  • El-P
  • Little Shalimar[a]
 5:09
Total length:
 38:56
iTunes bonus track
No. Title Producer(s) Length
12. "Blockbuster Night, Pt. 2" (featuring Despot and Wiki) El-P 2:39
Total length:
 41:35
Notes
  • ^a signifies an additional producer
  • ^b signifies a co-producer
  • Credits adapted from liner notes

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

Charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[29] 50
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[30] 9
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[31] 9
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)[32] 6
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[33] 7

Meow the Jewels

Meow the Jewels
File:MeowtheJewels.png
Remix album by Run the Jewels
Released September 25, 2015 (2015-09-25)
Recorded 2013–15
Genre Hip hop
Length 42:01
Label
Producer
Run the Jewels chronology
Run the Jewels 2
(2014)		 Meow the Jewels
(2015)		 Run the Jewels 3
(2016)
Singles from Meow the Jewels
  1. "Meowrly"
    Released: July 18, 2015
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 74/100[34]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3.5/5 stars[35]
Los Angeles Times (Favorable)[36]
PopMatters 7/10 stars[37]
Pitchfork Media 😻 (Favorable)[38]
RapReviews.com 6.5/10[39]

Meow the Jewels is a remix album of Run the Jewels 2 in which all instrumentals are replaced with the sounds of cats.

Run the Jewels as part of the original album release offered a series of absurd "deluxe releases" for large sums of money, parodying indulgent "stretch goals" offered on crowdfunding campaigns on websites like Kickstarter.[40] One of the less expensive of these was the group creating a remix album using cat sounds; a group of fans launched an online campaign to raise the money to pay the group the requested $40,000 to do this.[41][42] The campaign in fact raised over $60,000, which Run the Jewels announced would be donated to charity.[42] A number of other producers announced that they would be contributing remixes.[43] Guest producers included Just Blaze, Prince Paul, The Alchemist, Geoff Barrow, Dan the Automator and Boots.

The album was released for free on September 25, 2015, the pre-order for the limited-edition 2xLP was made available on the same day.[44]

Track listing

Meow the Jewels — Standard edition
No. Title Producer(s) Length
1. "Meowpurrdy (El-P Remix)" (featuring Snoop Dogg, Lil Bub, Maceo and Delonte)
  • El-P
  • Little Shalimar
 3:47
2. "Oh My Darling Don't Meow (Just Blaze Remix)"  
3:47
3. "Pawfluffer Night (Zola Jesus Remix)"  
2:43
4. "Close Your Eyes and Meow to Fluff (Geoff Barrow Remix)"  
3:50
5. "All Meow Life (Nick Hook Remix)"  
  • Nick Hook
  • El-P
  • Little Shalimar
 3:08
6. "Lie, Cheat, Meow (Prince Paul Remix)"  
3:17
7. "Meowrly (Boots Remix)"  
  • Boots
  • El-P
  • Little Shalimar[a]
 3:35
8. "Paw Due Respect (Blood Diamonds Remix)"  
  • Blood Diamonds
  • El-P
  • Little Shalimar[b]
  • Wilder Zoby[b]
 3:11
9. "Snug Again (Little Shalimar Remix)"  
  • Little Shalimar
  • El-P
 3:57
10. "Creown (The Alchemist Remix)"  
2:45
11. "Angelsnuggler (Dan the Automator Remix)"  
3:54
12. "Creown (3D Remix)"  
4:07
Total length:
 42:01

References

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  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Illegal name entered Run the Jewels/Run+the+Jewels/chart?f=305 "Run the Jewels – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Run the Jewels. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Illegal name entered Run the Jewels/Run+the+Jewels/chart?f=326 Run the Jewels – Chart history" Billboard Independent Albums for Run the Jewels. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  31. ↑ "Illegal name entered Run the Jewels/Run+the+Jewels/chart?f=333 Run the Jewels – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Run the Jewels. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  32. ↑ "Illegal name entered Run the Jewels/Run+the+Jewels/chart?f=335 Run the Jewels – Chart history" Billboard Top Rap Albums for Run the Jewels. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  33. ↑ "Illegal name entered Run the Jewels/Run+the+Jewels/chart?f=407 Run the Jewels – Chart history" Billboard Top Tastemaker Albums for Run the Jewels. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  43. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  44. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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