RUN-DMC is one of the most iconic acts in music history. Natives of Hollis Queens, Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, and the late Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell comprised the trailblazing rap group. Their one-of-a-kind sound and style laid the groundwork that launched rap music into the mainstream.
With their self-titled debut album released in 1984, they became the first hip-hop group to earn a Gold record. Run-D.M.C. also achieved the first platinum record King of Rock (1985), making Run-DMC the first hip-hop group to go platinum. Raising Hell (1986) was the first multi-platinum rap album.
Their songs “It’s Like That”, “Sucker M.C.’s”, “Rock Box” King of Rock”,” My Adidas”, and “Walk This Way” are classics.
For all of ther accomplishments, Run-DMC was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009.
In 2024, RUN-DMC received another accolade. They were nominated for a Grammy for Best Music Film for the documentary Kings From Queens: The RUN-DMC Story. The acclaimed docuseries chronicles their meteoric rise from aspiring teenage rappers to hip-hop superstars and how they forever changed the face of music. The nomination is their second after first being nominated in 1987.
In an exclusive interview, RUN-DMC shared their thoughts on what it was like to relive those moments in the acclaimed documentary.
“It felt like going back over our career and we had a good time. We didn’t know what we were doing as it went along,” Rev. Run told HOT97.com. “I used to have D come out before me and get on the mic because he had the boldness. He said he got it from being a comic book character from Queens. I would just wait for D to come out and do his thing. Then we would practice in Jay’s living room.”
“We were given the position to represent hip-hop. I heard someone say, ‘If you look in a dictionary for the definition of hip-hop, it won’t be words but me, Jay, and Run in the B-boy stance.’ We took the beat from the street and put it on TV. It was already there,” DMC added. “Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Cold Crush Brothers, and Treacherous Three did it before us. We did it on TV. “
DMC shared how MTV was essential to the growth of hip-hop as a genre. In 1984, “Rock Box” was the first rap video played on the station.
“MTV was very influential in the success of hip-hop. They helped spread it across the nation in everybody’s living room. It that was the pivotal moment of hip-hop,” DMC said. “They say hip-hop is global but it’s always been. When we went to Europe in 84 and 85, it was already huge in Germany and France. Run DMC was able to do this dynamic thing that inspired and created a whole flood that came after us.”
Rev. Run spoke about the instant, organic chemistry that RUN-DMC had.
“I reflect daily, and D doesn’t know this, about where I would have been if I didn’t have Daryl? Just pure, godly magic happened between me, Darryl, and J,” Rev. Run said. “It was as destined. We don’t know why, we didn’t cry about it, but we are just grateful for it. Once the three of us got together, it was, as D said in the documentary, it was heaven.”
“It’s funny because Rick Rubin didn’t like “Rock Box” and “King of Rock” because we weren’t a band,” DMC said. “But the beauty of us trying to make a rock song like Billy Squire and Queen was that we appealed to the punk rockers in the middle. In 84, they would have produced us with Van Halen solos. Instead, it was these kids from the streets taking these records and doing it.
When asked what a Grammy win would mean for RUN-DMC’s legacy, Rev. Run says he’s already content with the group’s success. He expressed how humbled he is for the nomination at this stage of their careers.
“We’re not worried about the props but we’re grateful to just be nominated. The nomination is enough for us. We know we predated the Grammys with our early music,” Run explained. “They didn’t even have a category to put us in back then. We don’t feel one bit slighted. And those that love us who say ‘Yall should have won’, we thank you, but we do not feel slighted. We feel honored.”
“Michael Jackson did say when we met him that we should have taken them all,” DMC laughed. “We met with him and he had Bubbles. He said that they could have given us one in 1986 for Best New Group. We were the best new group on earth in 86 so how could we not win it? There thing was we didn’t even play instruments. They would ask us, ‘Where’s the band?’ We would point at Jay with a record case and two turntables.”
While Rev.Run is enjoying his post-rap retirement, DMC is still as active as ever. He is planning to release new music and his own comic book series in 2025.
“I’m ready to drop a new single. It’s me, Sebastian Bach, on vocals, and Travis Barker on drums Mick Mars from Mötley Crüe is on guitar, and Jeff “Duff McKagan from Guns and Roses on bass. The title is, “She Gets Me High.” With those guys on the instruments, you can imagine how it’s going to sound.”
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