Run The Jewels Announce Global Graffiti Project, Rough Trade NYC In-Store
Run The Jewels is nothing if not an example of how old-school foundational hip-hop can adapt for the future without compromising its essence. So it makes sense that in addition to the duo’s MC-and-DJ-based musical onslaught, they’ve commissioned a worldwide graffiti project called Tag The Jewels. More than 30 artists across six continents were invited to “remix” RTJ’s gun and fist logo, and their work is now visible in cities including Los Angeles, Jakarta, Chicago, Paris, Sao Paolo, Lagos, Aukland, Warsaw, and New Delhi. A press release notes that the FatCap Agency coordinated the effort.
OK, so that’s three out of the four elements of hip-hop; presumably some sort of officially sanctioned RTJ breakdancing exhibition will be up next. Scroll through a gallery of several examples above, and check out more artwork at the official Tumblr.
RTJ also announced that this Wednesday 10/29 at 6:30 p.m. they’ll appear at Rough Trade NYC for an RTJ2 listening session, a meet-and-greet, poster giveaways, and more. Mass Appeal’s Sacha Jenkins will host a live Q&A with Killer Mike and El-P at the event. The first 20 fans through the door get tickets to a screening of The Warriors in a 92-seat movie theater later that night.
They’ll cap off their big week in New York with a Letterman appearance on Halloween. According to this tweet from El-P, they’ll be joined by Boots to perform the politically charged RTJ2 track “Early,” so it promises to be extremely powerful.
ON HALLOWEEN RUN THE JEWELS WILL BE PERFORMING "EARLY" WITH @bootsonboots ON DAVID LETTERMAN. I TALK THIS LOUDLY ALWAYS.
— el-p (@therealelp) October 27, 2014
Run The Jewels 2 is out now on Mass Appeal. Download it for free here and read our Run The Jewels cover story here.