The guitar line opens up, the room goes quiet, and Run The Jewels 2100 just came through the speakers on Hoodz Radio. No chest-out bravado here. This is Killer Mike and El-P in a different gear, slowing it down and letting the weight of the moment speak.

Run The Jewels 2100: The Story Behind the Song

“2100” is credited to Run The Jewels featuring Boots, and it lives on the album Run the Jewels 3. It was released as a single on November 11, 2016, ahead of the album. It was the second of three singles, coming after “Talk to Me” and before “Legend Has It.”

The song arrived as a response to the 2016 US presidential election. Killer Mike and El-P shared it after Trump’s election, with a note saying they wrote it months earlier and had not planned to put it out yet. They posted it on SoundCloud because it felt relevant to the political climate.

What Does “2100” Mean?

El-P was clear that the record was bigger than one news cycle. In a tweet, he wrote: “‘2100’ was written several months ago in reference to something bigger than the election.”

The duo’s statement with the release put the feeling in plain words: “it’s about fear and it’s about love and it’s about wanting more for all of us.”

That is the heart of it. The song is a guitar-laced, emotional slow jam, and it sits in the space between anxiety and hope. It is not a victory lap. It is a record about wanting a better future for everybody and being honest about the fear in the way.

Who Made It: Credits and Writers

The songwriting credits on “2100” run through the core of the Run The Jewels camp plus some trusted collaborators:

  • BOOTS
  • Jaime Meline (El-P)
  • Michael Render (Killer Mike)
  • Torbitt Schwartz
  • Wilder Zoby

The track runs 4:01. Killer Mike and El-P are the duo behind Run the Jewels 3, which they self-released through their Run the Jewels, Inc. imprint via RBC Records.

Who Is Boots?

Boots is best known for co-writing many songs on Beyoncé’s 2013 self-titled album, including “Drunk in Love” and “Partition.” That gives “2100” real crossover energy for anybody who has lived in both the R&B and hip-hop worlds.

It is also a reunion. Boots appeared on “Early” from Run the Jewels 2, a song that tackled police corruption and brutality in 2014. Put “Early” and “2100” side by side and you can hear a throughline in the duo’s protest-song lineage, with Boots helping carry the message each time.

How the Album Landed

Run the Jewels 3 is the third studio album from El-P and Killer Mike. The digital release came on December 24, 2016, with the physical release following on January 13, 2017. It was offered as a free download on the duo’s website and also on CD and LP.

The album was recorded between January 2015 and September 2016. Guests include Danny Brown, Joi, Trina, Boots, Tunde Adebimpe, Zack de la Rocha and Kamasi Washington. That is a deep bench, and “2100” is the record where the album exhales.

Where “2100” Sits in the Run The Jewels Catalog

Run The Jewels built their name on hard-hitting, aggressive records. “2100” is the quieter, melodic counterpoint. It shows the duo can be just as heavy when the volume drops and the feeling does the work.

If you are building an RTJ3 listening session, run it back-to-back with “Everybody Stay Calm” from the same album. That one samples Alain Goraguer’s “Le Bracelet” (1973), and El-P, Little Shalimar and Wilder Zoby are listed as its producers. Together the two records show the range of the album’s mood.

Why It Stays in Rotation on Hoodz Radio

Here is the station’s take: “2100” earns its spot because it dares to be tender in a hard moment. Hip-hop has always been the people’s newspaper, and sometimes the headline is not a threat, it is a prayer for something better.

It also respects the lineage. Killer Mike and El-P are veterans carrying the protest tradition forward, and they bring Boots back into that lane. That is what we mean by respecting the legacy while amplifying the movement. The record still hits because the fear and the hope in it have not gone out of style.

Sources

Want more records with this kind of weight? Tune in and listen live 24/7 on Hoodz Radio. Respect the Legacy. Amplify the Movement.