“I’m the foulest, no need for any evaluations,” El-P warns on “Blockbuster Night, Pt. 1,” from Run the Jewels’ second full-length album, simply titled Run the Jewels 2. “This Run the Jewels is murder, mayhem, melodic music,” partner Killer Mike adds for emphasis. The hip-hop duo’s messages are anything but escapist and cheery as they paint a bleak picture of modern America filled with drugs, violence and corrupt police. “Tiptoe on the track like a ballerina/Ski mask in a Pontiac Catalina,” Killer Mike declares on the hardly romantic “Oh My Darling (Don’t Cry),” setting up his own private crime scene: “You can run the jewels or lose your fingers.” The music El-P cranks out is as sinister as the lyrics, a rat-a-tat combination of militant drum beats, eerie echoes, disembodied voices and surging, distorted riffs.

Wed., Jan. 14, 7:30 p.m., 2015
(Expired: 01/14/15)

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