The Meow The Jewels train is showing no signs of slowing down just yet. The recently released feline-friendly remix project featured a completely remade version of Run The Jewels 2, the brilliant 2014 album from our favourite rap duo Run The Jewels.
The full release came out in late September, and since then we’ve been blessed with the most adorable video of the year, a short “pawcumentary” and more. A second video has now been released. And it’s everything you could ever want.
The video is for All Meow Life, Nick Hook’s remix of All My Life, and, well, it’s all of the internet rolled into one. It’s every single cat meme, cat video, gif, film short and anything else that you could possibly think of. From YouTube vids of cats doing dumb things, to film stills of a sexy Catwoman, to home videos of cats doing more silly things, to cats pouncing on dogs, to cats jumping onto moving vacuum cleaners, to Garfield, to cats chasing lasers, and, well…. you get the idea.
The Meow The Jewels remix project was a crowdfunded effort, and featured remixes from Just Blaze, The Alchemist, Geoff Barrow of Portishead, and more. It’s available for a free download – grab that here.
To read up on the conception and details of Meow The Jewels, click here for our complete guide.
Meow The Jewels, the feline-friendly remix project of rap duo Run The Jewels, was finally released last week. The project, which had recruited artists including Just Blaze, Zola Jesus and Portishead’s Geoff Barrow to remix tracks from RTJ’s 2014 album Run The Jewels 2 using cat noises, is weird and wonderful in exactly the ways you might expect. The internet loves rap and the internet loves cats, so put together, it’s a dream come true.
Run The Jewels aren’t the type to half-ass anything, so of course, they’ve now released the first official video clip from the project. The video is for Oh My Darling (Don’t Meow) as remixed by Just Blaze.
The clip, directed by Hectah, is absolutely incredible. Watch as cats reign merciless terror upon a doomed city skyline; total havoc is wreaked; it’s a four-legged rampage. The hilariously amateur clip is one of the cutest things we’ve seen all year – complete with toy helicopters, police cars and fake news headlines.
The video’s description outlines the plot: “Cats are taking over the rap game, your favorite Run The Jewels songs, and now, a bustling metropolis near you. Will Just Blaze be able to keep his sanity amidst the chaos?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=45&v=KEgoBOZ9cug
Download Meow The Jewels for free here.
More: “Being raunchy and sexual is not offensive” – read our interview with Run The jewels
Ladies and gentlemen, the day has finally arrived. Meow The Jewels is here, in all its glory – and it’s free.
The completely upheaved version of Run The Jewels‘ phenomenal 2014 album Run The Jewels 2, remixed ‘entirely’ out of cat noises, has been in the works since a fan-funded Kickstarter showed up following the album’s release. Run The Jewels took notice, jumped on board, and announced that all profits from the limited vinyl run would be donated to charities that benefit victims of police brutality. One half of RTJ, El-P tweeted about the release, “did we make the silliest, occasionally most grating possible remix album? of course. and we did it for you, mike brown and Eric garner.”
That’s not all though. Not only have the songs been reworked to incorporate cat noises, they have also been individually remixed by the likes of Just Blaze, The Alchemist, Zola Jesus, Portishead‘s Geoff Barrow, Blood Diamonds and many more. Although hilarious, it actually sounds really quite good. From the plunging bassline in Snug Again (previously Love Again), to the opening track in Meowpurrdy (previously Jeopardy), the power of El-P’s masterful production is in full effect here.
Meow The Jewels is available now for free download here. For a limited time, you can also purchase the amazing 2XLP with faux fur hands on the cover here. In the meantime, check the tracklisting and the previously released Meowrly below.
Meow The Jewels:
01 Meowpurrdy [ft. Lil Bub, Maceo, Delonte and Snoop Dogg] (remixed by El-P)
02 Oh My Darling Don’t Meow (remixed by Just Blaze)
03 Pawfluffer Night (remixed by Zola Jesus)
04 Close Your Eyes and Meow to Fluff [ft. Zack de la Rocha] (remixed by Portishead’s Geoff Barrow)
05 All Meow Life (remixed by Nick Hook)
06 Lie, Cheat, Meow (remixed by Prince Paul)
07 Meowrly (remixed by Boots)
08 Paw Due Respect (remixed by Blood Diamonds)
09 Snug Again [ft. Gangsta Boo] (remixed by Little Shalimar)
10 Creown (remixed by the Alchemist)
11 Angelsnuggler (remixed by Dan the Automator)
12 Creown (bonus) (remixed by Massive Attack’s 3D)
Read: Everything you need to know about Meow The Jewels
As you all surely know by now, Meow The Jewels is the upcoming project from by far the greatest hip hop duo today, Run The Jewels. The project, originally started via Kickstarter, has enlisted a range of producers the remix their entire 2014 album Run The Jewels 2 – with cat noises.
