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Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 2</div>

Jeopardy: 4.5/5
-Good production here from EI-P as it has the perfect intensity for this type of braggadocious track. Killer Mike has great flow and delivery here, as does El-P in his verse. In particular, I really liked the opening bars of his verse, namely, "I'm up at midnight / I'm dippin' off in my Nizzikes / A gun and a metal pizzipe / A knizzife is to my rizzight / I'm lurkin' servin' on pussies who lack a purpose / I've got 'em filled up with frizzight like Mizzike is you all rizzight?", as well as, "I'm putting pistols in faces at random places like / Bitch give it up or stand adjacent to Satan", a few lines later. Overall, a very well done track from the duo that starts the album off on great footing.

Oh My Darling Don’t Cry: 3.75/5
-Did El-P fall asleep while making this one? Extremely annoying beat here, which is a bummer. Shit drives me up the wall and I imagine hell sounds similar. The background voice/noise thing is also incredibly horrible, maybe that is supposed to be the hook, don't know, but it sucks. However, this one is lucky that both Killer Mike and El-P are great rappers because they save this one. In particular, I really love the fifth verse in the track, handled by El-P. His flow is on point here and the lines, "We run this spot like a Chinese sweatshop / Don't stop / Work it work it till chest pop / Cardiac arrested, I'm so invested I'm self-invented, that no illusion, there's no confusion you see the future, you fear the future", but really, every verse is at least solid, so not many complaints can be made about the rapping here. I just wish the beat was not so horrid.

Blockbuster Night, Pt. 1: 5/5
-I would copy my favorite bars from this track, but I would wind up copying the whole song. Oops. Great beat that really compliments both rappers very well and they both tear it to shreds. Killer Mike goes in a bit more, but El-P certainly holds his own. Great lyrics, flow, and delivery from the both of them. Also really dig the Philip Seymour Hoffman shoutout here, since he is undoubtedly one of my favorite actors, RIP. It will be tough to top this track.

Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck) (ft. Zack de la Rocha): 4.5/5
-First off, I hate the repeating "run the run the run the run the run the" throughout the track, but the beat here is dope otherwise. Great flow and delivery from the duo again, as well as good lyrics. The one line that really stands out to me is from El-P here when he says, "I'm a New Yorkian, I'm fucked from the jump / I wear my Yankee so tilted I actually walk with a hunch". Something about this line is great to me and his flow and delivery on it is perfect. The line, "My solitary condition's preventin' conjugal visits / Though mainly missin' my missus, they keepin' me from my children" from Killer Mike is another one that works really well for me personally. However, Zack de la Rocha murders this track jeez. Really dig the bars, "Call her a skin job and my honey dip'll backflip for you / You playin', God your eye sockets, she gon' rip in two" and "With clips in the bottom, we dippin' from Gotham / Yes eclipsed by the shadows, a dark dance to the coffin / I'm a fellow with melanin, suspect of a felony / Ripped like Rakim Allah, feds is checkin' my melody". Overall, enough of this is great to make me overlook the negatives in the production.

All My Life: 4.5/5
-On this track, I continue to sound like a broken record, though the production here is dope. Great verses and flow and delivery from the two of them. El-P's closing lines are incredibly dope, as he says, "Better off dead like Paul is / Your name don't Ring, go Starrless / Me and Mike we a friend to the farmers / The weed run out, we might cop your whole harvest". Just wish there was more here than those two verses and then them saying "Go" at the end. Feel short changed.

Lie, Cheat, Steal: 4.75/5
-God is El-P a dope rapper. My God man. His entire verse is disgusting. Great lyrics, perfect flow and delivery. Oh man I fell in love with this verse. He also produced a great beat on this one. Though, this one does falter around the hook, as the hook is a bit repetitive for my liking and is a little busy with background noise. However, Killer Mike does come in and drop a solid verse. In particular, the line, "And I love Dr. King but violence might be necessary", really resonated with me on each listen through this one. Overall, a really dope track with an interesting message behind it .

