On Wednesday, October 29, the hip hop duo of El-P and Killer Mike known as Run The Jewels, celebrated the release of their newest record, RTJ2, with two special events in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. From 6:30PM-7:30PM, they took over the Rough Trade NYC record store. An hour and a half later, they held an intimate event at Nitehawk Cinema which featured a Q&A session with journalist Sacha Jenkins and a free movie screening, presented by their record label, Mass Appeal. Attendees saw outtakes from the making of their video for “Blockbuster Night Part I,” learned that Mike’s wife and El-P’s girlfriend gave important feedback (such as the parenthetical title and suggesting a female rapper to appear on the song respectively) for “Love Again (Akinyele Back),” and the idea for Meow The Jewels was a result of El being stoned, and more. There was a screening of the 1979 film, The Warriors, followed by a surprise appearance by Nas who premiered a new song called “The Season,” which was produced by the late J. Dilla. Mass Appeal treated everyone to free popcorn, a free 7″ from Run The Jewels and a round of beer.
