The Top 30 Albums Of 2020 (So Far): Run The Jewels - 'RTJ4'

"Truly a record for its time and of its time." - James d'Apice

Run The Jewels (RTJ) – the super-duo of rapper/activist Killer Mike and rapper/producer El-P – have defied hip hop's generational divides, expanding their audience with each album since 2013. Their prescient fourth outing RTJ4 – arriving four long years after Run The Jewels 3 – even cracked the US Top 10. 

RTJ unleashed RTJ4 amid Black Lives Matter protests across the US, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic that has disproportionately affected POC – and, here, walking in the snow (featuring Memphis rap queen Gangsta Boo) protests police brutality against Black people and systemic inequality with the same raw, visceral power as Public Enemy and Rage Against The Machine (RATM). 

RATM's own Zack de la Rocha, who appeared on RTJ's 2014 charged classic Close Your Eyes (And Count To Fuck), returns for JU$T, a dissection of capitalism with Pharrell Williams. 

RTJ have always been about honouring hip hop's old school – and the single ooh la la has input from Greg Nice, of the East Coast duo Nice & Smooth, and DJ Premier on scratches (it also samples Gang Starr). 

Throughout, El-P's production is consistently on point – never look back broaching Detroit techno. Most symbolic, the epic pulling the pin is blessed by civil rights icon and singer Mavis Staples – and… Josh Homme. Hardcore with heart.