It's the opening days of January, and things are all round pretty bleak - so forgive us if we choose to look on the optimistic side of things...
Run The Jewels dropped their album on Christmas Day, a time when most artists were tucking into roast turkeys and devouring pigs-in-blankets.
Instead, 'RTJ3' leaped online, startling fans with the devastating creativity of Killer Mike and El-P.
Remarkably, the duo have managed to gatecrash the charts before physical copies even hit the shops. El-P just broke the news on Twitter:
so uh.. RTJ charted on the billboard top 200 at #35 this week. haven't even dropped the physical yet. clearly the berenstain rift at work.
— el-p (@therealelp) January 6, 2017
to recap: jumped street date by 3 weeks, gave the record away for free, no physical yet, still sold 22k copies in week one. fully indy.
— el-p (@therealelp) January 6, 2017
That's pretty incredible, right? True independence in action, from two artists who have been around the block but still retain their hunger.
So maybe give 'RTJ3' a play, and see if it can brighten your prospects for 2017...
