As you learned in our Thursday review of Run The Jewels' new album, we're pretty big fans of it over here at HNHH, so wwe were excited to see El-P and Killer Mike take the stage on Letterman last night to perform an album cut. What's interesting, and very cool, is that they chose "Early," possibly the most political track on the album, to be RTJ 2's debut on late night TV.
Assisted by BOOTS and a ghoulish choir, Mike and El run through the song's powerful lyrics about police violence. As Mike's dad was a cop, this song's especially powerful in his hands, both of which are raised (in a addition to his hood) during the chorus. The symbolism here adds a whole other layer to the already-devastating track, making for a very intense TV performance.