It sounds insane, we know. Nobody knew exactly how it was going to shape up – will it be pure novelty, or something actually listenable? Is it just completely ridiculous, or will it be great? While the prospect of cat-rap is fairly daunting, when you look at the producers involved, it’s hard to imagine that this would be anything other than amazing. Just Blaze, Dan the Automator, Bauuer, Zola Jesus, The Alchemist and Portishead’s Geoff Barrow are just SOME of the names involved in this ridiculous project.
We’ve heard snippets, bits and pieces here and there, throughout this year. A few weeks back came our first full taste, Meowrly, a take on Early, produced by Boots (who also featured on the original track). It was really, really good and obviously left us hangin’ for way more. Since then, El-P shared the news via Twitter that the entire project is now complete, and ready for mastering.
Now, the brilliant Just Blaze has released this absolutely scorching version of Oh My Darling (Don’t Cry), aptly renamed Oh My Darling (Don’t Meow). It’s… well let’s be honest here. It’s fucking great. I’d happily listen to this just as much as the original.
The release comes along with the extremely exciting news that a release announcement will be coming out next week! Hopefully it won’t be long until we get to hear the entire feline Frankenstein that is Meow The Jewels.
You can download the track here.
Today, Run The Jewels producer/rapper El-P has posted another snippet of the forthcoming Meow The Jewels to his Instagram. For those who don’t know, Meow The Jewels is a re-produced version of RUn The Jewels 2, made entirely from cat noises.
We keep getting these little MTJ revealings, so we thought it best to give you a full rundown of the project here.
What is Meow The Jewels & why does it exist?
Meow The Jewels was originally a bit of a joke on the RTJ pre-order page, ahead of RTJ2. In the section where customers order special packages, one was ‘The Meow The Jewels Package’ for $40,000. Someone took it to Kickstarter, and the guys got behind it. It eventually raised more than $65 000, well over the $40 000 goal. While the Kickstarter money will be used to fund the album production, El-P has announced that his payment for the record will go to a charity “directly benefitting” the families of Eric Garner and Mike Brown.
Who is involved?
El-P is (obviously) at the helm of the production, but he’s called on a few friends for help. Some of the world’s best producers have been helping out, including Just Blaze, Zola Jesus, Bauuer, Dan The Automator and Geoff Barrow of Portishead. That is intense. Imagine if they were all producing a normal album together!
Here’s a handy image of all the producers involved:
What will it actually sound like?
Unfortunately, as I for one imagines certainly hoped, it’s not cats rapping. Or being auto-tuned into rap. Rather (and this obviously makes a lot more sense), it’s the other way around – the music will be replaced by cat sounds, with El-P and Killer Mike rapping above it.
Since the campaign was funded late last year, El-P has occasionally shared news and clipping of the songs through his Instagram and Twitter. There’s also endless, endless tweets from El-P explaining to fans that yes, MTJ is a real thing, and it will be coming – soon.
Here’s a rundown of what we’ve heard so far:
ANGELMEOWSTER (by Dan The Automater) #MeowTheJewels #heyyouaskedforit A video posted by thereallyrealelp (@thereallyrealelp) on
MEOWRLY snippet (produced by BOOTS) #MeowTheJewels A video posted by thereallyrealelp (@thereallyrealelp) on
There was also this video of El-P auditioning cats for the album:
And this official trailer:
When’s it coming out?
No release date has been announced yet, but we’re assuming it’ll be within the next few months. Considering the duo recently said that Run The Jewels 3 won’t be out until 2016, largely because of MTJ and their relentless touring schedule, it’s a fair assumption.
Where can I stay up to date with MTJ news?
All #MeowTheJewels news gets posted to the official Twitter page, but we definitely recommend following El-P on Instagram (@thereallyrealelp) and Twitter (@therealelp), as that’s where you’ll find all the sneak peeks.