“Everybody Stay Calm” tones down the tempo a notch, featuring tongue-in-cheek wordplay ( “I’m the Nelson Mandela of Atlanta dope sellers”) and a mellow Def Squadesque hook imagine PMD performing the hit “Take It Easy” instead of Mad Lion. “Panther Like A Panther (Miracle Mix)” packs the dynamic duo’s most proficient lyrical linguistics on the LP, with perhaps yet another shocking guest female on the hook: Trina! Even so, the scorching metal strings and crackling bedrock percussion is a hypnotizer. “Don’t Get Captured” and “Thieves” sees the return of the downtroddened sociopolitical, cruising right into the nasty sci-fi bleeps of “2100” that made El-P the household name producer in hip-hop’s underground, if not a reminder of what a collabo with the Gorillaz would wind up sounding like. “I do push-ups nude on the edge of a cliff”), it’s kinda tough for me to get over the voice of Danny Brown on the former, despite some of the most booming bass of the year.
J COLE NEIGHBORS BACKWARDS CRACKED
“Can’t get past me and stuck in a future…/ The shit ain’t all that it’s cracked up to be/ Your hovercraft’s cool, but the air’s so putrid.” The next two tracks–arguably the minimalist of the 14–“Hey Kids (Bumaye)” and “Stay Gold” will get over at concerts and while I do appreciate the playful “bad bitch” banter between the two (i.e. (Cont.) The hype only gets hyper on “Call Ticketron,” where the Coachella vets place themselves in front of an engaged audience at the world famous Madison Square Garden (presumably deep into the millenium), over a straight nasty, buzzing bassline. How the hell does this man keep topping himself? You’d never know this was already the pair’s third album in just over as many years with how hungry their flows go imagine your “favorite” club/trap rappers with actual lyrical content! “Brave men didn’t die face down in the Vietnam muck so I could not style on you…” But it’s the third track “Legend That Has It” that raises the bar with one of the former Def Jux prez’s most ridiculous headnodders to date. “We return from the depths of the badland/ With a gun and a knife in our waistband/ Went to war with the Devil and Shaytan/ He wore a bad toupee and a spray tan.” That’s what you call living through your lyrics, as the BK’s El-Producto also crushes the mic with as much angst.
“Talk to Me” was released in October, but is arguably more effective than ever. The ATLien also lives up to his “Killer” rap mystique, with some unsurprising-yet-highly-effective lyrical barbs aimed at the 45th prez over a dreary El-P offering. I only spit fire and dope, so later on you can go quote/ My lines to your people and vote.” I hope with the highest of hopes/ That I never have to go back to the trap and my days of dealing with dope/So I. #FeeltheBern leader, social activist and mega-emcee Killer Mike sing-songily breaks “Down” those exact sentiments on the album’s first few bars over RTJ’s traditional sonic boom. In a year that left many cynically hopeless and destructively jaded, leave it to the world’s greatest rap duo to bless our eardrums with their third modern day hip-hop classic in 4-years on Christmas Eve, of all godsent times. RUN THE JEWELS (Killer Mike + El-P) – Run The Jewels 3 – Released: 12/24/16 “Monsignor” Travis “A Christmas Fucking Miracle!” Got-damn! Hey, us over at #GeekSwag play video games, read comics, watch some wrasslin’ and wait in line for superhero movies, too.īut in the meanwhile, enjoy your last ditch effort to get the music you need into your eardrum with the very best reviews only these geeks can offer. While most other music blogs and webzines are posting up their annual “Best Albums of the Year” noms, we’re still playing catch-up with the hip-hop onslaught that was November and December.