It’s been almost two months since the release of Run The Jewels’ RTJ4, a project that saw Killer Mike and El-P delivering another serving of dope rhymes alongside the likes of DJ Premier, 2 Chainz, Greg Nice, Josh Homme, and more. This week, they drop off a creative lyric video for the album standout “JU$T,” which features assistance from Pharrell Williams and Zack de la Rocha. The El-P, Wilder Zoby, and Little Shalimar-produced cut shows the collaborators rapping about money, power, and ultimate control:
“Business time, I’m on mine, I be mindin’ mine, every time on my grind, I’m just tryna shine/
Make a dollar, government, they want a dozen dimes, the petty kind, might kill ya ‘cause they see you shine…/”
The animated lyric video comes courtesy of Winston Hacking, and brings the artists’ socially and politically-charged words to life with striking images and cut outs.
“JU$T” follows a previous clip for the RTJ4 cut “Ooh La La,” which was released back in April. Fast-forward to June, RTJ4 is released as a surprise, a decision made by Run The Jewels in the midst of the chaos that had taken over the country. The fourth installment of their ongoing series has proven to be their most successful to date, landing in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 thanks to 38,000 album equivalent units sold in only two days of actual tracking. To compare, Run The Jewels 2 and Run The Jewels 3 peaked on the same chart at 50 and 13, respectively.
During last year’s REVOLT Summit in Atlanta, Killer Mike stressed the need for organization action within our community, a message that’s heard consistently in his music:
“If you understood the power of your local vote, every judge that you don’t like, you realize you could vote out of office… It’s less about the political, but more about telling a free people, ‘You’re free. Now, let’s move like it.”
Press play on “JU$T” below.