Run-DMC

Run-DMC

Essential Albums

  • Raising Hell (Expanded Edition)
    Raising Hell (Expanded Edition)
    Raising Hell (Expanded Edition)

    Run-D.M.C.'s landmark third album, 1986's Raising Hell, marks the moment hip-hop truly became pop culture firmament: Suddenly, rappers were the new rock stars, DJs were the new bands, and an underground phenomenon was officially part of the mainstream. A fabled Golden Era was upon us, and the undeniable appeal of Raising Hell made it a pioneer in multiple ways: It was the first rap album to go multi-platinum—and the first to be nominated for a Grammy. And the crossover sensation "Walk This Way," recorded with Aerosmith, would result in Run-D.M.C. becoming the first rap artists to land the cover of Rolling Stone. A landmark moment both culturally and creatively, it's no exaggeration to say Raising Hell changed the world. The first taste of the album came in the form of a 12-inch featuring both "My Adidas" and "Peter Piper." To this day, it’s one of the best double-sided singles in hip-hop history: "My Adidas" was a victorious celebration of the group’s recent world-dominating feats, framed as an ode to their laceless fashion choice (the song famously got Run-D.M.C. a major endorsement deal—another hip-hop first). And "Peter Piper" features classic back-and-forth rhyme-spitting, as well as an ace sample of Bob James' "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" (listen closely, and you can actually hear the crackles and pops from Jam Master Jay's vinyl). Both songs feature the group at their absolute fiercest, with Run—who’d been watching a young upstart named LL Cool J nipping at his heels—sounding especially galvanized. Elsewhere on the album, the playful "It's Tricky" turned some fame-weary rhymes and a scratched sample of The Knack's "My Sharona" into one of the group's most enduring songs, a staple of movie soundtracks and video games to come. But the watershed moment on Raising Hell turned out be its outlier. "Walk this Way" was a collaboration with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, who by the mid-1980s were hard-rock lifers. Producer Rick Rubin had suggested Run-D.M.C. cover Aerosmith's 1975 hit "Walk This Way" toward the end of the recording of Raising Hell, and pushed the members to learn the lyrics. While Jam Master Jay loved the idea, his bandmates were skeptical. It wasn’t until Aerosmith came by the studio, and they all became fast friends, that it seemed like the idea might work. A high-octane session got underway—and a few months later, hip-hop was taking over rock radio. And while "Walk This Way" became Raising Hell's signature track, there are gems among all 12 tracks. Recorded in one take, "Perfection" features the crew doing an especially jovial routine over the live drums of 15-year-old Queens drummer Courtney "Sticks" Williams. "Hit It Run" and "Son Of Byford," meanwhile, feature the multitalented Run on beatboxing duties. Elsewhere on the album, "Raising Hell" is a piece of searing rap-metal, "Dumb Girl" features some especially vicious bass, and "Proud to Be Black" is a three-minute Black history lesson cowritten with Run's father Daniel Simmons and future Yo! MTV Raps host Doctor Dre. As a whole, Raising Hell is the moment where America truly woke up to hip-hop music writ large, with Run-D.M.C. serving as gifted, gate-crashing, unignorable diplomats. And it inspired the next generation of hell-raising rappers. As Eminem noted when he inducted the group into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, "Run-D.M.C.'s effect on popular culture can not be overstated. Whether you know it or not, you encounter them every day: in the music you hear on the radio, in the sneakers you wear, in the videos you see, in the attitudes of the people you meet."

  • Run-D.M.C.
    Run-D.M.C.
    Run-D.M.C.

