Run the Jewels has always been a curious endeavor. After El-P produced R.A.P. Music and Killer Mike guested on Cancer 4 Cure, the two toured together. Then they decided to make their partnership official. The curiosity isn't in the material; both have long histories as activists and putting their beliefs front and center in their music. The more interesting thing is how RTJ has served as a vehicle for activism as much as a strictly commercial joint. The albums are often free on release (downloads, not just streaming) and in this case, RTJ has set up donation links when you download this set.

Run the Jewels RTJ4 (Jewel Runners/BMG)

And as countless reviews have already made clear, you should download this. I've heard these songs ringing out from the cars and speakers of D.C. protesters ("Walking in the Snow" seems to be a worthy favorite amongst my small sample size). In many ways, this might be the American Idiot of our day. And given the depth and scope of change that seems to be happening minute by minute, RTJ4 might be even more indelible than Green Day's singular accomplishment.

I mean that musically as much as lyrically. El-P is steeped in the collage beats that predominated after sampling became a crime in the early 90s. Sonically, this has the dirty, heavy feel of The Enemy Strikes Black in its roots, though El-P dabbles in a lot of other ideas as well. On the lyrical front, Mike is a much more impressionistic rapper than Chuck D (or KRS-One, for that matter), and El-P spews rhymes no one else would contemplate. These songs are in-your-face, but the rhymes have a lot more subtext than their surface bluntness might imply.

If you aren't familiar with RTJ, check out Killer Mike's Netflix show Trigger Warning (El-P makes a few appearances onscreen, but he is omnipresent in the background--kinda like RTJ). RTJ traffics in thought experiments, and Trigger Warning is a series of thought experiments brought to life in absurdly illuminating ways. No one can possibly agree with everything presented on the show or with everything Mike and El-P kick out with RTJ. RTJ isn't looking for consensus. It's insisting that you think before you act. And damn, there are a lot of things to think about here.

This is the rare album that kids and their parents might agree upon--depending how tolerant the parents might be on the four-letter word front, of course. Any album that throws together Pharrell Williams and Zach de la Rocha on one track and Mavis Staples and Josh Homme on another definitely has its fingers in a lot of pots. Sometimes throwing a mass of angst, frustration and anger against the wall produces a mess. In the hands of masters, however, sometimes you get a masterpiece. There's a reason Mike and Jaime dropped this sucker early. This is the album of the moment, and it just might be the album of the year. Call me after you catch your breath.

Jon Worley