Celebrated American rap duo Run the Jewels (aka Brooklyn’s EL-P & Atlanta’s Killer Mike) are proud to announce the release of RTJ CU4TRO, dropping November 11th via Jewel Runners / BMG. Inspired by recent remixes from Mexican Institute of Sound (“Ooh La La”) and Toy Selectah (“JU$T), they have reimagined their entire 2020 hit album, RTJ4, through the prism of collaboration with a lineup of amazing LATAM based artists, rappers, producers, singers, musicians, visual artists, & more. To make it happen the group enlisted longtime ally Nick Hook (RTJ, 21 Savage, Young Thug, Fool’s Gold), to help curate & co-executive produce the album, and his deep relationships across LATAM were invaluable in bringing the project to fruition.
From Bomba Estéreo & Akapellah, to Brasil’s Baco Exu Do Blues & Sepultura co-founder Iggor Cavalera, to Sarah La Morena & Zack de la Rocha, to Mexican Institute of Sound & Santa Fe Klan, who combined on the first release “Ooh La La” (featured in the trailer for Pixar’s Puss n’ Boots) & many more, RTJ CU4TRO is an album authentically unique, engaging, diverse, & rewarding.
“We are honored and delighted to have had the opportunity to work with the amazing producers, vocalists, musicians, and artists who made this album happen,” states EL-P. “we set out to make a remix album, but we consider the end result of RTJ CU4TRO to be more than that. it’s a reimagining of RTJ4 through the lens of collaboration and a fusing of numerous musical cultures and influences… a rare chance for us to connect, create and be inspired by people who we may never have had the chance to get down with if we weren’t lucky enough to be in a position to put it all together. we thank them for all their generosity, energy, and creativity. this is a piece of music filled with love, respect and craft and everyone truly gave it their all, genuinely humbling us in the process.”
Today, October 21st, Run The Jewels release the lead single from the ambitious project, “Caminando en la Nieve” (Orestes Gomez & Nick Hook’s version) featuring Akapellah, Apache, & Pawmps. Using the original “Walking in the Snow”s music and verses as the jump off, the track maintains the searing insight from Mike and El and musical thump of the original, adding a visceral new layer of lyricism and perspective from Venezualian rappers Akapellah and Apache, Mexican rapper Pawmps (doing her interpretation of the now famous Gangsta Boo hook), and musical reinterpretation from Orestes Gomez and Nick Hook.
The support & enthusiasm of CU4TRO’s collaborators for the project underscores the special quality of the album plus the effort put into creating it. Rapper Akapellah, who was recently nominated for a Latin Grammy says “It’s a pleasure for me to be part of such an amazing body of work. CU4TRO will lead to a huge change in the way we connect. We made great music from the bottom of our hearts for the world, and by combining different sounds & views, we hope it will eventually lead to a revolution & revelation within all of our cultures.”
In addition to the album’s release on November 11th, Run the Jewels will be performing at Mexico’s largest music festival, Corona Capital, on November 18th, and will be releasing their 3rd craft beer with Mexico’s Cerveza Minerva. An India Pale Ale also dubbed CU4TRO, the beer is infused with mezcal via RTJ’s partnership with Mexican craft distillery El Tinieblo. There will also be limited edition versions of the CU4TRO craft beer brewed for the release, which will be available via RTJ’s own beverage delivery service BaRTJ.club and the soon-to-be-launched BaRTJ UK, as well as in Mexico via Cerveza Minerva. In addition, RTJ will be releasing a gourmet CU4TRO coffee with Chicago’s Mexican-American brewer Dark Matter, also available via BaRTJ.club & select retailers.
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