I fell in love with El-P and Killer Mike because of Run the Jewels, which is far and away my most beloved hip hop group. RTJ and RTJ2 are just both SO GOOD. Because of this, I wanted to go back and see each of these artists prior to their collaboration. I found out that they had met each other while doing El-P's Cancer 4 Cure album (and also because El-P produced Killer Mike's R.A.P. Music, which I also own). So of course I went and got it.

This is a pretty dark album. Apparently El-P described it as "fight music abstracted"... and it certainly does have a sort of slow burning anger surrounding it, like there is a mob just on the outside of the soundstage ready to burst in. It was also apparently recorded as an homage to a friend of his who died of cancer a few years prior to the recording. In any case, whatever sad muse it might be, this album is pretty awesome, and a solid precursor to Run the Jewels. In fact, many of the songs have proto-beats found on RTJ and RTJ2.

3.5/5 - Very good hip hop album. Nowhere near RTJ or RTJ2, but still a solid listen from front to back.