Run the Jewels to Start Work on Third Album in January, Collaborate Again with Zack de la Rocha

One of the most welcome surprises on Run the Jewels 2 was the guest appearance of former Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha on the track "Close Your Eyes (And Count to F--k)," but according to RTJ producer El-P, that was not the first time he and de la Rocha had collaborated, and it apparently will not be the last, either. During an in-store event at Rough Trade East in London, according to NME, El-P revealed that he and de la Rocha worked on music together as far back as 1999 and have plans in the near future to continue that work.

"In 1999 I spent a month in my apartment in Brooklyn with Zack de la Rocha just before he split Rage Against the Machine, working on music that will never see the light of day," El-P said. "I can't speak about his future but I will say that I'm going to L.A. to spend another month with him in January."

Though it was widely assumed that the break-up of Rage Against the Machine in 2000 would signal the start of de la Rocha's solo career in hip-hop, he has yet to release a solo album, or a full-length album of any sort since Rage Against the Machine's final LP Renegades.

Later on during the Rough Trade Q&A, El-P's collaborator Killer Mike was asked when the next Run the Jewels album would be released, to which he replied, "Run the Jewels 3. We start work in January."

Since El-P plans on working with de la Rocha in January as well, it is not clear if these are two separate projects, or if de la Rocha will be partcipating in the next Run the Jewels album. Either way, this is exciting news.

You can check out Run the Jewels's "Close Your Eyes (And Count to F--k)" featuring Zack de la Rocha here:

Tags

Run The Jewels, Killer Mike, El-P, Zack de la Rocha, Rage Against The MAchine