KILLER MIKE: Basically, I hate any question that asks me about OutKast. I’m one of their homies, but I don’t really know what they’re going to do next. I’m just like you. I don’t have the answer, and then I get kind of bummed that I don’t have the answer. Anything other than that, I’m open to.

BRADY: Duly noted. Why did you guys decide to call yourselves Run the Jewels?

MIKE: El came up with the name. When he first said it—not that I didn’t get it; it’s actually an old LL Cool J line, which is dope as fuck—but I wasn’t sure. When I sat down and got out of my own way and allowed myself to marinate on that shit—and I knew what it meant on the streets of New York, on the streets period—I thought that was just the most hardcore shit that could be said, that could be heard and it really exemplified the spirit that I brought into making this record. “We’re not second to any rapper or producer. We rival all of your idols and we’re going to spend the next 30-some-odd minutes proving that.” I called El back and I was like, “Yo, I’m fucking retarded.”

When I hear “Run the Jewels,” I see the cast of Reservoir Dogs walking out of that diner together. It is tough-as-nails rap music without being belligerent or unnecessarily coarse. It’s just dope, fun, real, raw rap shit.

EL-P: It was also a nod to the record. That was the era that made me and Mike fall in love with rap music. For us, this project is about that. This whole project is really about our love for rap music.

BRADY: I feel like asking about group names can sometimes be like asking about tattoos. There’s either not story or a good one.

EL-P: And we have neither. We just have a calm description.

BRADY: [laughs]

EL-P: Really, it was just the toughest possible shit we could think of.

BRADY: What is your process like? Do you write or freestyle?

EL-P: It’s a combination of those things. I usually work on the music ahead of time. I’d do a lot of pre-production then Mike would fly out, we’d get into the studio, go through the music and then do psychedelic drugs, drink, and smoke way too much weed. Mike did more freestyle. Mike will get a couple lines down and then he gets into the zone. He keeps adding on and adding on, so it sounds really natural. I’m much more of a writer. We just sat down together and combined those things. It was really easy.

BRADY: I know that when you first started collaborating, people were surprised; why do you think that was?