On the turntable this Sunday...Run the Jewels 2

Run the Jewels 2 is the second studio album by American hip hop duo Killer Mike and El-P, collectively known as Run the Jewels. The album was released early for free on October 24, 2014 and the following day on iTunes. It was made available on CD and LP through Mass Appeal Records on October 28, 2014, although some retailers sold physical copies early. It has been praised by music critics for its layered and darker production, the chemistry between El-P and Killer Mike, and guest contributions. 

On September 2, 2014, Run the Jewels released a song titled "Blockbuster Night, Pt. 1", as the album's first single. On September 15, 2014, Run the Jewels released "Oh My Darling Don't Cry", the second offering from the album. "Oh My Darling Don't Cry", was later released on September 30, 2014, via digital distribution, as the album's second single.

In 2015, a remix album is scheduled to be released through Fool's Gold. In addition to the traditional remix album, El-P plans on releasing a remix album titled Meow the Jewels, featuring beats created entirely from cat sounds. Other producers, such as Just Blaze, Prince Paul, The Alchemist, Geoff Barrow, Dan the Automator, Boots and more will contribute to the project. The creation of this album was funded through Kickstarter, with part of the proceeds going to charity.

Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times stated, "Run the Jewels is the team of two indie titans, El-P and Killer Mike, who have upended convention by remaining idealistically true, artistically adventurous and creatively emboldened well into their second decade as rapper-producers. The pair's second album, released as a free download last week, proves it 11 times over." Al Horner of NME said, "Cranking the urgency and confrontation of last year's self-titled debut to neck-breaking levels of intensity, RTJ2 is an urgent, paranoid album for a violent, panicked time. It's a bleak future Run The Jewels envision for America, but as long as Mike and El-P are collaborating, at least the future of hip-hop is in safe hands."^[16] Rolling Stone named RTJ2 the "Best Rap Album of 2014", noting that "the appeal is still in their giddy disses, labyrinthine boasts, alliteration, bravado, alpha male antics — basically the stuff that Killer Mike and El-P enjoyed about rap in 1989."  Run the Jewels 2 received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 89, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 35 reviews. Pat Levy of Consequence of Sound said, "An album like RTJ2 is rare. Decades from now, this album may just be revered as one of the best hip-hop records of our era, the total synchronicity of two talented artists reaching the apex of their prime." James Rainis of Slant Magazine stated, "RTJ2 is the rare sequel that bests the beloved original in almost every facet."  Dan Rys of XXL said, "For people looking for soulful, melodic hip-hop, this is not the album to pick up. Neither is it one for the kids who just want to repeat two words over and over again and call it a hook while jumping up and down and punching the air repeatedly. When listening to RTJ 2, those feelings are translated into punches aimed at faces instead of spaces, and they always connect. The beats are grimy—typical of an El-P-produced project—and add even more grit to an album that doesn't ooze confidence so much as shoves you in the chest with it."