What You Need to Know About 'Meow the Jewels'

Run the Jewels, comprised of MC Killer Mike and hip-hop producer El-P, have been making news since the release of their self-titled debut in 2013. The album, released for free download, garnered a huge fan following and received positive critical appraisal. The following year, "Run the Jewels 2" was unleashed upon the world with overwhelming acclaim. In the following months, fans and critics from all areas were sure to show their appreciation in a volume of response previously unseen for an underground hip-hop album. The "Tag the Jewels" movement began within days of the release of RTJ2, Marvel artists paid tribute to the duo with three Run the Jewels themed covers for Deadpool and Howard the Duck, and countless tattoos, fan art submissions, and shout-outs have been made celebrating what many would call the most important hip-hop album of 2014. Killer Mike and El-P have since been very vocal about their gratitude towards fans during shows and on social media.

In the largest (and most hilarious) installment of appreciation, a Kickstarter was started in September of 2014 for a project called "Meow the Jewels," in response to a joke made by El-P about a $40,000 deluxe edition of "RTJ2" made with cat sounds. Unsurprisingly, the $40,000 goal was reached in only a month, and production began for what could potentially be the cat album of the decade. According to El-P, proceeds from the album are to be donated to the families of victims of police brutality. Anticipation for the album has since been growing, and El-P has released a few teasers for the album via Instagram. The first set, a feline version of 'Jeopardy' posted in January, features a cacophony of meows and drums with a brief moment of Killer Mike's vocal track. 

I play cat music hard ball.

A video posted by thereallyrealelp (@thereallyrealelp) on Jan 23, 2015 at 7:12pm PST

Three weeks ago, El-P released a short video with the caption "ANGELMEOWSTER"

ANGELMEOWSTER (by Dan The Automater) #MeowTheJewels #heyyouaskedforit

A video posted by thereallyrealelp (@thereallyrealelp) on May 18, 2015 at 10:31am PDT

Joined by a slew of big producers (whose names you can find in the trailer), "Meow the Jewels" doesn't have a release date yet, but there's enough hype to catch up on to kill time before El-P gives the people what they asked for. Say what you want, but "Meow the Jewels" is already well underway.

what yall thought meow the jewels wouldn't happen? YOU CANT FIGHT DESTINY.

— el-p (@therealelp) January 26, 2015

You can follow El-P and Killer Mike on Twitter for more Run the Jewels updates.