Precisely two years after the release of their tremendous sophomore record, Run The Jewels have unleashed the first complete single from their upcoming third album, Run The Jewels 3.
Entitled Talk To Me, the single has been released as part of the annual Adult Swim Singles Program, and is available as a free stream and download here.
The pair of Killer Mike and El-P recently teased new music via a trailer for Gears of War, and earlier this year they performed a new track at Coachella. However, Talk To Me is the first complete, official, recorded version of a single to be heard.
The track begins with a beat that kind of feels like the woozy beginnings of a Tarantino period piece. Killer Mike delivers the goods, opening with a sinister Donald Trump reference (“Went to war with the devil and shaitan, he wore a bad toupee and a spray tan,”) takes us on a journey through an airport from Thailand to the USA, complete with weed references, an #AllLivesMatter diss and a comparison to being a pitbull terrier, a reference which reminds me of when Eminem also described himself as “a pitbull terrier off his leash” on 2002’s The Eminem Show track Square Dance. This is the latest in Killer Mike’s numerous animal comparisons, having previously referred to himself as an African elephant multiple times.
Next up comes the return of El Producto and his fantastically fiery one-liners, asking the listener if we know exactly how powerful he is, crushing anyone who thought he might not be returning with strength and feverish energy. “I’m dirt motherfucker, I can’t be crushed,” he says. “You think baby Jesus killed Hitler just so I’d whisper?” he asks, and informs us, “My dick got a Michelin star,” a pretty impressive feat considering he’s previously claimed to do two things: rap and fuck.
The track is less than three minutes long, but it’s intense, it’s powerful, it’s funny and it’s political, which is everything we want from Run The Jewels.
There is currently no word as to when the album will be out, or when we’ll be hearing more new music, but if Talk To Me is anything to go by then we’re in for another album of the year contender for sure.
Read our interview with Run The Jewels
Image: Supplied/Adult Swim