Have you ever said something you regret? Ever made a bet on something that you thought would never happen in a million years, until pigs fly and you have to pay up? You’re not alone, because El-P knows how you feel.
Run The Jewels, the collaboration between El-P and Killer Mike, have been taking over the world as one of the hottest hip hop acts going round. When it came time for them to release their highly anticipated sophomore album, Run The Jewels 2,last year, the duo put a series of pre-order specials on their website. These ranged from your basics like CDs and vinyl, to something a little more interesting – for US$40,000 they would remix the entire album using nothing but cat sounds.
Read our 2014 interview with Run The Jewels here
$40,000 is a huge amount of money, especially if you’re going to blow it all on a feline rap album. The goal seemed all but impossible, but one brave soul had an idea, opening a Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds.
In a move that reflects only the most positive aspects of humanity in 2015, everyday people around the world came together and donated to the cause. In a matter of weeks the Kickstarter had raised $65,783 (from 2,828 donors) and Meow The Jewels was ordered.
El-P announced that his cut of the Meow The Jewels money would be donated to causes that directly benefit the families of Mike Brown and Eric Garner; two black men killed at the hands of police brutality in the US. But then came the hard part: El-P had to remake his entire album with cat sounds.
The whole process took nearly a whole year, but at last the fruits of Run The Jewels’ labour have arrived. Meow!
El-P was able to enlist a few friends to help on the album, including Dan The Automator, 3D (Massive Attack), Geoff Barrow (Portishead) and Baauer. But more importantly, he was also able to secure the one and only Lil Bubto appear on the album.
And now Meow The Jewels is available online, and all of it for free. Check one of the tracks below:
Already, critics have said the album is puuuurrrrfect (groans). But in all seriousness, it takes some proper production skills to put together instrumentals made entirely of cat sounds and still make it listenable.
While Meow The Jewelsdoesn’t hold a candle to the original, it’s a fun listen. Some cat noises are really present, but many are edited and warped so they resemble drum machines and synths.
There’s a weird duality with the lyrics and the music. There’s something unsettling about Killer Mike laying down serious verses on police brutality over a chorus of cats. Plus, all those references to pussy get a aecondmeaning. It’s a pretty fun little album, all up – assuming you’re not a dog person.
Run The Jewels have confirmed that there are no plans for Bark The Jewels, but their thirdLP will be arriving soon, probably without any extravagant pre-order packages. They currently have no plans for an Australian tour, but maybe they could stop by Sydney’s Cat Cafe when they come?
did we make the silliest, occasionally most grating possible remix album? of course. and we did it for you, mike brown and Eric garner.
— el-p (@therealelp) September 26, 2015
Run The Jewels’ new album Meow The Jewels is available now (for free) ondaylightcurfew.com. Meow The Jewels is also available on vinyl, with a faux fur cover.
