The most powerful protest music can perfectly encapsulate the moments and moods being experienced by society. At times it can even come across as eerily prophetic.
That is certainly the case with the new album by the rap duo Run The Jewels. Killer Mike and El-P have never been afraid to get political, but on their fourth album RTJ4 their music resonates more than ever.
Originally they planned on releasing it on June 5, but they released it a couple of days early in response to the police brutality protests taking place in the aftermath of police officers murdering innocent black lives such as Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
On social media, they made the following statement concerning the early release: “Fuck it, why wait? The world is infested with bullshit so here’s something raw to listen to while you deal with it all. We hope it brings you some joy. Stay safe and hopeful out there and thank you for giving 2 friends the chance to be heard and do what they love.”
The album was made available for free download on their website, but fans had the option of donating to the National Lawyers Guild Mass Defense Fund.
One of the many tracks that resonated was “walking in the snow” which featured the chilling lyric “And every day on the evening news, they feed you fear for free. And you so numb, you watch the cops choke out a man like me. Until my voice goes from a shriek to whisper, “I can’t breathe”.”
“I can’t breathe” referred to the last words of Eric Garner who was choked to death by New York police, but sadly they took on new resonance with George Floyd sharing those same dying words.
The lyrics also serve as an indictment of the news media which promotes a fear base narrative.
The role of media was also something that Michael “Killer Mike” Render addressed during an impassioned speech that he gave in his native Atlanta.
“I love CNN. I love Cartoon Network, but I’d like to say to CNN right now karma’s a mother. Stop feeding fear and anger every day. Stop making people feel so fearful. Give them hope.”
In these times we need music to get us through. Few artists provide a soundtrack for the moment like Run The Jewels.