Run The Jewels - RTJ 2 (ALBUM) | FIRST REACTION
Added 2025-05-25 14:30:02 +0000 UTCTimestamps:
Jeopardy - 02:34
Oh My Darling Don't Cry - 07:04
Blockbuster Night, Pt. 1 - 09:58
Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck) (Ft. Zack de la Rocha) - 16:07
All My Life - 24:54
Lie, Cheat, Steal - 28:06
Early (Ft. BOOTS) - 34:41
All Due Respect (Ft. Travis Barker) - 39:02
Love Again (Akinyele Back) (Ft. Gangsta Boo) - 43:28
Crown (Ft. Diane Coffee) - 45:56
Angel Duster - 49:04
Blockbuster Night, Pt. 2 (Ft. Despot & Wiki) - 53:15
Comments
JPEG is hella inspired by El-P especially his early work. You can hear the influence if you go back and listen.
Connor VDL
2025-06-11 11:44:42 +0000 UTCRtj 3
Dominic Sutherland
2025-06-09 10:45:01 +0000 UTCRTJ 3 is my favorite but 4 is very good.
Ryan
2025-05-30 18:12:59 +0000 UTCYou should definitely check out one of El-Ps solo albums. Cancer 4 Cure or I'll sleep when you're dead.
Ryan
2025-05-30 18:11:20 +0000 UTCRE: JPEGMAFIA subject matter being separate He DEFINITELY has overlap with RTJ. Dude has a song called I Just Killed A Cop Now I’m Horny lol. He used to call himself a “Left Wing Hades,” a lot of his earlier albums are a lot more overtly political. They definitely align politically. But fans of both constantly criticize their real life actions for being contradictory to their radical lyrics.
Antonio
2025-05-29 18:43:42 +0000 UTCgreat reaction! You asked something like "What's the point" about the RTJ project in general: my interpretation is that the revolutionary messaging is not a "call to action", it's really just their swagger. Their "mythic" quality as rappers isn't based on their own wealth or status but on a rejection of authority along with love and solidarity towards ordinary folk (and each other). All the playful elements sit directly alongside the "no gods, no masters" rhetoric, it's all part of the same vibe. Much more about their own personality, outlook and philosophy than about attempting a real political intervention. This one is my favourite of theirs - blew my head off when I first heard it. RTJ3 is their weakest imo but still a lot of bangers
seventhrib
2025-05-29 14:31:35 +0000 UTCFantastic Album
Zyshawn Moore
2025-05-28 10:16:11 +0000 UTCAppreciate you guys checking out RTJII!! this is great. Ab Soul just dropped too
Gaurav U
2025-05-27 18:49:55 +0000 UTCAb-Soul dropped a diss i think, i havent listened yet but it's set as "shots fired" so i think it's joey related
Helix
2025-05-27 18:14:58 +0000 UTCLOX redbull spiral
mattmattburr
2025-05-27 17:15:22 +0000 UTCRTJ4 definitely my personal favorite can’t wait for you to get to it
Brad
2025-05-27 14:47:29 +0000 UTCRTJ 3 is my favorite and their most personal imo
TreDoes
2025-05-27 08:07:29 +0000 UTCHope yakl get to some EL-P solo albums
TreDoes
2025-05-27 07:58:10 +0000 UTCReactions for 3 and 4 will be good, but MEOW The Jewels will be legendary!
Gabriel Aguilar
2025-05-27 03:24:20 +0000 UTCRegarding the group name and cover art, they’ve said in an interview that they got the name “Run the Jewels” from a line in LL Cool J’s song “Cheesy Rat Blues”. And the cover for the first album was just supposed to be a grimy drawing representing the group name, but people at their live shows just started holding up their hands to make a fist and gun like the cover. So the hands accidentally became something like the group’s mascot and every album has a different variation of the hands. Also, the fourth album was remixed too but this time it was with artists from Latin America instead of cat sounds (it’s called CU4TRO). And the cat sounds thing really did start as a joke. RTJ releases every album for free on their website and when RTJ2 was announced there was a site that listed a bunch of bundles for people who wanted to buy a vinyl, CD, shirt, etc. but the site also had a bunch of fake bundles and stretch goals with absurd prices. Like there was one where the two of them would come pick you up from school in a van and then you’d drive around with them solving mysteries. The cat sounds remix was $40k and the site had fine print saying they wouldn’t be required to fulfill any of the wacky perks. But someone started a kickstarter and raised $60k for the cat album so RTJ agreed to actually make the album. And the money all went to charity.
Dustin
2025-05-27 00:46:39 +0000 UTCRtj3 is my favorite
Colby
2025-05-27 00:31:35 +0000 UTCShout out to Zack de la Rocha from Rage against the Machines....another dope group whom you might recognize especially the iconic song "Wake Up" at the end credits of the first Matrix movie
Caleb Washington
2025-05-27 00:11:54 +0000 UTCThe best thing about RTJ is the juxtaposition of Killer Mike and El-P, Mike is more aggressive and punches are more direct whereas El-P is more coded and technical. Perfect match up.
FigLeaf Bicarbonate
2025-05-26 16:10:03 +0000 UTCI know you (or your editors) gotta edit shit down, skipping over some El-P verses wasn't a good idea to skip in my opinion, maybe skip some of the courses instead. Otherwise great reaction, RTJ is great you need to get to the oiher ones soon I hope :)
NeillBS
2025-05-26 10:50:40 +0000 UTCOhhhhh and you definitely need to go back and watch Big Quints reactions to RTJ1 and 2 if you haven’t already.
