In a surprising late Thursday release, Royal Blood featured on the fresh ‘Royal Jewels Mix‘ of Run The Jewels’ song ‘The Ground Below’. Originally appearing on the hip-hop supergroup’s latest album RTJ4 from June this year, the new killer collaboration with the Brighton duo seemlessly delivers a reinvigorated genre-bending track that blends rock and hip-hop with the same attitude and confidence as Run DMC and Aerosmith did back in 1986 for the iconic ‘Walk This Way‘.
The original version from Run The Jewels’ Summer release relied on sampled instrumentation with heavy rock influences but it is Royal Blood’s flair and raw passion that really take today’s re-work to the next level. The release was met with huge excitement from fans on both sides of the Atlantic, thrilled as Royal Blood themselves for the stary team-up and hoping for more shared music in the future. “God save Royal Jewels” indeed!
Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher from Royal Blood have had a particularly busy Autumn season ever since the release of their latest dance-influenced single and video for ‘Trouble’s Coming‘. With frequent radio and TV show appearances, the track reached their second highest position at #46 in the UK Singles Chart and #19 in the Billboard Chart, only few positions behind their all-time best ‘Figure it Out’. The song is also sitting at over 8 million Spotify streams and 1 million YouTube views since its late September premiere, and was recently nominated for Annie Mac’s ‘Hottest Record of The Year’.
‘Trouble’s Coming‘ and the brand new ‘The Ground Below (Royal Jewels Mix)‘ are the only two appearances from Royal Blood since their critically acclaimed second album How Did We Get So Dark? from 2017. With no further details on their highly anticipated follow-up, Kerr is expected to feature on the track ‘Little Wonder‘ from Architects’ upcoming release For Those Who Wish To Exist, set for 26 February 2021.
Meanwhile, Royal Blood will perform alongside Billy Corgan from The Smashing Pumpkins, The Killers and many more at Radio DC101’s DC101DERLAND Show, scheduled for free online stream on the official Facebook page on 16 December 2020
We’re joining @DC101 for their #DC101DERLAND At Home this year! Tune in to DC101’s Facebook Live on the 16th December for the free show. https://t.co/UGMkEdqFlE pic.twitter.com/0dmphFouVK
— Royal Blood (@royalblooduk) December 4, 2020
Already well established as one of the leading names in the contemporary alternative/hardcore hip-hop scene worldwide, Run The Jewels are well versed in venturing in rock territories. Ever since their second record RTJ2 from 2014, Killer Mike and El-P have formed a strong bond with Rage Against The Machine’s charismatic frontman Zach de la Rocha, resulting in the explosive rap rock collaborations for ‘Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)‘, ‘A Report to the Shareholders/Kill Your Masters‘ and most recently ‘Just‘.
Run The Jewels’ latest studio album RTJ4 received a very positive reaction worldwide, reaching #9 at the UK Album Charts, #10 at US Billboard with additional acolades in Scotland (#3), Canada (#8), Ireland (#8), Germany (#11) and New Zealand (#11). The surprising team-up with Royal Blood is a huge step forward for both acts, shining with infectious energy, street attitude and seemless production. With less than a day since its release, ‘The Ground Below‘ is already hailed as one of the most exciting and well-matched collaborations this year, potentially starting a promising partnership for future records.
