''RTJ4'' is the fourth studio album by American hip hop duo

Run the Jewels Run the Jewels, also known by the initials RTJ, is an American hip hop super-duo composed of Brooklyn-based rapper and producer El-P and Atlanta-based rapper Killer Mike. They released their critically acclaimed self-titled debut studio album ...

. It was released digitally through their own Jewel Runners imprint via

BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was founded in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its ...

on June 3, 2020, two days earlier than scheduled, with physical editions released in September 2020. As with their previous albums, a download of the album is available for free through their website, with the option of paying for it via other digital providers. The album features guest appearances from

Greg Nice Nice & Smooth is an East Coast hip hop duo from New York City that consists of Gregory O. "Greg Nice" Mays (born May 30, 1967) and Darryl O. "Smooth B" Barnes (born August 3, 1967) plus their deejay Tedd "DJ Teddy Tedd" Whiting. The duo released f ...

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop duo ...

, 2 Chainz,

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

Mavis Staples Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers (she is the last surviving member of that band). Durin ...

Josh Homme Joshua Michael Homme ( ; born May 17, 1973) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the founder, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, which he form ...

, and frequent collaborator

Zack de la Rocha Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha (born January 12, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, and political activist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Rage Against the Machine. Through both Rage Agains ...

. ''RTJ4'' received widespread acclaim from critics and debuted at number 10 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, their first top 10 album on the chart. The album was supported by three singles: "Yankee and the Brave (Ep. 4)", "Ooh La La", and "Just".

Background

The album was first announced on October 11, 2018, with the release of the non-album single "Let's Go (The Royal We)", which was featured in the 2018 superhero film ''

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

'' and debuted on

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

's Beats 1 show.

Release

The original album release date was June 5, 2020. Due to the ongoing protests against police brutality sparked by the murders of George Floyd and

Ahmaud Arbery On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, was murdered during a racially motivated hate crime while jogging in Satilla Shores, a neighborhood near Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia.

, and the

shooting of Breonna Taylor Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment on March 13, 2020, when at least seven police officers forced entry into the apartment as part of an investigation into drug dealing op ...

, the duo decided to release it two days early. The accompanying note read:

Promotion

The album's first single, "Yankee and the Brave (Ep. 4)", was released on March 22, 2020. The album's second single, "Ooh La La" featuring

and

, was released on March 25, three days later. The music video for "Ooh La La" was released on April 27, 2020. In collaboration with "Ooh La La", the duo announced a

cannabis strain ''Cannabis'' strains are either pure or hybrid varieties of the plant genus ''Cannabis'', which encompasses the species '' C. sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Varieties are developed to intensify specific characteristics of the ...

of the same name. "Just" featuring

and

, was sent to

alternative radio Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

as the third single on June 14, 2020.

Critical reception

''RTJ4'' was met with widespread critical acclaim. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 89, based on 26 reviews. Aggregator

AnyDecentMusic? AnyDecentMusic? is a website that collates album reviews from magazines, websites, and newspapers. Primarily focused on popular music – covering rock, pop, electronic, dance, folk, country, roots, hip-hop, R&B, and rap – albums are adjudg ...

gave it 8.8 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. Will Lavin of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' praised the album, stating, "Easily Mike and El-P's best work to date, ''RTJ4'' is protest music for a new generation; they're armed in the uprising with a torrent of spirited rallying calls". Reviewing the album for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', Jon Dolan stated, "''RTJ4'', which the band rush-released a few days ahead of schedule, is laser-focused. ..Mike unloads on racist cops, systemic poverty, corporate media, and other eternal enemies. But the album never feels preachy, because the music bounces as much as it brays, with an elastic flow and deep history". Jack Bray of ''

The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...

