Hip-hop is a young man’s game, by and large, and not even its biggest stars are exempt. In an August interview with the New York Times, Andre 3000 of OutKast said, “I remember, at like 25, saying, ‘I don’t want to be a 40-year-old rapper.’ I’m 39 now, and I’m still standing by that. I’m such a fan that I don’t want to infiltrate it with old blood.” That’s partly why the explosive success of Run the Jewels has caught so many people by surprise—both of the duo’s members, rapper-producer Jaime “El-P” Meline and rapper Michael “Killer Mike” Render, turn 40 next year. Even the two of them didn’t expect their partnership to be so potent and fruitful.
Interviewing Run the Jewels for this week’s Artist on Artist is 33-year-old local beat maker Adrian Villagomez, aka A-Villa. A bank manager by day, in 2010 he started working on the songs that wound up on his great new debut, Carry On Tradition; Killer Mike is among the dozens of distinctive MCs who appear on it. Run the Jewels play two back-to-back shows at Metro on Saturday. —Leor Galil
Congrats on the new album—sounds amazing. What was it like to release your second project, with maybe the added anticipation?
When I got there in the studio with El, the first track we ever worked on was “Big Beast.” Fuck a sound, it was a feeling! Time I put my voice over his track, I was like, “This is who I am supposed to be making music with.” For lack of a better analogy, I felt like Snoop the day he found Dre. For a long time people had given me some very lofty comparisons to a particular favorite of mine, O’Shea Jackson, Ice Cube. And although it was warranted—by way of I had a passion, I had a great voice, I had a great subject matter—it was confirmed with the music of El-P, the music we made together. When you find your musical soul mate, it’s less of “I like this sound” and more of “This just feels like exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
Our friendship built from then on. We liked each other immediately. But it was a meeting of the minds, of creative shit, you know? I was inspired by what this dude was saying—and the fact that it was coming from the music that I had. It was just one of those serendipitous things, where you’re like, “Damn, this dude is a monster, and it would be crazy for me not to work with this dude and just see what we can do.” And it was a real added bonus—really it wasn’t even an added bonus, I would say it openly became the most important thing—that I like the guy. I thought that he was powerful and true, and I also enjoyed the way that he’s fucked-up, because I’m fucked-up too, you know? We really related on a lot of human levels. So it was pretty natural, man, and that’s why we’re still doing this four years later. We’re still running strong, and stronger than ever.
El-P: Maschine is one of the major things that’s been added to my studio over the last five years. I also have a TR-909, a TR-808. I have a Rhythm Master—I collect drum machines. I also collect synths and shit. But I use it all; I have no rules. I like coming up with a combination of things that you couldn’t predict. That’s when beautiful things happen. For me, it’s all just a tool. If I’m stranded on a desert island and you give me a fucking coconut and a fucking stick, I will make a beat for you.
Sat 11/22, 5:15 and 9 PM Metro $24, late show sold out Early show all-ages, late show 18+
