Run the Jewels

Kitty Empire's best music of 2020

Our critic’s picks, from righteous old-school hip-hop via euphoric retro pop to classic American songwriting

Kitty Empire

27, Dec, 2020 @8:00 AM

The 50 best albums of 2020: the full list

Our countdown is complete, topped by a mercurial work of sprawling invention by a woman who has dug deep to survive. Taken as a whole, these choices contain drama, solace, poetry and fire, a fitting selection for a turbulent year

Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Laura Snapes

18, Dec, 2020 @8:07 AM

On my radar: Jia Tolentino's cultural highlights

The New Yorker writer and essayist on bittersweet TV, the ‘album of the revolution’ and her favourite gathering place in Brooklyn

Kadish Morris

25, Jul, 2020 @2:00 PM

Run the Jewels: ‘I want the oppressors to know they haven’t created complete hopelessness’

After Killer Mike’s impassioned speech about the death of George Floyd went viral, he and his partner El-P explain why a mix of serious politics and surreal goofiness makes their music perfect for our times

Alexis Petridis

02, Jun, 2020 @6:23 PM

Billie Eilish, Jay-Z and more voice solidarity with George Floyd protesters

Rappers Travis Scott and Gunna join pop singers including Halsey and Ariana Grande in condemning police brutality

Ben Beaumont-Thomas

01, Jun, 2020 @9:50 AM

Coachella 2020 announced with headliners Rage Against the Machine, Travis Scott and Frank Ocean

Lana Del Rey, Calvin Harris and 21 Savage to also appear at California event that kicks off festival season

Ben Beaumont-Thomas

03, Jan, 2020 @10:06 AM

How Killer Mike reinvented Thomas More for the 21st century

The rapper’s utopian attempt to secede from the US, as documented in his Netflix show Trigger Warning, is more than just clever TV

Henry Barnes

12, Jul, 2019 @9:00 AM

Trigger Warning With Killer Mike: finally, a satirist for our times

From selling ‘Crips and Bloods cola’ to using porn to teach carpentry, the Run the Jewels rapper’s activist-comedy stunts are unlike anything else on TV right now

Jack Seale

08, Feb, 2019 @1:00 PM

Run the Jewels's Killer Mike apologises for NRA interview

The rapper had also disparaged school walkouts against gun violence. In a series of tweets, he said his interview was ‘used in the wrong way’

Laura Snapes

26, Mar, 2018 @10:11 AM

Record Store Day 2018: the exclusive releases in full

From Abba to Zero 7, the 500 singles, EPs, LPs and cassettes released for the annual celebration of independent record shops

Guardian music

07, Mar, 2018 @2:57 PM

Miley, Morrissey and Marnie the opera: the essential pop, classical and jazz for autumn 2017

Liam goes for broke, St Vincent bounces back, Nico Muhly gets Hitchcockian, Taylor Swift defends her reputation, and Peggy Seeger pens her memoirs

Alexis Petridis, Andrew Clements, John Fordham and Robin Denselow

13, Sep, 2017 @5:00 AM

Jeremy Corbyn calls for unity in Glastonbury speech

Labour leader urges Donald Trump to build ‘bridges not walls’ while addressing huge Pyramid Stage crowd, while telling the Guardian it was his campaign’s spirit of hope that chimed with young voters

Nadia Khomami and Hannah Ellis-Petersen

24, Jun, 2017 @4:49 PM