'' wrote, "''RTJ4'' is Killer Mike & El-P's masterstroke. This is musical evolution for moral, social and political revolution, the group now creating anthems in the pursuit of tolerance, respect and unity". Channing Freeman from

Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...

also enjoyed the album, saying, "As is typical on Run the Jewels albums, every feature is perfectly placed, but the inclusion of Mavis Staples and Josh Homme may be El-P's finest production moment yet. Homme's ghostly wailing and questing guitar provide a backdrop for Staples to sing an image that perfectly distills not only RTJ's oeuvre but the bloody centuries of America's history". For ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'', Sheldon Pearce wrote that "''RTJ4'' centers protest music less explicitly than ''RTJ3'' did, but the moments when the album is most pronouncedly in active revolt are still when it feels most essential". Neil Z. Yeung of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave a positive review, stating, "''RTJ4'' distills the anger and frustration of the people through Run the Jewels' hard-hitting, no-nonsense revolution anthems. Trim with no filler, this fourth set from the outspoken duo provides relevant history lessons that are more useful than a classroom textbook". ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' critic Kyle Mullin said of El-P, "The New York rapper-producer's greatest contribution to ''RTJ4'' is his vivid and varied sonic backdrops. His on-point production offers the lyrically superior Killer Mike both space and sonic support as he rises to new heights of artistry and activism, making El-P the kind of ally worth emulating". Mike Milenko of '' Clash'' said, "''RTJ4'' is a must listen. It is diverse enough to appeal to even the hardest crowds. Many genres are represented here, but lyrical hip-hop is at the forefront of all that Run the Jewels is. They stand out from the crowd, whilst invoking the people to stand up for themselves. There is not a bad song on the entire album and the production and features are second to none". In his

Substack Substack is an American online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription newsletters. It allows writers to send digital newsletters directly to subscribers. Founded in 2017, Substack ...

-published "Consumer Guide" column,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

assigned the album an 'A+' grade and applauded the "vigor" of the duo's political direction and the lyrics as their "sharpest" yet, while declaring, "With

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

on its opiated treadmill, the gangsta sonics that power El-P and Killer Mike's inchoate aggressiveness will feel tonic to anyone with both an appetite for music and a political pulse".

Year-end lists

Commercial performance

''RTJ4'' debuted at number 10 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 with 38,000

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditi ...

s (including 30,000 pure album sales) from just two days of tracking, marking the duo's first top 10 album on the chart.

Track listing

All tracks are produced by

El-P Jaime Meline (born March 2, 1975), better known by the stage name El-P (shortened from his previous stage name El Producto), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Starting his career as a member of Company Flow, he has been a ...

, and co-produced by Little Shalimar and Wilder Zoby, except where noted. Notes * signifies a co-producer * signifies an additional producer * Track stylizations: ** "Just" is stylized "JU$T" ** "Goonies vs. E.T." is stylized "goonies vs. E.T." ** All other track titles are stylized in

all lowercase Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...

* "A Few Words for the Firing Squad (Radiation)" includes the

hidden track In the field of recorded music, a hidden track (sometimes called a ghost track, secret track or unlisted track) is a song or a piece of audio that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, LP record, or other recorded medium, in such a way as t ...

"Theme Music", listed in the album's liner notes as a separate track with identical credits. Samples * "Ooh La La" contains elements and a sample of "DWYCK", written by Keith Elam, Christopher Martin, Greg Mays, and Darryl Barnes, and performed by

Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American hip hop duo, consisting of Texas record producer DJ Premier and Massachusetts rapper Guru. For the entirety of their association, they were based out of Brooklyn, New York. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2 ...

featuring

Nice & Smooth Nice & Smooth is an East Coast hip hop duo from New York City that consists of Gregory O. "Greg Nice" Mays (born May 30, 1967) and Darryl O. "Smooth B" Barnes (born August 3, 1967) plus their deejay Tedd "DJ Teddy Tedd" Whiting. The duo released f ...

. * "Out of Sight" contains elements and a sample of "Misdemeanor", written by

Leon Sylvers III Leon Frank Sylvers III (born March 7, 1953, Memphis, Tennessee) is an American singer, songwriter, disc-jockey, record producer and multi-instrumentalist. He was a member of the family group The Sylvers and became one of the most successful pro ...

and performed by

Foster Sylvers Foster Emerson Sylvers (born February 25, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for being a member of the family act The Sylvers and his hit single "Misdemeanor". Biography Foster ...

