Run the Jewels’ masterful, furious new album, RTJ4, instantly became one of the most acclaimed releases of the year, and its themes couldn’t be more timely. The new episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast features Jamil Smith’s revealing, wide-ranging conversation with the duo’s Killer Mike about everything from confronting the racism of American policing as the son of a cop to the spirituality embedded in Run the Jewels’ music to the nature of Killer Mike and El-P’s partnership to his fervent support for Bernie Sanders. “I’m happy that this time, we landed right on time so our music can be the soundtrack to progress,” Killer Mike says.
To hear the full interview, press play below, or download and subscribe on iTunes or Spotify.
Download and subscribe to our weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on iTunes or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts), and check out two years’ worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth, career-spanning interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Halsey, Ice Cube, Neil Young, the National, Questlove, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, Donald Fagen, Phil Collins, Alicia Keys, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, Gary Clark Jr., and many more — plus dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone’s critics and reporters. Tune in every Friday at 1 p.m. ET to hear Rolling Stone Music Now broadcast live from SiriusXM’s studios on Volume, channel 106.