Run The Jewels Run CBUS: Or How I Regret Not Buying Tickets

Run The Jewels Run CBUS: Or How I Regret Not Buying Tickets

by Xavier Veccia

There are very few things that cause more regret than seeing that show you’ve spent the past few weeks mentally preparing for has sold out. Imagine being single at your high school reunion and finding out your crush, the name scribbled into all of your notebooks, had said you totally had a chance with her in tenth grade. But you were too busy just thinking about asking her out while stealing booze from your dad’s liquor cabinet to muster up the courage to actually go through with it.

I guess I should’ve known better. Of course Run the Jewels, on the heels of their third self-titled album, would sell out Express Live. In just a handful of years as a superduo, Killer Mike and El-P have transitioned from masters of the underground into full-fledged icons — their latest, Run the Jewels 3, is their most monumental album yet. They can do almost no wrong, whether that’s trading bars, feeding off of each other’s energy or leading grassroot political movements.

However, even though RTJ are superstars in my mind, I’m well aware they’re not topping many charts or playing on many radio stations, meaning even with sold-out shows lined up across the nation, they’re not all that popular outside of their growing fanbase. Their brand of no-fucks-given, Public-Enemy-meets-galactic-arena rap isn’t the most accessible, after all.

Killer Mike and El-P, hailing from Atlanta and Brooklyn respectively, are colorful, animated characters who can pack one hell of a punch akin to professional wrestlers. They’re like HHH and Shawn Michaels, if you will. On their own, they’re two of the most dangerous in their sport. But together, they are Degeneration-X, a brash tag team capable of not just upsetting, but banging the fuck out of the status quo. And with Donald Trump’s presidency imminent, RTJ may have found their Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

See, this is why I’m upset at myself for not pulling the trigger on those tickets sooner. Sure, there will probably be chances to see Mike and El again. But when they take the stage at Express Live on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, mere days before Trump’s inauguration, their lyrics will become vehement vehicles for hundreds of pissed off activists.

I want to mosh to “Jeopardy,” chant to “Legend Has It” and start a revolution to “2100.” I want to get punched in the face and hug my assailant. I want to become part of an insane, individualistic hivemind hellbent on changing the world one concert at a time.

So if you’re selling your tickets, hit me up.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY