Hello,
Today's Artists are an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. They are widely acknowledged as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture and one of the most famous hip hop acts of the 1980s. Along with LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy, the group pioneered new school hip hop music. They were the first group in the genre to have an album certified gold and to be nominated for a Grammy Award. They were the first to earn a platinum record (King of Rock, 1985), the first to earn a multi-platinum certification (Raising Hell, 1986), the first to have their music videos broadcast on MTV, and the first to appear on American Bandstand and the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. The group was among the first to highlight the importance of the MC and DJ relationship. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked them #48 in their list of the greatest musical artists of all time. In 2007, the group was named "The Greatest Hip Hop Group of All Time" by MTV and "Greatest Hip Hop Artist of All Time" by VH1. In 2009, they became the second hip hop group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2016, thanks to making the industry lots of money , they received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. ...... N Joy
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More than any other hip-hop group, Run-D.M.C. are responsible for the sound and style of the music. As the first hardcore rap outfit, the trio set the sound and style for the next decade of rap. With their spare beats and excursions into heavy metal samples, the trio were tougher and more menacing than their predecessors Grandmaster Flash and Whodini. In the process, they opened the door for both the politicized rap of Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions, as well as the hedonistic gangsta fantasies of N.W.A. At the same time, Run-D.M.C. helped move rap from a singles-oriented genre to an album-oriented one -- they were the first hip-hop artist to construct full-fledged albums, not just collections with two singles and a bunch of filler. By the end of the '80s, Run-D.M.C. had been overtaken by the groups they had spawned, but they continued to perform to a dedicated following well into the '90s.
All three members of Run-D.M.C. were natives of the middle-class New York borough Hollis, Queens. Run (born Joseph Simmons, November 14, 1964) was the brother of Russell Simmons, who formed the hip-hop management company Rush Productions in the early '80s; by the mid-'80s, Russell had formed the pioneering record label Def Jam with Rick Rubin. Russell encouraged his brother Joey and his friend Darryl McDaniels (born May 31, 1964) to form a rap duo. The pair of friends did just that, adopting the names Run and D.M.C., respectively. After they graduated from high school in 1982, the pair enlisted their friend Jason Mizell (born January 21, 1965) to scratch turntables; Mizell adopted the stage name Jam Master Jay.
In 1983, Run-D.M.C. released their first single, "It's Like That"/"Sucker M.C.'s," on Profile Records. The single sounded like no other rap at the time -- it was spare, blunt, and skillful, with hard beats and powerful, literate, daring vocals, where Run and D.M.C.'s vocals overlapped, as they finished each other's lines. It was the first "new school" hip-hop recording. "It's Like That" became a Top 20 R&B hit, as did the group's second single, "Hard Times"/"Jam Master Jay." Two other hit R&B singles followed in early 1984 -- "Rock Box" and "30 Days" -- before the group's eponymous debut appeared.
By the time of their second album, 1985's King of Rock, Run-D.M.C. had become the most popular and influential rappers in America, already spawning a number of imitators. As the King of Rock title suggests, the group were breaking down the barriers between rock & roll and rap, rapping over heavy metal records and thick, dense drum loops. Besides releasing the King of Rock album and scoring the R&B hits "King of Rock," "You Talk Too Much," and "Can You Rock It Like This" in 1985, the group also appeared in the rap movie Krush Groove, which also featured Kurtis Blow, the Beastie Boys, and the Fat Boys.
Run-D.M.C.'s fusion of rock and rap broke into the mainstream with their third album, 1986's Raising Hell. The album was preceded by the Top Ten R&B single "My Adidas," which set the stage for the group's biggest hit single, a cover of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way." Recorded with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, "Walk This Way" was the first hip-hop record to appeal to both rockers and rappers, as evidenced by its peak position of number four on the pop charts. In the wake of the success of "Walk This Way," Raising Hell became the first rap album to reach number one on the R&B charts, to chart in the pop Top Ten, and to go platinum, and Run-D.M.C. were the first rap act to received airplay on MTV -- they were the first rappers to cross over into the pop mainstream. Raising Hell also spawned the hit singles "You Be Illin'" and "It's Tricky."
