Run the Jewels 2

Singles

On September 2, 2014, Run the Jewels released a song titled "Blockbuster Night, Pt. 1", as the album's first single. On September 15, 2014, Run the Jewels released "Oh My Darling Don't Cry", the second offering from the album. "Oh My Darling Don't Cry" was later released on September 30, 2014, via digital distribution, as the album's second single.

Critical reception

Run the Jewels 2 received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 89, based on 35 reviews. David Jeffries of AllMusic stated, "If the first album was the supernova, RTJ2 is the RTJ universe forming, proving that Mike and El-P's one-off can be a going, and ever growing, concern." Brian Josephs of The A.V. Club stated, "The sequel takes the simplistic thrills of the debut and expands the duo's natural chemistry. With Killer Mike grounded at the album's emotional core, El-P is free to indulge in his intrepid production tendencies." In The Irish Times, Jim Carroll dubbed the album "a case of upping the ante all round and then some" highlighting "both principals at the top of their game". Pat Levy of Consequence of Sound said, "An album like RTJ2 is rare. Decades from now, this album may just be revered as one of the best hip-hop records of our era, the total synchronicity of two talented artists reaching the apex of their prime."

Paul Maclnnes of The Guardian stated, "While the duo deliver hard-nosed disses at a rate of knots. Early, meanwhile, matches distorted synth with an old-school storytelling piece about pursuit and arrest by the police. It's an unrelenting style, which may sound like overkill to some, but there's no disputing its power and sophisticated composition." Kellan Miller of HipHopDX stated, "Throughout RTJ2 [El-P] holds his own rhyming alongside a superior wordsmith." James Rainis of Slant Magazine stated, "RTJ2 is the rare sequel that bests the beloved original in almost every facet." Dan Rys of XXL said, "For people looking for soulful, melodic hip-hop, this is not the album to pick up. Neither is it one for the kids who just want to repeat two words over and over again and call it a hook while jumping up and down and punching the air repeatedly. When listening to RTJ2, those feelings are translated into punches aimed at faces instead of spaces, and they always connect. The beats are grimy—typical of an El-P-produced project—and add even more grit to an album that doesn’t ooze confidence so much as shoves you in the chest with it."

Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times stated, "Run the Jewels is the team of two indie titans, El-P and Killer Mike, who have upended convention by remaining idealistically true, artistically adventurous and creatively emboldened well into their second decade as rapper-producers. The pair's second album, released as a free download last week, proves it 11 times over." Al Horner of NME said, "Cranking the urgency and confrontation of last year's self-titled debut to neck-breaking levels of intensity, RTJ2 is an urgent, paranoid album for a violent, panicked time. It's a bleak future Run The Jewels envision for America, but as long as Mike and El-P are collaborating, at least the future of hip-hop is in safe hands." Ian Cohen of Pitchfork stated, "Sounding like nothing else and answering to nobody but its creators, Run the Jewels 2 is in a class by itself." Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone stated, "On their second album as Run the Jewels, noise-loving Brooklyn rapper-producer El-P and Atlanta's Killer Mike make the most explosive hip-hop you'll hear all year."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 50 on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 12,000 copies in the United States.

Track listing

Notes

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.