• Killer Mike Pens Op-Ed for Martin Luther King Jr., Encouraging People to Be 'Revolutionaries' Like the Civil Rights Leader

    Musicians and celebrities are often in a unique position to share their personal views on politics, race, sexual orientation and any other social issues of their time period. The ones who resonate with the public, though, are the artists who share their ideals within and outside their craft. Killer Mike of Run the Jewels has been on a mission as of late, penning opinion pieces for publications about his feelings toward race relations following the unfortunate deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in Staten Island. His post yesterday on Martin Luther King Jr. Day might have been his finest.

  • Marvel Comics News: Run The Jewels Lend Artistic Influence to Upcoming Issues of 'Howard The Duck' and 'Deadpool'

    Run The Jewels is far from the best-selling hip hop act from the last two years. Despite that fact, they're potentially the most culturally relevant at the moment, thanks not only to the critical acclaim that's been brought down upon its self-titled debut from 2013 and Run The Jewels 2 last year, but also the group's recognizable logo: A pair of amputated hands, one holding a chain and the other making a gun. That sort of recognizability has gotten them an honor that many an emcee can't claim: a Marvel comic book cover.

  • "The Elvis Influence" Application from Spotify Tracks Any Musician Back to Elvis Presley, Regardless of Genre

    Yesterday would have been Elvis Presley's 80th birthday and we just can't get enough of the awesome coverage that folks on the internet have come up with to mark the occasion. Spotify's Insights blog once again uses data gathered by its Echo Nest, this time to create "The Elvis Influence," an application that traces any performer you enter all the way back to Elvis by way of influence. Some performers obviously have longer trails back to The King than others so often, unlike Kevin Bacon, you need more than six steps to get back.

  • Kickstarter Funds More Music Projects Than Any Other Category during 2014; Neil Young and 'Meow The Jewels' Big Earners

    Kickstarter and crowd funding in general had their biggest year ever during 2014 and no subject matter was more popular on crowdfunding's most popular platform than music. More than 4,000 project were successfully backed on the site, more than any other category, including film & video, art and publishing. More than 18 percent of all Kickstarter campaigns finder during 2014 were tied to music.

  • Run the Jewels Song Plays in ESPN Commercial for NFL Playoff Game [WATCH]

    Run the Jewels received more national attention this weekend when ESPN aired a promo for yesterday, Jan. 3's NFL playoff game between the Carolina Panthers and the Arizona Cardinals. The commercial features players from both teams getting psyched for the game while the band's lead single from their self-titled debut plays, "Deadspin" notes.Killer Mike and El-P had a big year in 2014. The duo dropped its second studio album, "Run the Jewels 2," in October. It hit No. 50 on the "Billboard 200" behind singles like "Blockbuster Pt. 1," "Oh My Darling (Don't Cry)" and "Close Your Eyes (And Count to F--k)." The effort topped year-end lists by tons of media outlets."On their second album as Run the Jewels, noise-loving Brooklyn rapper-producer El-P and Atlanta's Killer Mike make the most explosive hip-hop you'll hear all year. The best tracks give criminal-minded menace a radical edge: 'Close Your Eyes (And Count to F--k)' is a prison-riot fantasy, and on the blazing 'All Due Respect,' Mike hints at the roots of his messed-up ways," "Rolling Stone" wrote, giving the album four out of five stars.

  • Joey Bada$$ Shares New Track "On & On" Featuring Maverick Sabre And Dyemond Lewis [LISTEN]

    Brooklyn rapper Joey Bada$$ has shared a new single from his upcoming debut album B4.DA.$$, titled "On and On," which you can check out below. In true Joey Bada$$ fashion, "On and On" is yet another excellent '90s east coast throwback, with some crackling, jazzy production courtesy of Freddie Joachim. British singer-songwriter Maverick Sabre contributes the soulful hook, while Joey's fellow Pro Era rapper Dyemond Lewis drops a verse.

  • Music Times 25 Best Songs of 2014: Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Hozier, St. Vincent & More

    2014 was the year of a thousand controversies: Taylor Swift pulled all of her music from Spotify, Sun Kil Moon started a feud with The War On Drugs, Jack White accused The Black Keys of ripping him off (again), and almost nobody went platinum. When you put all of that aside, however, what you're left with is a bunch of incredible songs, which is really what it's all about. Here are the 25 best songs from 2014, as determined by Music Times writers Ryan Book, Caitlin Carter, Joey DeGroot, Kyle Dowling, and Carolyn Menyes.

  • Pitchfork Name Top 50 Albums of 2014: Aphex Twin, FKA Twigs and The War on Drugs Place, But Who Takes No. 1?

    A few days ago we relayed to you the Top 10 tracks of the year as decided by Pitchfork, a publication that's long had a finger on more genres than its competition. Now we've got their list of the best 50 albums of the year, and you can check out the Top 10 listed below. If you'd like to see the full 50, follow this link. A word of warning: Don't be surprised to see a lot of repeat performers between the song and album list.

  • 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."
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