Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 4

The Guardian 100

(Jewel Runners/BMG)

“Back at it like a crack addict,” declares Killer Mike, one half of Run the Jewels, on the rappers’ major label debut. The duo’s three previous albums swelled their niche appeal, yet Run the Jewels 4 is the first that feels crafted for large gatherings in open spaces. Signing to BMG hasn’t dimmed their political acuity, especially on the chilling Walking in the Snow. In a reference to the 2014 killing of Eric Garner, it features a desperate Mike gasping for air as a racist cop chokes him, before calling out Twitter liberals – their own fans, if truth be told – who tut at their phones then sit on their hands.

Killer Mike and El-P have always traded dazzlingly intricate verses, all alliteration and propulsive rhymes, over inventive, nonlinear productions, and RTJ4 supersizes their outsider aesthetic without squandering any hard-won authenticity. Icy disquisitions on the missing soul of modern America jostle with good-natured boasts from the golden age of hip-hop, yielding a remarkable hit rate. It ends with the riveting, beatless intensity of A Few Words for the Firing Squad, evoking an Outkast gig in outer space.