Run-D.M.C. spent most of 1987 recording Tougher Than Leather, their follow-up to Raising Hell. Tougher Than Leather was accompanied by a movie of the same name. Starring Run-D.M.C., the film was an affectionate parody of '70s blaxploitation films. Although Run-D.M.C. had been at the height of their popularity when they were recording and filming Tougher Than Leather, by the time the project was released, the rap world had changed. Most of the hip-hop audience wanted to hear hardcore political rappers like Public Enemy, not crossover artists like Run-D.M.C. Consequently, the film bombed and the album only went platinum, failing to spawn any significant hit singles.
Two years after Tougher Than Leather, Run-D.M.C. returned with Back From Hell, which became their first album not to go platinum. Following its release, both Run and D.M.C. suffered personal problems as McDaniels suffered a bout of alcoholism and Simmons was accused of rape. After McDaniels sobered up and the charges against Simmons were dismissed, both of the rappers became born-again Christians, touting their religious conversion on the 1993 album Down With the King. Featuring guest appearances and production assistance from artists as diverse as Public Enemy, EPMD, Naughty by Nature, A Tribe Called Quest, Neneh Cherry, Pete Rock, and KRS-One, Down With the King became the comeback Run-D.M.C. needed. The title track became a Top Ten R&B hit and the album went gold, peaking at number 21. Although they were no longer hip-hop innovators, the success of Down With the King proved that Run-D.M.C. were still respected pioneers.
After a long studio hiatus, the trio returned in early 2000 with Crown Royal. The album did little to add to their ailing record sales, but the following promotional efforts saw them join Aerosmith and Kid Rock for a blockbuster performance on MTV. By 2002, the release of two greatest-hits albums prompted a tour with Aerosmith that saw them travel the U.S., always performing "Walk This Way" to transition between their sets. Sadly, only weeks after the end of the tour, Jam Master Jay was senselessly murdered in a studio session in Queens. Only 37 years old, the news of his passing spread quick and hip-hop luminaries like Big Daddy Kane and Funkmaster Flex took the time to pay tribute to him on New York radio stations. Possibly the most visible DJ in the history of hip-hop, his death was truly the end of an era and unfortunately perpetuated the cycle of violence that has haunted the genre since the late '80s.
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This is the album that started it all. The birth of hardcore hip hop. Arguably the first classic hip hop LP. They where the first rap artists to have their video play on MTV. They have opened so many doors with this one, this is hands down the most influential hip hop album of all time. They changed the whole sound of hip hop at that time ending the Sugar Hill era. Years after the release of Run-D.M.C.'s eponymous 1984 debut, the group generally was acknowledged to be hip-hop's Beatles -- a sentiment that makes a lot of sense, even if Run-D.M.C. isn't quite the equivalent of a rap Please Please Me. Run-D.M.C. were the Beatles of rap because they signaled a cultural and musical change for the music, ushering it into its accepted form; neither group originated the music, but they gave it the shape known today. But, no matter how true and useful the comparison is, it is also a little misleading, because it implies that Run-D.M.C. also were a melodic, accessible group, bringing in elements from all different strands of popular music. No, Run-D.M.C.'s expanded their music by making it tough and spare, primarily by adapting the sound and attitude of hard rock to hip-hop. Prior to this, rap felt like a block party -- the beats were funky and elastic, all about the groove. Run-D.M.C. hit hard. The production is tough and minimal, built on relentless drum machines and Jam Master Jay's furious scratching, mixing in a guitar riff or a keyboard hit on occasion. It is brutal urban music, and Run and D.M.C.'s forceful, muscular rhymes match the music. Where other MCs sounded cheerful, Run and D.M.C. prowl and taunt the listener, sounding as if they were a street gang. And while much of the record is devoted to braggadocio, boasting, and block parties, Run-D.M.C. also addressed grittier realities of urban life, giving this record both context and thematic weight. All of this -- the music, the attitude, the words, the themes -- marked a turning point for rap, and it's impossible to calculate Run-D.M.C.'s influence on all that came afterward. Years later, some of the production may sound a bit of its time, but the music itself does not because music this powerful and original always retains its impact and force as music.
