As 2018 draws to a close, we’re starting to mentally catalog projects that we’re looking forward to in 2019. Run The Jewels 4 is somewhere near the top of that list. El-P rebooted his Instagram yesterday, and the very first post announces that he and Killer Mike are working on new music that will see the light of day next year. We can’t wait.
UPDATE 06.03.20: The world needs this right now. Stream RTJ4 below, and download it here.
UPDATE 05.27.20: In a fitting climax to the hype leading up to next week’s release. The New York Times dropped a piece on Killer Mike and El-P, and the process behind creating the new album.
Though they meticulously worked to get the record — which also features Pharrell, 2 Chainz, Josh Homme and DJ Premier — just right, they never considered postponing its release over the pandemic. There is something bittersweet in acknowledging that three-and-a-half years after recording your blue album, things have only gotten bluer. But if protest music cannot force the perpetrators of injustice and inequality from power, it can serve as a galvanizing reminder that millions of people feel just as you do, and are burning for change.
Click here to read the entire piece.
UPDATE 05.12.20: It’s official. RTJ4 is dropping on June 5. Check the cover art and tracklist below.
UPDATE 04.27.20: As far as we’re concered, it’s officially RTJ season. The duo just dropped an incredibly dope visual for “Ooh LA LA” via its YouTube channel. The release of RTJ4 must be imminent. Check the new video above.
Update 03.25.20: It’s about that time; and what a time it is! Mike and El have begun releasing tracks from RTJ4, meaning that the album will likely be a fitting soundtrack to the current global pandemic. Listen to “Ooh La La” and “Yankee and the Brave (ep.4)” above.
UPDATE 03.05.20: It’s hard to believe that we’ve been anticipating the release of RTJ4 for over a year now. Time has been flying by. After seeing Mike and EL perform at Max Fish a few months back, we’re anticipating their forthcoming album more than ever. The duo sat down with Rick Rubin earlier this week for an episode of his Broken Record podcast. They reveal a bit more about what to expect from RTJ4; and we couldn’t be more thrilled to find out that Rubin has a hand in the production. We’ve embedded the interview up top. At this point, it seems like the album will be out by summer.
UPDATE 03.25.19: Killer Mike’s latest IG post is another reminder that he and El-P are currently in the studio working on Run the Jewels 4. For us, the location is just as exciting as the message. If you know, you know.
UPDATE 02.08.19: While El-P has since deleted his Instagram post announcing RTJ4, Killer Mike confirms that the album should be out by this summer at the start his new interview with Hot 97.
I got the first beats; and I’ve already started running around freestyling to it. We’ll start recording probably in the next couple of weeks. And El said it will probably be [out] by the summer.
Watch the full interview below.
