So, I just discovered Run The Jewels.

I know, I know. If you're like my kids you're likely thinking, "well, you're a mid-40s guy who just doesn't know what is 'hip' anymore." To that I respond:

  1. Shut up, and;
  2. You're kind of right

The reason that I know that you're kind of right is because I used to have a proverbial finger on the pulse of music. But Run The Jewels (RTJ, as it were) has been around for quite some time now and I was just made aware on Friday of last week.

Damn. I must be slipping.

For work we use the Microsoft Office suite of products, of which Teams is a part. Ever since we have ventured into this 'remote work' space, we use the Teams app even more to stay in touch with each other. Most of it is work-related communication, but sometimes things venture into the personal or "hey have you seen this show/movie/heard this music?"

Last week I created a Teams channel that I dubbed "Entertainment Swap"; a place where folks could go during their lunch hour (or anytime that they were just taking a break) to post up ideas or suggestions. During the course of the first real dialogue in this newly created channel, a colleague mentioned a hip-hop group by the name of Run The Jewels. He explained that it included Killer Mike - with whom I was already familiar due to his appearances on early Outkast songs.

This led me down a proverbial rabbit hole of YouTube videos and Apple Music downloads, and before I knew it, I was bobbing my head and experiencing some serious regret of having just found out about the duo. I mean, check out the video for "Legend Has It" above. Or this NPR Tiny Desk Concert. Or this DJ Shadow tune that features RTJ (and that is a super creative video).

Needless to say, I'm glad that my co-worker brought RTJ to my attention. They're pretty great. Chalk up another win for working remotely!



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