SAM-WISE GAMGEE
2025-05-26 08:52:14 +0000 UTCOh, and the story Killer Mike tells in Early isn’t a true story. I think they wrote it in response to Trayvon Martin, but basically they heard the news about one of those situations early in the morning on the way to the studio and made that song in response
SAM-WISE GAMGEE
2025-05-26 08:46:46 +0000 UTCAlright I was on the road when yall dropped this so here’s some answers to yalls questions. I’ll probably think of more stuff once I rewatch the react and will add as a reply to this comment. 1. Of course I know about Meow the Jewels. But the normal album had yall stunlocked. If I suggested meow the jewels yall would never listen to the other albums. 2. Every album gets better skill wise. My favorite is this one or RTJ3. Goes back and forth for me. 3. D, you ain’t really missing much. El-P was an underground legend before RTJ. He was in a group called Company Flow, ran a moderately successful label called Def Jux which had artists like Aesop Rock. El-P and Mike first met through a mutual friend that worked for Adult Swim which led to El-P producing Killer Mikes album R.A.P. music. Mike loved working with El so much they started RTJ. 4. The last track on this album is Angel Duster. Blockbuster Night Pt 2 is a bonus track that was just officially released recently on the 10 year anniversary or something. 5. El-P does all the production. Fun fact he was approached to do the soundtrack for Bladerunner 2049 but ended up not getting it. He released the tracks he put together for it though. 6. Now that you’ve heard RTJ2 you can now watch these amazing videos. The Megamix: https://youtu.be/Pa92U624BzA?si=a2XUc1UgXPcRmaAu And TrackStar the DJs rtj2 remix. https://youtu.be/SDSIBqqaIJc?si=pSZtcCjjlL5XJg2R TrackStar is their DJ on tour. Fun fact the feature on Close Your Eyes is Zach De La Rocha from Rage Against the Machine. He has a feature on most of their albums. And yall heard Rage Against the Machine in a previous vibe sesh or something when Darae was looking at them like “which one of them just said the word” thinking they were all white. Some of my favorite bars and lines that yall didn’t catch are: El-P’s “I’ve been a better bad guy than I’ve been better than bad” Also “better of dead like Paul is, your name don’t ring go starless” Paul is dead is a internet conspiracy that Paul McCartney actually died a long time ago and Ringo Starr was one of the less famous Beatles. Fun facts for the next couple albums: RTJ3 got a surprise early drop on Christmas the year it came out and RTJ4 got an early drop during the peak of BLM. 6. Love Again is really as straight forward as it sounds. It’s just about two consenting adults who love sex just as much as the other one. It’s their response to how rappers always gotta have the softer love song on the album. Like Kendrick’s Poetic Justice or Cole’s GOMD. But this is the RTJ version … which relates back to another El-P verse While other rappers are vaginas for the fame, the jewel runners will always stay rude Motherfuck your permission, was never yours to begin with And every bar of the bitch shit you spit is your fuckin' prison
SAM-WISE GAMGEE
2025-05-26 08:40:08 +0000 UTCCan't wait for RTJ3 and 4 reactions
Joel Sipp
2025-05-26 00:21:33 +0000 UTCMike burning Desire next!
Marquis
2025-05-25 23:21:17 +0000 UTCFINALLY WE'VE SEEN THE LIGHT BOYS 🗣🗣🗣
Benchytos
2025-05-25 23:16:55 +0000 UTCFINALLY! RTJ is my favorite duo, I'm so glad you are finally reacting to them. Pay attention to *when* RTJ 4 came out, when you get to that reaction
Joel Sipp
2025-05-25 22:47:18 +0000 UTCHaving ZDLR in Close Your Eyes is appropriate. He was frontman for the rock band Rage Against the Machine who are/were highly political
Jack N. Goff
2025-05-25 21:44:16 +0000 UTCIf these comments ain’t inspo to get to RTJ3&4 😂
Jack N. Goff
2025-05-25 21:42:34 +0000 UTCFirst listen is crazy! W
Carlos
2025-05-25 15:59:33 +0000 UTCSoundscape of the first two are raw asf, production really got more refined on the last two imo, so depends on what vibe you rock with
Jakob Blom
2025-05-25 15:47:19 +0000 UTCLet’s fuckin goooooooo.
SAM-WISE GAMGEE
2025-05-25 15:36:18 +0000 UTCI prayed for days like this!!! Finally!!!! Let's go!!!!!!!!
Caleb Washington
2025-05-25 15:28:47 +0000 UTCThey are one of the few groups/artists where every project is better than the last. Their album ranking is literally RTJ
Dylan
2025-05-25 15:27:12 +0000 UTC3 and 4 will get legendary reactions
Dylan
2025-05-25 15:23:19 +0000 UTCEL-P is also the main producer
Malcolm Hughes
2025-05-25 14:56:38 +0000 UTCRTJ3
Brett
2025-05-25 14:53:36 +0000 UTCI'll be damned
martin overengen
2025-05-25 14:46:08 +0000 UTCITS HAPPENED! Thank you blessing the day🫡
Jakob Blom
2025-05-25 14:41:03 +0000 UTCSame here
FigLeaf Bicarbonate
2025-05-25 14:34:56 +0000 UTCWe here 🔥 I need that MARCBERG next 👀
FigLeaf Bicarbonate
2025-05-25 14:34:37 +0000 UTCThe 3rd one is my favourite
mattmattburr
2025-05-25 14:33:12 +0000 UTCNah wtf this is perfect timing, I got a road trip in 30 minutes
Trent
2025-05-25 14:31:13 +0000 UTCNO FUCKING WAY ITS A MIRACLE
mattmattburr
2025-05-25 14:30:47 +0000 UTC
