Meow the Jewels
Remix album by
Run the Jewels
ReleasedSeptember 25, 2015 (2015-09-25)
Length42:01
Label
Producer
Run the Jewels chronology
Run the Jewels 2
(2014)		 Meow the Jewels
(2015)		 Run the Jewels 3
(2016)

Meow the Jewels is a remix album by American hip hop duo Run the Jewels. It was released on September 25, 2015, by Mass Appeal Records and RBC Records. The album, a remix of the duo's original album Run the Jewels 2, has all instrumentals replaced with sounds of cats.

Release and promotion

Run the Jewels, as part of the original album release, offered a series of absurd "deluxe releases" for large sums of money, parodying indulgent "stretch goals" offered on crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter.[1] One of the less expensive of these was the group creating a remix album using cat sounds; a group of fans launched an online campaign to raise the money to pay the group the requested $40,000 to cover costs related to production, promotion and shipping physical copies of the album.[2][3] The campaign in fact raised over $60,000, which Run the Jewels announced would be donated to charity.[3] Several other record producers announced that they would be contributing to the remixes, including Just Blaze, Prince Paul, The Alchemist, Geoff Barrow, Dan the Automator and Boots, among others.[4]

The album was released for free on September 25, 2015 via online streaming services, while the pre-order for the limited-edition 2xLP was made available on the same day.[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic74/100[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
The Irish Times[8]
Pitchfork7/10[9]
PopMatters7/10[10]
RapReviews6.5/10[11]

Meow the Jewels was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 74, based on six reviews.[6]

Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic said, "Whereas the original Run the Jewels 2 was a perfect soundtrack for a night of mayhem, Meow the Jewels is the comedown after all that rabble-rousing".[7] Randall Roberts of Los Angeles Times said, "Meow the Jewels deliver emotional depth befitting nature's most psychologically elusive creature".[12] Adam Finley of PopMatters said, "Most of the internet's ideas end up in a wet mess on the kitchen floor, but this one, this one sticks".[10]

Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork originally awarded the album a cat emoji,[13] as opposed to the publication's usual rating out of 10, saying "while some tracks unwisely try to replicate the source material's dystopian energy, the best moments come when remixers go blissfully off-script". The score was later revised to a 7/10.[9] Steve "Flash" Juon of RapReviews said, "The amount of enjoyment you take out of this is undoubtedly directly proportional to the amount of money you put into Meow the Jewels".[11]

Track listing

Meow the Jewels track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Remixer(s)Length
1."Meowpurrdy" (featuring Lil Bub, Maceo, Delonte and Snoop Dogg)
El-P3:47
2."Oh My Darling Don't Meow"
  • Meline
  • Render
Just Blaze3:47
3."Pawfluffer Night"
  • Meline
  • Render
Zola Jesus2:43
4."Close Your Eyes and Meow to Fluff"
Geoff Barrow3:50
5."All Meow Life"
  • Meline
  • Render
Nick Hook3:08
6."Lie, Cheat, Meow"
Prince Paul3:17
7."Meowrly"
  • Meline
  • Render
  • Asher
Boots3:35
8."Paw Due Respect"
  • Meline
  • Render
Blood Diamonds3:11
9."Snug Again" (featuring Gangsta Boo)
  • Meline
  • Render
Little Shalimar3:57
10."Creown"
  • Meline
  • Render
The Alchemist2:45
11."Angelsnuggler"
  • Meline
  • Render
Dan the Automator3:54
Total length:38:34
Bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Remixer(s)Length
12."Creown"
  • Meline
  • Render
3D4:07
Total length:42:01

References

  1. ↑ Breihan, Tom (September 15, 2014). "Check Out The Ridiculous Run The Jewels 2 Deluxe Packages". Stereogum. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  2. ↑ Breihan, Tom (September 16, 2014). "Run The Jewels Might Make A Version of Their Album With Nothing But Cat Noises". Stereogum. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Meow the Jewels". Kickstarter. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  4. ↑ Breihan, Tom (October 15, 2014). "Meow The Jewels Is Happening". Stereogum. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  5. ↑ Camp, Zoe (September 25, 2015). "Run the Jewels Drop Meow the Jewels". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Reviews for Meow the Jewels by Run the Jewels". Metacritic. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  7. 1 2 Yeung, Neil Z. "Meow the Jewels – Run the Jewels". AllMusic. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
  8. ↑ Carroll, Jim (October 30, 2015). "Run The Jewels: Meow the Jewels – Album Review". The Irish Times. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  9. 1 2 Dombal, Ryan (October 2, 2015). "Run the Jewels: Meow The Jewels". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  10. 1 2 Finley, Adam (October 21, 2015). "Run the Jewels: Meow the Jewels". PopMatters. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  11. 1 2 Juon, Steve "Flash" (September 29, 2015). "Run the Jewels :: Meow the Jewels :: Mass Appeal/RED Distribution". RapReviews. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  12. ↑ Roberts, Randall (September 30, 2015). "'Meow the Jewels': A landmark achievement in feline-based music". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  13. ↑ Run the Jewels: Meow the Jewels, reviewed at Pitchfork; via archive.org
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