The April 2022 Issue - RJD2 - Deadringer

Welcome to our April curated edition of Runout Record Club, we are super excited to offer a classic from the early 2000s for our subscribers this month, and also a personal favourite album of ours.

RJD2’s debut album Deadringer was released in 2001 at the dawn of the new millennium, this album kickstarted the 21st century through the beats and rhymes crafted by this DJ/Producer, who would become most well known as the man who’s track would become the introduction to cult TV Series Mad Men.

Ramble John Krohn better known as RJD2 was signed to the Definitive Jux label, (Def Jux was the label created by EL-P of Company Flow & Run The Jewels fame), who released his debut album to critical acclaim, unfortunately, the album was received with little to no commercial success. The lack of commercial success of the album could be down to Krohn's similarity to two very well-known proponents of the DJ/producer beats, sampling, and loops bricolage in DJ Z-Trip and DJ Shadow.

Deadringer encompasses not only instrumental hip-hop, but RJD2 manages to link his compositions with emcee’s who complement his tracks so well. Spanning 15 tracks on vinyl the album takes influences not just from hip-hop, but also from pop, rock, psychedelia, and soul, all wrapped up in soundscapes which it is clear have a cinematic vibe, but are not limited by the usual label's albums of this type receive from critics.

MC’s Blueprint, Jakki, and Copywrite are all given the opportunity to shine over their respective tracks, Blueprint on ‘Final Frontier’ is given space to traverse the track with his bars. RJD2’s previous work with the MHz crew is evident here as he tailors the bests so exquisitely for the MC to lace, this combination seems to be symbiotic, and this is certainly clear when you know that Blue & D2 are both from Ohio, and are the two protagonists in the group Soul Position.

Jakki tha Motamouth, a member of the MHz crew along with Copywrite, for whom RJD2 is producer, sets his stall out on ‘F.H.H’ harnessing the RJD2 production to show that the hip hop of the midwest deserves to be given more credit for the skill of its emcee’s and producers.

It is the track ‘June with Copywrite however which stands out, and the critics agreed hailing the track as showcasing the “symbiotic dynamic between producer and emcee… The production seems understated and almost ordinary as Copywrite spits his verse, but in the long break between the first and second verses the hypnotic brilliance of the track crystallizes. The interplay between the flamenco guitar, ringing synth, and shuffling breakbeat is transporting. And how the music drops before Copywrite comes with his second verse is a minor but brilliant touch.”.

RJD2 continues to shine solo on the album as his productions on ‘Ghostwriter’, ‘The Horror’, and ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ use a range of styles to create tracks which harness elements of sci-fi sampling, psychedelic, bluesy notes, which all combine so simply in his hands while creating a depth which is well beyond the sum of its parts.

Here at RRC we came across RJD2 upon the release of this debut album Deadringer in 2001 and it burrowed itself into our lives, as we found ourselves listening to the album over and over as we moved through our daily lives, like a soundtrack made exclusively for us.

Enjoy.

Stu -RRC