Run the Jewels is the Best Band in World Right Now

The older I get the more I enjoy hip hop. I do not know why, I just do. It is always good to dance, workout, run and play basketball to. When hip hop is buzzing in my ear, it just makes me want to move. I also enjoy listening to it in my car because I can vibe out when I go on long or short trips. Hip hop, at least good hip hop, is the best music out there.

The short preamble leads me to my point of my piece today. I was cleaning my home yesterday and listening to Run the Jewels on my Amazon Alexa. It made the cleaning go by so much faster. It seemed easier. I wasn't as stressed as normal. I was grooving to the music as I cleaned. And when I finished cleaning, I just let the music keep going. As I sat there and listened to more and more RTJ I came upon a realization that I thought was impossible. But, I can now say with a clear conscious that RTJ has supplanted The Black Keys as my favorite band. Now, this isn't to say that I don't like The Black Keys anymore. It is the opposite. I still love and adore their music. I will always listen to them. I will always be excited when new Black Keys music comes out. I'm hopeful that they will put out a new record this year. I like Auerbach's solo stuff, but he is so much better as one half of The Black Keys. So yes, I still love their music. They are just my second favorite band now. There are just so many special things about Run the Jewels.

First off, El-P is the best producer in hip hop, no ifs ands or buts about it. He makes the best beats. He is far and away better than anyone else doing it right now. I'm sure younger people will bash me with their favorites, and old hip hop heads will throw out people they think are better, but El-P is a genius. Hell, even Killer Mike says in a song of RTJ's that, "a producer gave me a beat, said it is the beat of the year, I said El-P didn't produce it, so get the fuck outta here". That is poetry, and the truth. He is a genius. Oh, and by the way, he happens to be an incredible rapper. He is amazing. He is smooth and his flow is stupendous. His lyrics are amazing. He is the perfect sidekick to Killer Mike.

And Killer Mike, my god is that dude a beast. He is fast climbing my list as favorite rappers. Biggie is still one, Jay Z two and Kendrick Lamar three, but Killer Mike is at fourth, right behind Lamar, and he may surpass him soon. He is so awesome. He is so fierce and fast and spits some of the best verses ever written in rap music. He is also a political leader. While not a politician, I believe and follow pretty much every word he says when it comes to politics. When he goes off on trolls on Twitter it is a thing of beauty. He is amazing.

Put these two geniuses together and it is bliss. Every single RTJ song is perfect hip hop. It is the right blend of both of their talents. They know how to bounce off one another perfectly. They compliment each other the exact right way. They have fun while performing their songs. They work together better than any other hip hop duo that I have ever listened to. It was clear how much they like each other, and like working with each other when I saw them live last year. It is amazing to see two guys in the music industry that legitimately enjoy one another's company. They are wonderful.

Then their records. RTJ 1, 2 and 3 are the best hip hop records that I have ever listened to. RTJ 1 was like a bolt of lighting. It comes hard and it comes fast. It is like they each took one big breath and just busted out 10 phenomenal rap songs. RTJ 2 was when they started to get more political and attack corrupt politicians and it was awesome. The song with Zack de la Rocha on that record is, maybe, the best hip hop song ever. Then, as RTJ would say, on Christmas morning at midnight, like a "Christmas fucking miracle", they released RTJ 3. I cannot stop listening to this record to this day. I will listen to it all the way through at least once a week. It is a great blend of their first 2 records. Lately I have been blasting "Message to the Shareholders/Kill Your Masters" a ton. This is the perfect song, and RTJ 3 is the perfect protest record right now.

While I used to feel this same way about all Black Keys music, it just isn't the same anymore. As I said, I still love, and look forward to, new and old Black Keys stuff. But, I crave new RTJ music. It is an addiction for me now. Hell, even my daughter, who is 2, knows how much her father loves RTJ. She asked me the other day, "daddy, are we listening to RTJ?", and I couldn't have been happier. She has never said that about The Black Keys, and she has heard them just as much. My son is the same, although I try not to listen to them as much with him in the car because he is just about to turn 6 and I don't need him to get in trouble for quoting RTJ in school, even though that would be amazing. But, the rare times he does hear them he likes it. He told me he likes the beats. He also told me that, outside of the kids music we listen to, RTJ is his favorite. I still love The Black Keys, but Run the Jewels is now my favorite band.

It doesn't matter what genre, what people, what era, RTJ is the best of the best for me. Maybe this will change, when I was a teenager no one was better than Bob Marley until I heard The Black Keys, but I doubt it. I'm at an age now where when I put my hooks into something I stick with it. Run the Jewels is the best band making music and I will not hear otherwise. If you doubt this statement, go listen to them, preferably "Message to the Shareholders/Kill Your Masters", and let your mind be blown away by their awesomeness. RTJ rules.

P.S., sorry for the curse words mom and dad.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. When Ty was 10 years old, he made a detailed flow chart on how Puff Daddy passed up MC Hammer as the greatest rapper ever. The innocence of youth.

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