03/run the jewels/run the jewels 2
what do you see when you look at me? answers may vary, but there's one answer I know you're thinking of that you want to say but won't, or aren't sure you should: my black skin. there's so much more to me than that, of course, but for many, particularly those of differing races and ethnicities, that's all I am, will be, and you'll allow me to be defined by. including those who write the rules, make the laws, and are allowed to enforce them however they see fit. i am not allowed to be different, and i am not allowed to be nuanced. and i am not, more than anything, to get upset, make a scene, or raise my voice over this. i should, to those eyes, accept this and be content. "that's just the way it is", said 2014 over and over and over again to we black american males.
now, when shit hits the fan or seems to be heading towards the apocalypse, we aren't as quick to just toss up our hands and say "well, fuck it. it is what it is" as one might think. more often than not we seek answers and change, or rise up with fists. we march. we shout. we protest. cause it ain't gotta be like this, ain't supposed to be like this. we deserve better and can do better. america can do better. some take to the streets, some put a pen to the page, and others put it in a song or two or eleven, as mikey and jaime have done here with the much heralded (and rightly so) rap album of the year that is run the jewels two.
run the jewels two is the sound of not backing down. run the jewels two is the sound of doing you, and doing me, and not dialing anything back to make you feel more comfortable, or not disrupt the status quo. it is brash, direct, and confrontational, with little or no room for fuckboys and their fuckboy ways (lying politicians, limiting institutions, your preconceived notions about who i, them, their, or our people are or may be). it is realness and hip-hop personified. it lets you ride along, never once asking you to keep up, just assuming that you will. fuck a slow mo, they killing them for freedom cause they torture us for boredom, and time is of the essence. urgency. the times demand it and need it. need this. this dropping of knowledge and unabashed braggadocio. this coming together of the minds, of cultures, of ethnicities.
it is different and nuanced; upset, raising its voice and making a scene. they march. they shout. they protest. cause it ain't supposed to be like this, and their voices won't be stifled. cause we can do better. america can do better. and it knows better. and mike and el-p refuse to shut up or take it down a notch until you get the fucking point, and realize that they and we too are as american as apple pie, and ain't going anywhere. and in 2014, it was something that needed to be said, heard, and recognized over and over and over again. wash, rinse, and repeat into the future. it's what they want, and what we need. the times demand it.
KEY TRACKS: jeopardy/early/all due respect
04/tune-yards/nikki nack
05/mac demarco/salad days
06/beyonce/beyonce
07/spoon/they want my soul
08/st. vincent/st. vincent
09/los angeles police department/los angeles police department
10/pharrell williams/g i r l
11/ex hex/rips
12/sisyphus/sisyphus
13/jessie ware/tough love
14/death from above 1979/the physical world
15/fka twigs/lp1
16/beverly/careers
17/ab-soul/these days
18/travi$ scott/days before rodeo
19/perfume genius/too bright
20/schoolboy q/oxymoron
21/owen pallett/in conflict
22/ryan adams/ryan adams
23/jenny lewis/the voyager
24/shellac/dude incredible
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