He’s also aware that having a weed-smoking, foulmouthed rapper serve as a pillar of the community is jarring to some folks. “We don’t see any reason to stop doing this,” El-P says. “We really had to talk about it, and I had to have this whole process to get cool with it. This isn’t a supergroup or even some indie rap version of The Throne; this is two friends, born a month apart in 1975, coming together after exciting, occasionally tumultuous solo careers to make music they completely believe in. At the end of the day, more than anything else, El-P and Killer Mike just like being together. As El-P puts it, “You can never really know someone 100% creatively. We’re gonna try and do the impossible: have our cake and eat it too.
With so much on the line creatively, politically, emotionally, and financially, it’s no wonder the pair are already at work on Run the Jewels 3. If you don’t push each other out of your comfort zones, no one will.”. For El-P, it was an instance of faith in his beloved running buddy, stepping way outside his comfort zone to truly flourish. More than just a cohesive experience, it’s demonstrative of the entire dynamic El-P and Mike have cultivated over just two albums. You can be cool and know your fucking shit and make a real commitment. Artist of the Year: Run the Jewels El-P and Killer Mike have a very clear definition of themselves as a unit. The monogamous relationship analogy is a bit cliched, but the pair are musical soulmates, and we as an audience get to bask in the fruits of that mutual admiration. So, New York had to lose a good governor.”. I think doing so helps to further demystify us and just give us some cool shit to talk about.”, He goes on to add, “It’s like you have Charles Barkley saying, ‘I’m not a role model,’ and then he’s talking about the state of black men. In fact, they’re so innately fun-loving that they willingly accepted the challenge of Meow the Jewels, a crowd-funded remix album made entirely with cat sounds. Talk to either El-P or Killer Mike, as we did following the end of their recent North American tour, and they have a very clear definition of themselves as a unit. Artwork by Jacob Livengood. (Buy Prints + More!) We've received thousands of superb entries to this year's competition and finally managed to whittle them down to a shortlist of 50 top artworks – but this is where you come in! Photography by Heathen Kaplan. I move like an elegant elephant, and I smoke weed and act a fool. “If we had done this 10 years ago, we would have thrown each other through windows,” El-P says.
We really knew we had a chance to create a legacy. “If you know [Run the Jewels], then you know that’s who we are already,” he says. Mike’s take is a bit more whimsical, hitting right at the heart of rap’s most prominent duo.
And I can do these things simultaneously.
Part of the process is that you have to convince one another.”, Both men are quick to recognize that there’s always some level of separation between the two.
Artists & Illustrators is the UK’s number 1 magazine for original art. We have revealed the shortlists for British Artist of the Year and International Artist of the Year in the inaugural BBC Music Awards. “I learned as a child that civil rights leaders aren’t perfect,” he says.
“But you reach a point in your life where you’ve seen all this, and you’ve bumped against the bullshit. Buy original artwork direct from the artists. “So, I think I’m an asset to my community. We have revealed the shortlists for British Artist of the Year and International Artist of the Year in the inaugural BBC Music Awards. Stephen Mangan and Joan Bakewell are back to find the next Portrait Artist of the Year, with the help of another set of celebrity sitters. Nobody’s perfect as a human being, but I can promise you I’m right in my motivations.
With all the testosterone, angst, and weed floating around the album’s recording sessions, El-P says he recognized that egos could easily come into play. It’s like our Empire Strikes Back.”.