Run the Jewels: "Blockbuster Night Pt. 1"
Your mood may have improved slightly when Killer Mike went public with his thoughts on Ferguson and police militarization—few people are as on-point as Mike when it comes to this shit and it’s fairly uplifting to see any human being deliver a message with such depth and weight, let alone a musician with his public platform. And yet, it can be depressing in the same way listening to R.A.P. Music in 2014 can be kinda depressing. You hear his accounts of police brutality on “Don’t Die” and ineffectual politicians on “Reagan” and it dawns on you that he wouldn’t have to change a single word for them to be just as timely and relevant—which would also be true if they came out in 1984 or 1954. And then you sorta feel bad for Killer Mike. Does he ever get concerned about his music’s capacity to actually change anything?
And in such a charged and urgent political moment, it can seem frivolous to drop an agenda-free battle rap track like “Blockbuster Night Pt. 1″. But damn, Killer Mike and El-P are human beings, not just dystopian newscasters and they proved that much on Run the Jewels—Mike boasts, “last album voodoo/ proved that we was fuckin’ brutal,” as if R.A.P. Music never happened. You could probably use Run the Jewels’ mere existence to convey some kind of message about unity in the current times, but this is exactly what RTJ2 suggests—two beastly rappers who really enjoy each other’s company, trying to one-up each other’s threats against anyone who isn’t as dope as them. Again. That’s about it. Upon hearing it, you might feel just as incensed as Mike and El-P do about having to tolerate people who are completely full of shit. And the beat just makes you even more inspired to get off your ass and do something. Considering how many people are understandably slipping into disillusionment, apathy and helplessness as a resting state, “Blockbuster Night Pt. 1″ couldn’t have come at a better time.
Recent Comments