Run-D.M.C.

IdentificationRap/hip-hop group

Date First single released in 1983

In addition to bringing hip-hop into the cultural mainstream, Run-D.M.C. is responsible for one of the most successful rap-rock crossover songs of the 1980s. Despite the group disbanding following the death of one of its members in the early 2000s, they are still remembered for their significant contributions to the rap and hip-hop genres.

Rap/hip-hop juggernaut Run-D.M.C.’s lyricists, Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels, met while growing up in Hollis, Queens, and started performing together in high school during the late 1970s. Following the addition of fellow Brooklyn native and turntable wizard Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell several years later, Run-D.M.C. began recording and releasing albums.

After signing with rap and hip-hop label Profile Records, Run-D.M.C. released a self-titled debut album in early 1984. The breakthrough single “It’s Like That” helped propel sales of the album, which was certified gold. Although groups such as the Sugarhill Gang had pioneered rap, Run-D.M.C.’s unique, interlaced lyrical style helped define the growing genre and established key vocal and musical components that became the backbone of early rap and hip-hop. Other groups and solo artists quickly followed, but Run-D.M.C. undoubtedly set the bar in the early 1980s. The group also separated itself from its contemporaries visually, with each member dressed in a black fedora hat, laceless white Adidas shoes, and a leather jacket—an ensemble that would quickly become the group’s trademark wardrobe.

Less than a year after Run-D.M.C., the group’s sophomore effort, King of Rock, was released, charting even higher and selling more copies than its predecessor. The trio was enjoying moderate success both on radio and on the fledgling cable network MTV, exposure that helped increase Run-D.M.C.’s fan base. However, the success was moderate compared to the superstardom that the group would experience upon release of the third album, 1986’s triple platinum Raising Hell.

In addition to the popular singles “It’s Tricky” and “My Adidas,” the album’s—and group’s—most successful hit was “Walk This Way,” originally recorded during the 1970s by the veteran rock band Aerosmith. This was more than just a traditional cover song, however; Aerosmith’s lead singer Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry collaborated on the track and music video with Run-D.M.C., creating the first rap-rock crossover. The success of the song was unparalleled; not only was there significant radio airplay, but the accompanying music video was also in heavy rotation on MTV. The album gave the group its highest commercial success up to that point, reaching number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

While it seemed impossible to match the colossal success of Raising Hell, Run-D.M.C.’s fourth album, 1988’s Tougher than Leather, was issued to critical and commercial acclaim. The album, benefiting from the hit single “Mary, Mary,” eventually reached number two on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album chart and was certified platinum. The decade ended with the group in the studio, recording 1990’s Back from Hell.

This record's unexpected commercial and critical failure, in combination with health and legal troubles plaguing the group's members, led to Run-D.M.C. taking a three-year break. After McDaniels rebounded from a struggle with alcoholism and Simmons had been freed from a serious legal battle in which he had been accused of raping a young woman, the two men became more involved in religion; Simmons would eventually become an ordained minister at Zoe Ministries and begin referring to himself as "Rev Run." Determined to prove their relevance once more, they enlisted the help of other popular artists and successful producers to work on their next album, a more raucous and heavier departure from the ill-received funk sound of Back from Hell. The new album, Down with the King (1993), spawned a top-ten R&B track and was certified gold. However, the group was still never able to overcome their growing differences or recapture the innovation of their early years; for several more years, the trio did not even get into the studio together. Following the disappointing release of the album Crown Royal in 2001, which included very little input from McDaniels, Run-D.M.C. embarked on a US tour with Aerosmith. At the same time, a breakup seemed imminent, and shortly after Mizell was shot and killed in his studio in 2002, Simmons announced that Run-D.M.C. was officially disbanded.

Impact

Although the group’s members would achieve success in later decades both collectively and individually, Run-D.M.C.’s accomplishments during the 1980s cemented the group’s status as rap/hip-hop icons. The group’s popularity also brought rap and hip-hop into the cultural mainstream, one of Run-D.M.C.’s greatest accomplishments. In 2009, Run-D.M.C. became only the second rap group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2016, they became the first rap act to receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Bibliography

McDaniels, Darryl, and Bruce Haring. King of Rock: Respect, Responsibility, and My Life with Run-D.M.C. St. Martin’s Press, 2001.

Ro, Ronin. Raising Hell: The Reign, Ruin, and Redemption of Run-D.M.C. and Jam Master Jay. Amistad, 2005.

"Run-D.M.C." Billboard, www.billboard.com/artist/369290/run-dmc/biography. Accessed 17 Jan. 2017.

Sedgewick, Augustin K. "Run-D.M.C. Call It Quits." Rolling Stone, 6 Nov. 2002, www.rollingstone.com/music/news/run-d-m-c-call-it-quits-20021106. Accessed 20 Jan. 2017.

Weingarten, Christopher R. "Run-DMC on Receiving Rap's First Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award." Rolling Stone, 11 Feb. 2016, www.rollingstone.com/music/news/dmc-on-recieving-raps-first-grammy-lifetime-achievement-award-20160211. Accessed 20 Jan. 2017.