Not for the Faint of Heart: RTJ2… Adrenaline Shot!
By: Nadia D.
Tags: Album, alternative, Arts, band, california, review
Category: Alternative, experimental, Fresh, Hip Hop, Independent, Music, New, Producer, Rap, rock, Tastemaker, Underground
I’m BAAAAACK! ❤ Miss me? Enjoy your Turkey? Still in a tryptophan fog?!
Good, ’cause you won’t be after this.
If you follow me on Facebook, you’ve seen that I’ve already gushed about this album. If you got to Fake Moon Landing, Pt. 2, you’ve heard the first single, “Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck) [feat. Zach de la Rocha (of RATM)]”… and you know what kind of sinister mess you’re getting yourself into here.
This is like an epinephrine shot straight to your heart, à la Mrs. Mia Wallace. x10.
OH.
MY.
GAAAAHHHHH.
Track-by-track! And let’s thank our lucky stars that Mass Appeal Records has made all but two tracks available in a convenient little playlist for you to listen along with RIGHTHERE.
Run the Jewels 2
released 24 October 2014
1. Jeopardy – Very Wu Tang intro, mixed with just a touch o’ Samuel L. Jackson… because he basically owns the word “MotherFucker”. Can’t beat that. And when that staple track lays it down, that flow starts, dammit, I’m hooked! You’re hooked! This shit is DOPE. But, I’ll be honest, I don’t have much to comment on the lyrics this go ’round. It gets better.
2. Oh My Darling Don’t Cry – You’re not gonna get the SEAMLESS transition on this playlist, but SHOUTOUT TO PRODUCTION HERE, because it is MINT! I find that El-P and Killer Mike have a preoccupation with their dicks, but I have to laugh it off in the best of ways. These guys tag team like nobody out there. If I hear a no-street-cred-havin’, zero-creativity-production, milk-toast-flow, idiot rap about some stupid crap like they’re the best, and your girl this, and your girl that, it’s annoying AF. These guys pull it off because they got it. THEY. GOT. IT.
3. Blockbuster Night, Pt. 1 – I wanna get up and run at this point. I wanna go run marathons. I wanna drive down the highway at 100 MPH. This driving beat is SIK, next level awesome. These samples are PERF! And, yeah, I still think of Samuel L. Jackson everytime I hear “Motherfucker”. It’s just gonna happen. This track would do him justice, anyway. That drop the mic line at the end is prime. I mean… we’re not even 4 songs in yet, and this album is EASILY in my top 5 for the year already. AND. IT. GETS. BETTERRRRRRRRRR.
4. Close Your Eyes (and Count to Fuck) [feat. Zach de la Rocha (of RATM)] – As I said in Fake Moon Landing, Pt. 2… if you don’t know who Zach is, you suck, just go get a musical education STAT, and don’t come back ’til you do. Seriously. Rage Against the Machine is revolutionary with their highly in tune political flow. Zach’s collabo with RTJ basically christens them as… on the same level. No shoddy work here, and it’s even got a rock-backing flair. I mean, this could be a track on a RATM album as a collabo, and no one would bat an eye. EXCEPT… RATM is defunct (since around 2000, save for a short reunion from 2007-2011). *womp womp* Let’s just be happy that RTJ is taking up the torch. And Zach… your flow is ON POINT. Thank you. THANK YOU!
5. All My Life – I’ll admit, I’m a bit of an idiot when I’m driving in my car just about anywhere. I’ve put nearly 75,000 on a brand new vehicle in under 3 years… I LIVE in my damn car, and it’s where I do all my listening. So when bass heavy awesome SHIT like this pops up in my queue, I’m immediately thrown into ghetto-ass gangsta mode, and I have to bump it up and roll the windows DOOOOOWWWWWNNNNN. Do it, bitches. It’ll make you feel better.
6. Lie, Cheat, Steal – Oh, roll your window up if you happen to stop next to cop at a stoplight with this one blaring. You’re welcome.
7. Early (ft. Boots) – CLEEEEAAAANNNN! Socio-political piece, ridiculously appropriate for the times of today. Where some tracks like this might take the whole inspirational bridge to a whole new level, RTJ and Boots strike the perfect balance between some emotional release and staying on fleek. Edge AF.
8. All Due Respect (ft. Travis Barker) – You remember Travis Barker, don’t you? Crazy dude from Blink 182? (Whatever happened to those rascals?) Here he is adding some slick percussion to an already mondo backing track. One of my favorites on the album, definitely a head-mover.
9. Love Again (Akinyele Back) [ft. Gangsta Boo] – Look, I’m just gonna say it: don’t listen to this in front of kids, your parents, your cousins, your grandparents, NOBODY you can’t talk about sex comfortably with. That chorus will get ya, and then when Gangsta Boo gets that flow going, no holds barred, mmk? Seriously, like, go get it on to it. Have fun!
10. Crown (ft. Diane Coffee) – Call me nerdy, but I find it a bit funny that the feature artist is known as Diane Coffee, because this beat reminds of thick, syrupy, blacker-than-midnight coffee. It’s comforting. And good thing! Because this song tackles some serious dark matter, Listen to those lyrics, y’all. It’s deep, and probably the only thing track comes close to any kind of slow jam. Perf.
11. Angel Duster – Something about a screaming back track that has my ears at attention. Oh, but it’s another socio-political piece, and this time touching a bit on religion, too. I mean… touchy, touchy! But sooooo well done. Can’t knock ’em for having opinions and making some serious art. You’ll never want to hear that mainstream “swag” shit ever again once you experience true hip hip and rap masters. Welcome to the light.
12. Blockbuster Night, Pt. 2 (ft. Despot and Wiki) [bonus track] – Only available with iTunes download, so download the thing! Some flow fun that you won’t wanna miss. Love love love.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Candidate for one of the best albums of the year, right here. Killin’ this genre, and this is only their second work. I look forward with GREAT anticipation to the next release. Can it just be out tomorrow?! Flawless. ♦♦♦♦♦/5.
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