Best of 2013

7) Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels

I don't listen to much rap and hip-hop, but once in a while an album will make a few waves on the blogs and my attention will be stirred. It's great fun to listen to with a beefy subwoofer and though I may not relate to it well, I can pretend long enough in the summer months to provide a welcome break from the heavier stuff. But, I have the same expectations for it that I do for anything else. It has to be well-written, it has to have depth and originality, it has to be a good mix of interesting words and captivating music, and Run the Jewels is all those things. When everyone was slobbering over Robin Thicke's tired track saying things like, “This is the song of the summer,” I was spinning this.

Run the Jewels is a collaboration from El-P and Killer Mike, two artists I honestly don't know much about, but after spending so much time with this I'm going to try to remedy my ignorance. These two guys are brilliant. The lyrics cover so much ground, sometimes sticking to misogyny, but mostly just being unabashedly clever. The standout for me is the track, “No Come Down.” It's about getting high, but it really tries to bring you there. There's a description of a surreal psilocybin trip with equal parts sex and death. There are even a few nods between these two guys, just complimenting each other on their form which is great to hear when you have the perception of a genre as mostly ego-fueled and self-centered.