Nov. 20--The second major collaboration between Killer Mike and El-P, "Run the Jewels 2" (Mass Appeal), is one of the year's best albums, a career high point and a commercial peak for two veteran MC's who have done strong work for decades beneath the mainstream radar.
"We're in new territory here, and it's completely unexpected," says El-P, aka Jaime Meline. "We might actually be defining longevity in rap."
Meline and Killer Mike, aka Michael Render, are 39 years old, which makes them old pros, if not elder statesmen, on the youth heavy hip-hop time line. But they're enjoying unprecedented commercial success with a Top 50 album and a string of sold-out club shows.
"We don't take this for granted," Render says. "I always wondered who would break past that line, because we grew up with artists like Run-DMC and Scarface, who defined us. So to have this breakout moment at this time in our careers, I'm just grateful that it's us who's on the crest of that."
The unlikely partnership began in 2012. Render, a veteran of the Atlanta hip-hop scene and collaborator with OutKast, released an acclaimed album, "R.A.P. Music," produced by Meline, who had defined New York underground hip-hop for more than a decade with his solo releases, production work and Def Jux label. The two artists hit it off so well in the studio that they decided to tour together.
"We were having a great time on the road and I approached Mike about doing some more recording," says Meline, who had a trove of music left over from producing his own 2012 album, "Cancer 4 Cure." He aimed to put together a modest, stop-gap EP with Render jumping in on a couple tracks. But once the two got into the studio again, the collaboration became something much bigger than either MC anticipated.
"Two songs turned into 10," Meline says. "It turned from an El-P EP featuring Mike into a group and an album. It blew both of us away how easily it was coming to us. We were just thinking about doing a few songs that would be fun to do live. But we had friends of ours listen to the music and they said we'd be crazy not to do an album. We suspected we were hitting on something, and our friends gave us an excuse to take it further."
Both artists had acquired a reputation for introspective, hard-hitting, soul-searching music. When collaborating, the two bonded on the music that initially inspired them as teens, largely drawn from the classic hip-hop of the late '80s and early '90s, and it freed them up.
"It was a vibe more than a sound, and if I knew what the vibe was, I'd have done it 13 years earlier," Render says. "It's like I don't know why Scottie (Pippen) and Mike (Jordan) played so well together. But I knew everyone was afraid who wasn't wearing their uniform. Together they were unstoppable. With Jaime and me, individually we're good, but together we have something else. We pushed each other in ways we had never done before."
The duo took its "Run the Jewels" name from a piece of street slang in an L.L. Cool J song, "Cheesy Rat Blues."
"It was just the hardest, non-cursing thing you could ever hear on a (New York City) train in 1988, '89," Meline says. "That line in that song, he presented it from a desperate place but also an empowering place -- a good dude in a dangerous mode. I like the idea of simultaneously being a threat and also being empowering. 'Run the Jewels' isn't just getting robbed, it's become 'run this world,' 'run this life.' It's become something cool and universal, and applies way beyond what Mike and I are suggesting. It does feel empowering."
The self-titled Run the Jewels debut album was like a weekend-warrior blowout for two respected MCs. The sequel boasts a deeper perspective that would not sound out of place on one of their solo albums. In contrast to the largely carefree swagger projected on the first album, "2" provides a stark soundtrack for a divided country: a broken penal system in "Close Your Eyes," with Rage Against the Machine's Zach de la Rocha, police harassment in "Early," the disconnect between the have's and have-not's in "Lie, Cheat, Steal."
The first album "is like we're superheroes," Render says, referencing recent reviews of the music. "It felt like we were superheroes when we did Pitchfork (Music Festival in 2013). It was Clark Kent turns into Superman and Peter Parker becomes Spiderman. The second album is about superheroes that bleed. You think about something like Marvin Gaye and (his 1971 masterpiece) 'What's Going On,' where all the facade is gone. I get goosebumps listening to parts of our record because that inner us is pouring out."
Meline says the shift in perspective was partially due to the fans' enthusiastic support of the duo's collaboration on tour. Each would do solo sets, but when they came together as Run the Jewels, the reaction was over the top.
"We each had big plans about own careers, and this beautiful unexpected thing landed in our laps," he says. "Obviously we have legacies and ideas of our own, so going into the second record we talked about how we would have to be creatively fulfilled. It couldn't be a vacation from who we are, but incorporate our solo work into what Run the Jewels is. The first time was a lark, it was just so much fun. The second time we realized this is turning into something that we never expected, and we weren't going to take that lightly."
Also worth hearing
Johnny Marr: The Smiths yin to Morrissey's yang, the guitarist remains a riff master who has worked with numerous bands, including Electronic and Modest Mouse, and is now focusing on a solo career with releases in back-to-back years, "The Messenger" (2013) and the recent "Playland." 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Vic, 3145 N. Sheffield Ave., $29; jamusa.com
Greg Kot co-hosts "Sound Opinions" at 8 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday on WBEZ-FM 91.5.
greg@gregkot.com
Twitter @gregkot
When: 5 and 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: at Metro, 3730 N. Clark St.
Tickets: $24; metrochicago.com
