Review Summary: Very rarely do we see a producer and rapper have the chemistry that El-P and Killer Mike share.
Run The Jewels surprised me upon its release, since not even a year before it, Killer Mike and El-P released some of the best albums of 2012, "R.A.P Music" and "Cancer 4 Cure" which were both produced by El-P.Now, for "Run the Jewels", El-P and Killer Mike are both behind the mic, and give us 34 minutes of the best free music you'll ever hear.
First of all, I must say that in the short period of time they had to make it, El-P once again impressed me with his creativity and ambition with the beats and production. El-P is really showing how he is one of the best, if not the best producer in hip hop today. Every song, especially "36" Chain", has catchy and interesting beats.
Before I listened to this album, I was extremely skeptical on how Killer Mike and El-P would collaborate for an entire album, because sometimes when you put two or more heavyweight MC's together, it doesn't work out well (Slaughterhouse) and I was pleasantly surprised at how well Killer Mike and El-P worked together. At first lesson, it seems that El-P is trying to keep up with Killer Mike, but after my 2nd-3rd listen to this LP, I think they match up very evenly. El-P's rhymes and wordplay aren't immediate but once you listen to them carefully, he's just as clever as Killer Mike.
The way that the beats compliment the flow of both rappers prove the unmatchable chemistry that El-P and Killer Mike have. This misses the classic rating by a fraction, my only very light complaint about this album is that I think they should have added a song that had more lyrical depth like "R.A.P Music" did, but that is just a grain of sand compared to all of the good that "Run the Jewels" presents.
