El-P and Killer Mike of Run the Jewels perform on main Grant Park stage during late evening set of day two of Lollapalooza on Friday Aug. 4, 2017 with El-P putting up the groups signature gun symbol. Photo courtesy of Scott Witt
Packed with a punch and landing rhymes like upper cuts, Run the Jewels, which originally started as a one-off side project between veteran emcees, Killer Mike and El-P, is without a doubt the biggest now than the pairing ever was solo. This showed on Friday at the main stage in Grant Park with the very packed and always rambunctious enthusiastic crowd that came out to see the pairing at Lollapalooza.
As they came out to Queen’s always timeless classic, We Are The Champions, El-P, promised to give the packed crowd their all. That the duo did too and even more so, as they ripped through crowd favorites Talk To Me, Panther Like a Panther, Oh My Darling Don’t Cry, Blockbuster Night, Part 1 and Close Your Eyes (And Count to F^ck) with such ease to open the set. Furiously spitting rhymes with vigor breathtaking speed and skill, over thumping beats, as the crowd very enthusiastically rapped along, the pairing showed why they have easily become one of the best live acts in all of Hip-Hop and across any genre.
Going through a few of their other tracks like Stay Gold and Don’t Get Captured, before going into their more recent Legend Has It, Mike and El-P, then decided to get the fans in the crowd involved. As they invited one of the very enthusiastic fans to come rap Legend Has It with them on stage and Killer Mike doing the ultimate respect by hoisting the fan on his shoulder.
For a duo, that’s as their one track, Lie, Cheat, Steal lyrics say built on to, “lie, cheat, steal, kill, win,” they definitely didn’t have to do any of those things to get as big as they’re now. Playing to such an enthusiastically loyal and dedicated fan base that raps along to Mike and El-P’s every verse in such unison, it makes the experience that much better and surreal for not only the group, but the fans seeing how far they’ve come in just a few short years.
Playing Lollapalooza for the third time and in the prime slight right before the closing act on the main stage, there was many who probably never would’ve fathomed this. Including Killer Mike, who even said at one point as he looked out at the crowd and explained, “This is surreal! We never thought it’d get this big.” That it has though and it’s very deservingly too. Their straightforward, raw Hip-Hop, the perfect type to play live and why it has made them without a doubt one of the best live acts across all music and not just, Hip-Hop.
That Run the Jewels stands for something and is so authentic, definitely helps them too. Making it that much more deserving of the group to now be at this point and if you thought they couldn’t get any bigger, I guarantee you they still will get even more bigger. Their very killer performance, they put on at Lollapalooza in Chicago yet again showing so and that they will definitely be back in the near future. Except then it will be as headliners.