Run The Jewels Put on an Electric Performance for NYC Fans at Terminal 5

Run The Jewels wrapped up their 36-date “Run The World Tour” with four sold out engagements at New York City’s Terminal 5, closing out the final show on Wednesday night. Even after more than a month on the road, Killer Mike and El-P are still ecstatic to be playing together. The two accomplished M.C.’s are magnetic on stage, showering each other with praise and a healthy dose of good-natured ribbing.

The two veteran rappers are fronting one of the hardest mainstream hip-hop acts out right now, rapping powerful statements. “We remain hostile until it’s over, give these politicians hell every step of the way,” said Killer Mike in the middle of the show. Even through the hard-edged lyrics and driving beats that land somewhere around a mix of N.W.A. and The Beastie Boys, Killer Mike and EL-P can’t help but smile at each other.

Before RTJ took the stage, Gaslamp Killer warmed up the crowd with his unique DJ style. The Los Angeles native gave the New York fans a solid round of EDM remixes and worldly beats including a three-piece Pakistani band’s cover of a J-Dilla tune. Gaslamp Killer even dove into Nerdcore land, with a handful of eight-bit remixes of tracks including T.I.’s “What You Know About That,” and Nas’s “Oochie Wallie,” and a rendition of the “Imperial March” from Star Wars.

The Los Angeles-based DJ also used his time on stage to make a few political statements during his set.

“We are a nation of immigrants,” said Gaslamp Killer as he played the Pakistani J-Dilla cover, informing the crowd that his grandmother was from Syria. “It’s a good thing Mexico City let her in because America sure wouldn’t have.”

Toward the end of the set the wild and wooly DJ made a somber announcement informing the crowd that March 1 was the seven-year anniversary of the passing of his older brother, Jacob. That didn’t rob the set of any electricity or bring the energy levels down one iota. Gaslamp Killer’s set was every bit as ferocious as his beard and he did a spectacular job of getting the crowd warmed up for what has to be one of the most energetic hip-hop shows touring right now.

RTJ burst on to the stage arms raised high to the Queen classic, “We are the Champions,” a much deserved entrance considering they had just completed selling out EL-P’s hometown for the fourth night straight.  However, they only basked in their accomplishment for a short while before they boomed into their first track, “Talk To Me.”

El-P bounced around the stage like a whirling dervish while Killer Mike smiled broadly and didn’t even attempt to mask the obvious joy he took from performing with his running buddy of the past four years. Next up was “Legend Has It,” before “Call Ticketron,” and “Blockbuster Night Part 1.” RTJ’s beats and bars are as hard, if not harder than anyone else’s in hip-hop today, but that is in stark contrast to their almost entirely positive and jovial banter.

Within the first three songs of the set EL-P had to admit he was feeling overwhelmed by the outpouring of love which his hometown had showed him over the past four nights. He went as far as to say if the crowd (and Killer Mike) kept it up, he was going to “cry like a little child.”

They followed this up with “Oh My Darling Don’t Cry,” a cover of DJ Shadow’s “Nobody Speak,” “Hey Kids,” “Stay Gold,” and “Don’t Get Captured” with precision and tenacity. The group was clearly serving notice to the crowd that they intended to close their tour out powerfully.

The duo, no doubt, expressed their message of radical politics and acceptance, but coming through, even more clearly, was their genuine love of hip-hop in general and of performing together. A lot of people who have been in the game as long as EL-P and Killer Mike and are still out there on stage can often come off as joyless, performing for a paycheck. These two have managed to maintain a high level of authentic excitement for their art.

The next set included fan favorites “Everybody Stay Calm,” and “Lie,Cheat,Steal.” They closed the set with “Run The Jewels,” as the dynamic duo showed absolutely no signs of fatigue going into the homestretch and encore. To open the encore RTJ invited all of the night’s openers and others onto the stage to sing “Happy Birthday” to the EL-P, before an explosion happened and they brought on the real surprise of the night.

RTJ made it ever so obvious that they wanted to make their last night on tour in EL-P’s hometown a special one when they welcomed legendary Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack De La Rocha on stage with them to perform “Close Your Eyes.” The energy in the room was high all night, but when De La Rocha unexpectedly took the stage Terminal 5’s two-tiered balcony nearly collapsed due to the seismic event that was the sold-out crowd going absolutely wild.

RTJ closed out the night with “Down” and welcomed another special guest, Joi. Run The Jewels’ engineer and hip-hop producer Nick Hook opened the night along with Cuz Lightyear and Gangsta Boo.

Run The Jewels performed with opener Gaslamp Killer at NYC’s Terminal 5 Feb. 25-27 and March 1.