Most rappers don’t keep secret their enjoyment of marijuana and Run the Jewels’ duo Killer Mike and El-P are square in that camp. If you followed either of their solo careers or just fans of RTJ, their raps are full of weed references. And Killer Mike isn’t one to miss a 4:20 celebration.
But whereas cannabis produces a drowsy flow in other artists, Run the Jewels make music that’s, well, pure rage. Aggression, fighting-the-system raps. Weed affects all of us differently, we guess.
For the production of their most recent project RTJ3, the duo absconded to upstate New York create their album in peace. As El-P said in a recent DIY Magazine profile of the group, ““a place where we can forever escape and have a Run the Jewels world.”
As Killer Mike told the magazine, “After I figure out how to get marijuana, and accept there are no strip clubs, man, I get really focused on the work. […] In the woods it allows you to focus what you’re thinking. And the weed supply up there is great, now, thankfully.”
So it begs to reason: Just how much marijuana does the pair consume during their creative endeavors? Thankfully, we have the answer.
Run The Jewels have no qualms with admitting to their recreational habits, but can they roughly estimate how much weed was consumed during the making of ‘RTJ3’?
Killer Mike: Yes. You can do it like this. We average ’bout a quarter pound a week to ten days. So, that’s on average about a pound a month. I’d say—give or take a pound—and we’re looking at a year here, I’d say honestly no less than six pounds to record an album.
In case you didn’t just read that, we’ll repeat it, “no less than six pounds to record an album.” And that’s an estimate that includes the words “no less.” So that’s six pounds between two people, a.k.a. an average of no less than three pounds per person consumed. We don’t need to tell you that’s absolutely bonkers news.
It just shows how outdated the old-school image of weed users is. These guys can consume no less than six pounds and produce some of the rawest hip hop around. Old-school hippies, these men are not.