Run DMC - Run DMC (flac 224mb)
01 Hard Times 3:53
02 Rock Box 5:28
03 Jam Master Jay 3:21
04 Hollis Crew (Krush-Groove 2) 3:12
05 Sucker M.C.'s (Krush-Groove 1) 3:15
06 It's Like That 4:45
07 Wake Up 5:30
08 30 Days 5:45
09 Jay's Game 4:17
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Take the title of Run-D.M.C.'s King of Rock somewhat literally. True, the trailblazing rap crew hardly abandoned hip-hop on their second album, but they did follow through on the blueprint of their debut, emphasizing the rock leanings that formed the subtext of Run-D.M.C. Nearly every cut surges forward on thundering drum machines and simple power chords, with the tempos picked up a notch and the production hitting like a punch to the stomach. If the debut suggested hard rock, this feels like hard rock -- over-amplified, brutal, and intoxicating in its sheer sonic force. What really makes King of Rock work is that it sounds tougher and is smarter than almost all of the rock and metal records of its time. There is an urgency to the music unheard in the hard rock of the '80s -- a sense of inevitability to the riffs and rhythms, balanced by the justified boasting of Run and D.M.C. Most of their rhymes are devoted to party jams or bragging, but nobody was sharper, funnier, or as clever as this duo, nor was there a DJ better than Jam Master Jay, who not just forms the backbone of their music, but also has two great showcases in "Jam-Master Jammin'" and "Darryl and Joe" (the latter one of two exceptions to the rock rules of the album, the other being the genre-pushing "Roots, Rap, Reggae," one of the first rap tracks to make explicit the links between hip-hop and reggae). Even if there a pronounced rock influence throughout King of Rock, what makes it so remarkable is that it never sounds like a concession in order to win a larger audience. No matter how many metallic guitar riffs are on the record, this music is as raw and street-level as the debut. It manages to be just as dynamic, exciting, and timeless as that album, as it expands the definition of what both Run-D.M.C. and rap could do.
Run DMC - King Of Rock. (flac 451mb)
01 Rock The House 2:43
02 King Of Rock 5:12
03 You Talk Too Much 5:58
04 Jam-Master Jammin' 4:24
05 Roots, Rap, Reggae 3:14
06 Can You Rock It Like This 4:28
07 You're Blind 5:29
08 It's Not Funny 5:32
09 Darryl And Joe (Krush-Groove 3) 6:30
Bonus
10 Slow And Low (Demo) 4:27
11 Together Forever (Krush-Groove 4) (Live) 3:35
12 Jam-Master Jammin' (Remix, Long Version) 6:45
13 King Of Rock (Live, From Live Aid) 7:26
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This album explodes into life so spectacularly across the first four tracks that it practically becomes the rap answer to The Joshua Tree. Anybody with even the tiniest amount of interest in rap music, of any era, will recognise these songs, so regularly are they played, parodied, referenced, and copied. Even if you don't think you know them by looking at the titles, I can promise you that you'll recognise them when you hear them. Run-D.M.C. were primed for a breakthrough into the mainstream, but nobody was prepared for a blockbuster on the level of Raising Hell. Run-D.M.C. and King of Rock had established the crew's fusion of hip-hop and hard rock, but that sound didn't blossom until Raising Hell, partially due to the presence of Rick Rubin as producer. Rubin loved metal and rap in equal measures and he knew how to play to the strengths of both, while slipping in commercial concessions that seemed sly even when they borrowed from songs as familiar as "My Sharona" (heard on "It's Tricky"). Along with longtime Run-D.M.C. producer Russell Simmons, Rubin blew down the doors of what hip-hop could do with Raising Hell because it reached beyond rap-rock and found all sorts of sounds outside of it. Sonically, there is simply more going on in this album than any previous rap record -- more hooks, more drum loops (courtesy of ace drum programmer Sam Sever), more scratching, more riffs, more of everything. Where other rap records, including Run-D.M.C.'s, were all about the rhythm, this is layered with sounds and ideas, giving the music a tangible flow. But the brilliance of this record is that even with this increased musical depth, it still rocks as hard as hell, and in a manner that brought in a new audience. Of course, the cover of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way," complete with that band's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, helped matters considerably, since it gave an audience unfamiliar with rap an entry point, but if it were just a novelty record, a one-shot fusion of rap and rock, Raising Hell would never have sold three million copies. No, the music was fully realized and thoroughly invigorating, rocking harder and better than any of its rock or rap peers in 1986, and years later, that sense of excitement is still palpable on this towering success story for rap in general and Run-D.M.C. in specific.