Early (ft. Boots): 5/5
-If these lines, "I said 'Man, I’m tryin' to smoke and chill / Please don’t lock me up in front of my kids / And in front of my wife / Man, I ain’t got a gun or a knife / You do this and you ruin my life / And I apologize if it seems like I got out of line, sir / Cause I respect the badge and the gun / And I pray today ain't the day that you drag me away / Right in front of my beautiful son'", do not hit you, as well as the rest of what Killer Mike says on this track, I really do not know what is wrong with you. Regardless of where you stand on the whole Ferguson issue, what he speaks on is incredibly interesting and necessary point of view to hear. From El-P's verse, the line, "I made it in the dark like Civil War surgery" is a really unique and interesting way of saying he came from nothing. You hear that kind of stuff in rap songs a lot, but this is the first time I can think of where someone used a line similar to this. I kind of chuckled the first time I heard it, but really it is a truly dope line. In terms of the production, it is on point here and works perfectly. Great flow and delivery from both guys and really, this one is clicking from every angle.

All Due Respect (ft. Travis Barker): 4/5
-It is time to pick up the pace as this one is the definition of fast paced. Really hate the way they have the hook delivered. Sounds like cheerleaders at a sporting event. If you have ever heard cheerleaders, they may be beautiful (emphasis on may), but when they cheer, they can be annoying as fuck. The lyrics never struggle here, but on EI-P's second verse (third overall), where he touches on a kid whose father left him, his flow really falters, which is a bummer. This is a theme for the rest of the verses as well, so this one is ultimately a step down. However, I do like the verses, but this one feels lackluster compared to the rest of the album.

Love Again (Akinyele Back) (ft. Gangsta Boo): 2/5
-This song is just really fucking bad truly. Interesting beat and good flow/delivery from both Killer Mike and El-P as usual, as well as good flow and delivery from Gangsta Boo. However, I just felt creeped out and disgusted. The hook is also some different kind of horrible and annoying. I just cannot do this. I feel like I need a shower, especially when Gangsta Boo mentions putting your tongue in her ass. She better call up Kevin Gates or else nah.

Crown (ft. Diane Coffee): 5/5
-Great opening lines here from Killer Mike, as he says, "Down with the shame / Down with the shame / Used to walk traps in the rain with cocaine / Used to write raps in the traps as I sat in the rain and I prayed that God give me a lane / Give me a lane / Give me the fame / Give me the fame and I promise to change / Won’t be the same / Won’t be the same kind of man that puts cocaine in this lady’s hand". Great flow and delivery throughout his entire verse and I am also loving the hook on this one. From El-P's verse, the line, "You'll become death" really reminds me of the quote "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" by Robert Oppenheimer, the guy who oversaw the creation of the bombs dropped in Japan in WWII, which really makes this line particularly impactful for me. Great production, lyrics, flow, delivery, and hook, on this one. Overall, stellar.

Angel Duster: 5/5
-For one final time on this album, El-P and Killer Mike trade bars. I really love their song formatting at times here. One of them gets a longer verse, then the other gets one, then they follow this up with each of them getting a few shorter verses. Just another plus to this album as a whole. The hook here is also very good. All of their verses also start off really strongly. For El-P, "A little toast to the no ones / With a nod to the masters" and then "You say you wanna be my leader / I think you wanna be my God" are dope ways to get things going. The line, "You want a whore with a white dress / I want a wife in a thong" is also very dope for him in his second verse. From Killer Mike, "In every holy book it says we suffer that's what it is / So riddle me this from the womb to the tomb why do / We fight to live" and "A pope is a fraud / A church is a lie / A queen is the same damn thing / You should pray to your fake god that she die" are both dope, even as a Christian. His flow and delivery are just so perfect in that second one that I cannot even get mad when he calls God fake. Overall, a great closer to what is a shockingly great album.

48/55 -> 4.36/5

As I hoped it would, Run the Jewels 2 makes me want to go revisit El-P's Cancer 4 Cure, Killer Mike's R.A.P. Music and then their first installment as a duo. I liked all of those albums, but did not love any of them. They were good, sure, but I never saw much beyond that. Now, after this, I cannot help but think I missed something in those projects. This was an amazing album blessed with great production from El-P throughout (with some minor missteps throughout, but whatever) and some great lyrics from both El-P and Killer Mike. Zack de la Rocha also killed it in his guest appearance here, though his hook was not great, but his verse was killer. The only track here that truly sticks out as bad is "Love Again", which is a major hole on an otherwise great album. I wish they had no included it, but it is what it is I guess. Overall, this one is album of the year for my by a slim, slim margin over Freddie Gibbs & Madlib's album, Pinata.