Understanding the RTJ perspective of the role of the musician
Entertainment weekly has a nice interview of El-P and Killer Mike from Run the Jewels. It’s interesting to see how they identify their role in the world in a fairly realistic way, as sort of providing a soundtrack and inspiration for you to do you, despite opposition.
Run the Jewels, our role is this: We can provide some music and some swagger in the face of doom and in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. No one can tell you what the f— you’re gonna do with your life. No one can stop you from taking what’s yours. I’m not talking about material s—, I’m talking about your soul, I’m talking about your joy, I’m talking about your life. Motherf—ers are mistaken if they think they’re gonna crush anyone’s spirit. That’s really what Run the Jewels is about.
– El-P
At first blush, it sounds like a softer attitude than what comes across in their music. It’s just personal empowerment. In contrast, in Thieves! (Screamed the Ghost) for example, the duo describes the souls of the dead justly rioting against the status quo:
Now we’re surrounded by the souls of the dead and defiant
Saying “Look what you’ve done, you designed it”
When the bough breaks, hear the wraith scream, “Riot!”No more moms and dads crying
No more arms in the air
We put firearms in the air
Molotov cocktails thrown in the airCan’t keep killin’ God’s children, mane
A pound of flesh is what you owe
Your debt is due, give up your ghost
and ends with an insightful sample of Martin Luther King, Jr:
I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard.
On reflection, I think that the stronger, more violent language (“We put firearms in the air // Molotov cocktails thrown in the air”) of the lyrics along with their sense of community is what provides strength to their message of personal empowerment. They face the unjustness of our system, optimistically imagine how it brings itself to ruin (“Look what you’ve done, you designed it”), and bring their rage as energy for the listener. It transcends generic feel-goodness by acknowledging the real obstacles people face and advocating for change anyway. “Swagger in the face of doom,” as El-P writes.
Moreover, I think the interview reveals a mature perspective: neither El-P nor Killer Mike wants or expects their listeners to die in the streets to police gunfire. They use their art to describe the world they see, and make music to empower the listener.
Killer Mike’s stirringly describes his point of view on a panel at the All Black National Convention:
He is not opposed to revolution, but he is realistic, and he wants us to take effective action, not to gesture and promote propaganda.