RTJ4

The album was first announced on October 11, 2018, with the release of the non-album single "Let's Go (The Royal We)", which was featured in the 2018 superhero film Venom and debuted on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show.[3]

The original album release date was June 5, 2020. Due to the ongoing protests against police brutality sparked by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, the duo decided to release it two days early.[4] The accompanying note read:

Fuck it, why wait. The world is infested with bullshit so here's something raw to listen to while you deal with it all. We hope it brings you some joy. Stay safe and hopeful out there and thank you for giving 2 friends the chance to be heard and do what they love. With sincere love and gratitude, Jaime + Mike.[4]

The album's first single, "Yankee and the Brave (Ep. 4)", was released on March 22, 2020.[5] The album's second single, "Ooh La La" featuring Greg Nice and DJ Premier, was released on March 25, three days later.[6] The music video for "Ooh La La" was released on April 27, 2020.[7] "Just" featuring Pharrell Williams and Zack de la Rocha, was sent to alternative radio as the third single on June 14, 2020.[8]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Album of the Year	91/100[9]
AnyDecentMusic?	8.8/10[10]
Metacritic	91/100[11]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
Clash	9/10[13]
Consequence of Sound	A–[14]
Exclaim!	9/10[15]
The Independent	[16]
The Line of Best Fit	10/10[2]
NME	[1]
Pitchfork	8.3/10[17]
Rolling Stone	[18]
Slant Magazine	[19]

RTJ4 was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 91, based on 24 reviews.[11] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.8 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[10] Album of the Year assessed the critical consensus as 91 out of 100, based on 28 reviews.[9]

Will Lavin of NME praised the album, stating, "Easily Mike and El-P's best work to date, RTJ4 is protest music for a new generation; they're armed in the uprising with a torrent of spirited rallying calls."[1] Reviewing the album for Rolling Stone, Jon Dolan stated, "RTJ4, which the band rush-released a few days ahead of schedule, is laser-focused. [...] Mike unloads on racist cops, systemic poverty, corporate media, and other eternal enemies. But the album never feels preachy, because the music bounces as much as it brays, with an elastic flow and deep history."[18] Jack Bray of The Line of Best Fit wrote, "RTJ4 is Killer Mike & El-P's masterstroke. This is musical evolution for moral, social and political revolution, the group now creating anthems in the pursuit of tolerance, respect and unity."[2] Channing Freeman from Sputnikmusic also enjoyed the album, saying, "As is typical on Run the Jewels albums, every feature is perfectly placed, but the inclusion of Mavis Staples and Josh Homme may be El-P's finest production moment yet. Homme's ghostly wailing and questing guitar provide a backdrop for Staples to sing an image that perfectly distills not only RTJ's oeuvre but the bloody centuries of America's history."[20] For Pitchfork, Sheldon Pearce wrote that "RTJ4 centers protest music less explicitly than RTJ3 did, but the moments when the album is most pronouncedly in active revolt are still when it feels most essential".[17]

Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic gave a positive review, stating, "RTJ4 distills the anger and frustration of the people through Run the Jewels' hard-hitting, no-nonsense revolution anthems. Trim with no filler, this fourth set from the outspoken duo provides relevant history lessons that are more useful than a classroom textbook."[12] Exclaim! critic Kyle Mullin said of El-P, "The New York rapper-producer's greatest contribution to RTJ4 is his vivid and varied sonic backdrops. His on-point production offers the lyrically superior Killer Mike both space and sonic support as he rises to new heights of artistry and activism, making El-P the kind of ally worth emulating."[15] Mike Mullin of Clash said, "RTJ4 is a must listen. It is diverse enough to appeal to even the hardest crowds. Many genres are represented here, but lyrical hip-hop is at the forefront of all that Run the Jewels is. They stand out from the crowd, whilst invoking the people to stand up for themselves. There is not a bad song on the entire album and the production and features are second to none."[13] Veteran critic Robert Christgau gave the album an A-plus.[21]

RTJ4 debuted at number 10 on the US Billboard 200 with 38,000 album-equivalent units (including 30,000 pure album sales) from just two days of tracking, marking the duo's first top 10 album on the chart.[30]

All tracks are produced by El-P, and co-produced by Little Shalimar and Wilder Zoby, except where noted.[31]

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer
• All track titles are stylized in all lowercase, except for "Just", which is stylized as "JU$T"; and "Goonies vs. E.T.", which is stylized as "goonies vs. E.T."
• "A Few Words for the Firing Squad (Radiation)" includes the hidden track "Theme Music", listed in the album's credits as a separate track with identical credits.

Samples

• ^{^[c]} "Ooh La La" contains elements and a sample of "DWYCK", written by Keith Elam, Christopher E Martin, Greg Mays, and Darryl Otis Barnes, and performed by Gang Starr featuring Nice & Smooth.
• ^{^[d]} "Out of Sight" contains elements and a sample of "Misdemeanor", written by Leon Sylvers III and performed by Foster Sylvers.
• ^{^[e]} "The Ground Below" contains elements of "Ether", written by David Geoffrey Allen, Hugo Burnham, Andrew Gill, and Jonathan King, as performed by Gang of Four.

Credits are adapted from the album's digital booklet.[31]

Run the Jewels

• El-P – performance (all tracks), additional string arrangements (11)
• Killer Mike – performance (all tracks)

Additional musicians

Engineers

Artwork