Monday Mixtape, Vol. 65
Friday night I get a text from a buddy, "Any interest trying to get tix to the sold out Run the Jewels show??" Response: "Yes. Yes I do."
Fast forward to later that night at the entrance of the Fox. We got fake tickets! Now we're running around trying to find scalpers but there are very few tickets around as everyone is so damn amped to see these dudes - the most politically-charged and beloved voices of an angry population since Rage Against the Machine. To add to that, they're rap's modern day Run-DMC.
(Killer Mike disclaimer: Run the Jewels was on NPR Tiny Desk Concerts recently and Mike said that at some point RTJ will be labeled a political rap group, and he said, "We are not. We don't care what party you belong to, we don't care who you supported, we don't care what you're doing tomorrow, politically. We care that socially every one of you know that you were absolutely born free and nothing has a right to interrupt that freedom. We love ya'll.")
BACK TO THE STORY: We almost give up as we see numerous other people getting burned with fake tickets, but we finally ask a scalper if I can stay with the scalper with the money while my buddy goes to the entrance to ensure the tickets are real. BINGO. Cash changes hands and we're in.
We literally get to our seats - first row in the upper section - as the lights dim and two beers are in hand. The seats (disclaimer: we did stand the whole time) gives us the most amazing shot of the GA section below.
“We Are the Champions” begins to play as Killer Mike and El-P saunter out and orchestrate the crowd as we scream “We are the champions, my friends…And we'll keep on fighting till the end/ We are the champions / We are the champions / No time for losers 'cause we are the champions / Of the world!”
The songs fades out and “Talk to Me” starts up as the GA crowd goes absolutely ape shit as Militant Mike goes psycho:
We return from the depths of the badland
With a gun and a knife in our waistband
Went to war with the Devil and Shaytan
He wore a bad toupee and a spray tan
So high now, hoping that I land
On a Thai stick, moving through Thailand
On the radio, heard a plane hijack
Government did that like they cooked crack
I move in a world of conspiracies
Obey no rules, I'm doing me
Smoke kush, transport to the airport
Customs found a joint in my passport
Pulled cash and I gave him what he asked for
Goddammit, it's a motherfucking miracle
Small bribe, made it back into America
Hit Uber and maneuvered out the area
Rhyme animal, pit bull terrier
Rap terrorist, terrorize, tear it up
Brought gas and the matches to flare it up
Militant Michael might go psycho
On any ally or rival
Born Black, that's dead on arrival
My job is to fight for survival
In spite of these AllLivesMatter-ass white folk
Then the interlude goes:
This is spiritual warfare that you have been dealing with. This is not a fight that you have been dealing with flesh and blood but this is a fight against principalities and evil doers and unclean spirits.
I didn’t think I would ever see mosh pits that big at The Fox - this was a rock show of epic proportions. People lost their minds the entire show.
I look over to my buddy and it does’t need to be said. Thank God we came to this show.
I don’t know a (legitimate) group around right now that commands this level of love and craziness. The crowd absolutely adored these guys and were singing every single word of the songs. It was one of the best crowds I’ve ever seen at a show. RTJ loved it.
Needless to say, RTJ’s lyrics/music the past few years have taken over rap and people's political angers. Killer Mike has been rapping for decades but never received his due until RTJ. He is an absolute showman and El-P holds the stage with him. Their chemistry was electric and their sincerity the truth.
Every track on this week’s mixtape was a song they played at the show and some of my faves.
Nothing shows who these guys are then “Down,” one of my favorite tracks on the new album.
Check out these verses:
Killer Mike
I hope (I hope)
I hope with the highest of hopes
That I never have to go back to the trap
And my days of dealing with dope
So I, I only spit fire and dope
So later on you can go quote
My lines to your people and folk
And they say damn (damn, damn, damn)
That boy be spitting that pressure (pressure)
And he be smoking that pressure (pressure)
And he smart as a professor, yes sir
25 lighters on dresser, pound of that pressure
Sittin right next to, next to
Next to a book and a gun
Ballot or bullet, you better use one
One time for the freedom of speeches (speeches)
Two time for the right to hold heaters (heaters)
Just skip to the fifth, with the cops in the house
Close your mouth and pray to your Jesus
Ask why cause the Devil a lie (lie)
So I stay holy and high (high)
May never get rich, but I never bitch
'cause I made it here by and by
Then El-P takes over:
You're gonna need a bigger boat, boys, you're in trouble
Aye, gonna need a little hope, boys, on the double
Aye, you muckin' with a G here, see, talk to me
Or maybe listen to the man that barely dodged his own lobotomy
Pop the tape in, baby, we got shit we wrote for you (for you)
Came from feeling what a pure absence of hope can do
Only to leap through flaming rings and break the nose of crews
Still in their wings'll be them darlings, hope they've broken you
Yeah, they better hope that
I'm a full force and a cold fact
See the cold floor where I licked dirt
When the dough dried and the pride died
Had a dumb max, had to shop right
Gimme two meals and the lights on
I'ma do right, get a new crew
Make a new life, never boo hoo
Never lose sight, I'm a voodoo
With a burst heart from a old soul
Better stop, drop when the squad's hot, we don't stop a lot
We don't talk a lot about it, we just pop it off a lot
I'm high, man, I'm a cosmonaut
Scream, "Fuck 'em," 'til they lop our bloody noggins off
I promise y'all
RTJ!!