"Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)" | ||||
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Single by
Run the Jewels featuring Zack de la Rocha | ||||
from the album Run the Jewels 2 | ||||
Released | September 30, 2014 | |||
Recorded | 2014 | |||
Genre | Alternative hip hop | |||
Length | 3:54 | |||
Label | Mass Appeal | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | El-P | |||
Run the Jewels singles chronology | ||||
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"Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)" is a song by American hip hop duo Run the Jewels, with guest vocals by Zack de la Rocha. [1] It was released as the second single from their second studio album, Run the Jewels 2 (2014), on September 30, 2014.
El-P explained de la Rocha's participation in the song as the result of a chance encounter: "when I was in L.A. working on the record I bumped in to him literally on the way to the studio. He came by and listened to what we had and a day later was recording with us." [2]
The music video (directed by AG Rojas), which Exclaim! called "fiery", [3] portrays an extended wrestling match between an exhausted white police officer ( Shea Whigham) and an equally-exhausted black civilian ( LaKeith Stanfield). [4]
Rolling Stone noted that at no point in the fight does either combatant reach for the officer's gun, [5] while Spin stated that it was "immensely raw, nuanced, and powerful", and emphasized that, throughout the fight, "(n)either [combatant] really gains an edge over the other one, and it's unclear why, exactly, they were fighting in the first place." [6] The Riverfront Times (which considered the song to be "incendiary") interpreted the video's concluding scene — the two men fight their way into a house, up a flight of stairs, and into a bedroom, where they collapse on the same bed — to mean that "both men will rest and awaken tomorrow to begin the battle anew". [7]
Fact described the song as "breathless" and "pneumatic", [8] while Vibe found it to be "highly energetic". [9] Stereogum called it "hammering (and) buzzing" and "just a ridiculous banger (...) that you obviously need to hear this minute", and compared its hook — de la Rocha's voice "chopped up" — to the work of Swiss Beatz. [10]
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that it is "arguably [Run the Jewels]' most popular song"; [11] similarly, The Daily Reveille declared it to be "(a)rguably the best song on (the album)", lauding de la Rocha's contributions to the song — in particular the "arresting hook at the beginning". [12]
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United States ( RIAA) [13] | Gold | 500,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |