Just days after announcing they’d be giving away their new album for free, Run The Jewels just went and dropped it two days early.
“Fuck it, why wait,” begins a statement from El-P and Killer Mike. “The world is infested with bullshit so here’s something raw to listen to while you deal with it all. We hope it brings you some joy. Stay safe and hopeful out there and thank you for giving 2 friends the chance to be heard and do what they love.”
Guests on the 11-track LP include Mavis Staples, Pharrell Williams, Rage Against The Machine’s Zack De La Rocha, 2 Chainz, Greg Nice, and Queens Of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme.
Stream RTJ4 below via Spotify and Apple Music. You can also download the LP via the Run The Jewels website.
The album follows an emotional, affecting speech Killer Mike gave in Atlanta over the weekend, during which he both called for the arrest of the four Minneapolis officers present at the death of George Floyd and encouraged the residents of his hometown of Atlanta to protest peacefully.
“I am duty-bound to be here to simply say: That it is your duty not to burn your own house down for anger with an enemy,” he said. “It is your duty to fortify your own house, so that you may be a house of refuge in times of organization. And now is the time to plot, plan, strategize, organize, and mobilize.”
He continued, “It is time to beat up prosecutors you don’t like at the voting booth. It is time to hold mayoral offices accountable, chiefs and deputy chiefs. Atlanta is not perfect, but we’re a lot better than we ever were, and we’re a lot better than cities are.”
Watch it below.