    Perhaps the most consequential rap album in history, Run-D.M.C.'s 1984 debut drew an Adidas-shaped line in the sand between the old school and the new school, changing everything about the way hip-hop would look, sound, and sell. After its release, live disco bands were eschewed for minimalist drum machines and DJ cuts, flashy rock-star costumes were phased out in favor of street wear, and the ten-minute-long block-party rap workouts that had defined hip-hop's formative years were shortened to the breezy length of a pop song. The breakthrough moment came with Run-D.M.C.‘s very first single, "It's Like That," and its flipside, "Sucker M.C.'s (Krush Groove 1)." Producer Larry Smith had cooked up some pummeling, minimalist drum machine beats that veered away from the baroque disco arrangements that had been making money for hip-hop pioneers like Sugar Hill Records and Kurtis Blow. After hearing Smith's harsh tracks, Run-D.M.C. manager Russell Simmons pleaded with the members of the group—which included his little brother, Joseph "Run" Simmons—to add some semblance of melody. But the group shouted down that idea—and shouted on "Sucker M.C.'s," too. The song was sparse, drum-driven, and featured some percussive record-scratching—all hallmarks of Run-D.M.C.'s high-energy, highly aggressive style. Run-D.M.C.'s second single, "Hard Times," painted a vivid, socially conscious picture on the A-side, while the B-side cut "Jam-Master Jay" spotlighted the formidable skills of the man who'd introduce the concept of turntable-as-a-band to middle America. But it was the album’s third single, "Rock Box," that gave Run-D.M.C. its first taste of pop success—and become one of the most game-changing singles in rap history. A prescient blending of undiluted hip-hop swagger and hard rock guitar, "Rock Box" would knock out critics and help put rap on MTV, where its video was put in rotation among the Van Halens and ZZ Tops of the world. More importantly, "Rock Box" single-handedly destroyed the gates—whether real or imagined—that existed between rock music and hip-hop. The origins of everyone from the Beastie Boys to Rage Against the Machine to Linkin Park to Lil Uzi Vert can be traced to the song’s 12-second mark—the moment when the wailing guitar of Hollis, Queens' own Eddie Martinez joins the beats of the Oberheim DMX drum machine. Thanks in no small part to “Rock Box,” Run-D.M.C. would become the first rap album to go gold. A year after its release, Run-D.M.C. unleashed one of its most bodacious boasts: "We crash through walls, cut through floors/Bust through ceilings and knock down doors." This album—a landmark release in the history of hip-hop, pop, androck—is what they were talking about.

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About Run-DMC

Before hip-hop became a dominant cultural force, Run-DMC were steadily working to unlock its global potential. Queens, New York native Joseph "Run" Simmons earned his stripes performing with '70s rap pioneer Kurtis Blow. But when Simmons injured his arm, he lost the gig, leaving him to form a group with his friend Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels in 1981 and add Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell later as the DJ. Managed by Run's brother, Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons, they landed a deal with Profile Records, where they released three classic albums in as many years: 1984's Run-DMC, 1985's King of Rock, and 1986's Raising Hell. Rappers would call themselves rock stars as the culture blossomed over future decades, but Run-DMC lived it. They embraced the attitude of rock n' roll with their muscular personalities, loudly shouted rhymes, and electric guitars. Still, they were undeniably hip-hop with their booming drums, lethal turntable scratches, street aesthetic, and flashy fashion. Between their spot on the 1984 Fresh Festival lineup—the first major U.S. hip-hop tour—and their album tours featuring acts like LL Cool J and Beastie Boys, Run-DMC were among the first to go on the road and prove that rap was commercially viable. Raising Hell demonstrated the group's cultural peak: "My Adidas" earned them the first non-athlete sneaker endorsement, and the Aerosmith collab "Walk This Way" took their hard-rock mission statement to new heights for a genre-mashing addition to the zeitgeist of the '80s. Run-DMC continued making music through the early '90s but went on hiatus due to personal issues until reuniting for 2001's Crown Royal. The album was a victory lap that enlisted the talents of rap rockers like Limp Bizkit and Everlast and new rap legends like Nas and Method Man—all of whom owed a debt to Run-DMC for their innovation decades earlier. The group called it quits in 2002 when Jam Master Jay was tragically murdered at his Queens studio. But even after their dissolution, acts like Eminem and Rick Ross have given them props on wax, ensuring that their legacy lives on for years after they're gone.

FROM
Queens, NY, United States
FORMED
1982
GENRE
Hip-Hop/Rap

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