. * "The Ground Below" contains elements of "Ether", written by David Allen,

Hugo Burnham Hugo Hamilton Mark Burnham (born 25 March 1956) is an English musician, and drummer for the rock group Gang of Four. The band formed in 1977 at Leeds University, where Burnham was studying English Literature. Before the band signed with EMI ...

, Andrew Gill, and

Jonathan King Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, ...

, as performed by Gang of Four.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's digital booklet and

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. Run the Jewels *

– vocals (all tracks), additional string arrangements (11),

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

, art direction *

Killer Mike Michael Santiago Render (born April 20, 1975), better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American rapper, actor, and activist. Mike made his debut on Outkast's 2000 LP '' Stankonia'', and later appeared on their Grammy-winning single "T ...

– vocals (all tracks) Musicians * Trackstar the DJ –

scratching Scratching, sometimes referred to as scrubbing, is a DJ and turntablist technique of moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable to produce percussive or rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on a DJ mixer may be used to fade between two record ...

(1, 3, 4, 8) * David Ferguson – additional vocals (1) *

– scratches (2) * 2 Chainz – vocals (3) *

Cutty Ranks Philip Thomas (born 12 February 1965), better known as Cutty Ranks, is a Jamaican dancehall singer. Biography Thomas was born in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica in 1965. He began his career as a reggae artist at the age of eleven with local sound s ...

– instruments (4) * Z-Kicks – vocals (4) * Theron "Uptown AP" Thomas – additional vocals (4) * Kaushlesh "Garry" Purohit –

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(4) *

Stuart Bogie Stuart D. Bogie is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, and music producer. Originally from Evanston, Illinois, Bogie became a staple in the Brooklyn music scene. Early years Bogie studied music at the Interlochen Arts Academ ...

– tenor saxophone (5) * Cutmaster Swiff – scratches (5) *

Gangsta Boo Lola Chantrelle Mitchell (born August 7, 1979), better known by her stage name Gangsta Boo, is an American rapper, who was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. She was the second female member (after K-9) of the Memphis-based hip hop group Thr ...

– vocals (6) *

– vocals (7) *

– vocals (7) * Nicholas Ryan Gant – additional vocals (7) * Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire – vocals (8) *

– vocals, instruments (10) *

– vocals (10) *

Matt Sweeney Matt Sweeney (born July 2, 1969) is an American musician and record producer best known as a guitarist of Skunk, Chavez, and supergroup Zwan. Early life and education Sweeney was born in New Jersey. His father was John D. Sweeney, a professo ...

– guitar, additional vocals (11) * ASAP Ferg – additional vocals (11) * Jeremy Wilms – string arrangements (11) * Dana Lyn – violin (11) * Danton Boller – bass (11) * Cochemea Gastelum – tenor saxophone (11) Technical *

Joey Raia Joey Raia is a New York-based mix engineer. He is known for his work with Run The Jewels, Aesop Rock, Nick Hook, Mac Miller and El-P. In 2017 he was nominated for the 2018 Grammy Awards in the category of "Best Rap Song" for mixing "Chase Me" b ...

–

mixing engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

Joe LaPorta Joseph J. LaPorta (born ) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound in New Jersey.http://www.allmusic.com/artist/joe-laporta-mn000199340/credits/date-asc/ Career Born and raised in New York, LaPorta graduated from New York Unive ...

–

mastering engineer A mastering engineer is a person skilled in the practice of taking audio (typically musical content) that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distr ...

* Nick Hook –

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

* Leon Kelly – recording engineer * Kaushlesh "Garry" Purohit – recording engineer (1, 3–11) * Carl Bespolka – recording engineer (2–11) * Taylor Jackson – recording engineer (3–11) * Dylan Neustadter – recording engineer (3–11) * Mat LeJeune – assistant recording engineer (3–11) * Jonathan Lackey – assistant recording engineer (3–11) Artwork * Tim Saccenti – art direction, photography * Smartbomb.net – layout, design * Nick Gazin – lettering, font design

Charts

Release history

Notes

References

{{Authority control 2020 albums Albums produced by El-P Run the Jewels albums RBC Records albums Albums free for download by copyright owner BMG Rights Management albums Albums recorded at Shangri-La (recording studio) Hip hop albums by American artists