Run DMC - Raising Hell (flac 243mb)
01 Peter Piper 3:22
02 It's Tricky 3:02
03 My Adidas 2:47
04 Walk This Way 5:10
05 Is It Live 3:06
06 Perfection 2:51
07 Hit It Run 3:11
08 Raising Hell 5:31
09 You Be Illin' 3:26
10 Dumb Girl 3:32
11 Son Of Byford 0:27
12 Proud To Be Black 3:15
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Hip hop is a genre that moves fast. Every 3-4 years the genre re-invented itself and it's always been hard for the artists to adapt. Just look at Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash, even though they were the biggest acts of the first few years, as the mid 80s approached they were considered irrelevant. One of the main reasons for that was Run-D.M.C.'s "Sucker MC's", a single that changed hip hop and killed off what was left of disco rap. They became the most popular group of the genre with their popularity peaking with their 3rd album Raising Hell eventually selling more than 3 million copies of it. Their sound was hard and provided by drum machines and it set the blueprint for how to make hip hop in those years.
Which brings us to their 4th album Tougher Than Leather in the year 1988. Following the release of Raising Hell, the drum machine sound was on his way out and replaced by this sample-based sound provided by these samplers. The funk was back as a core element of the genre and it added the "hardness" of the raps innovated by Run-D.M.C.. Although it evolved more in the years to come, this would be the sound that we typically call "east coast hip hop", as it became standard from New York and surrounding areas. So how does Run-D.M.C. adapt to these changes? Sadly they don't. They've essentially released Raising Hell part 2, sticking with their drum machine sound because that's what they do.
At the end of 1986, Raising Hell was rap's best-selling album up to that point, though it would soon be outsold by the Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill. Profile Records hoped that Run-D.M.C.'s fourth album, Tougher Than Leather, would exceed the Beastie Boys' quintuple-platinum status, but unfortunately, the group's popularity had decreased by 1988. One of Run-D.M.C.'s strong points -- its love of rock & roll -- was also its undoing in hip-hop circles. Any type of crossover success tends to be viewed suspiciously in the hood, and hardcore hip-hoppers weren't overly receptive to "Miss Elaine," "Papa Crazy," "Mary, Mary," and other rap-rock delights found on the album. Thanks largely to rock fans, this album did go platinum for sales exceeding one million copies -- which ironically, Profile considered a disappointment. But the fact is that while Tougher Than Leather isn't quite as strong as Run-D.M.C.'s first three albums, it was still one of 1988's best rap releases.
Run DMC - Tougher Than Leather (flac 260mb)
01 Run's House 3:49
02 Mary Mary 3:12
03 The Call Us Run-D.M.C. 2:56
04 Beats To The Rhyme 2:43
05 Radio Station 2:50
06 Papa Crazy 4:18
07 Tougher Than Leather 4:20
08 I'm Not Going Out Like That 4:54
09 How Ya Do It Dee 3:20
10 Miss Elaine 3:05
11 Soul To Rock And Roll 2:17
12 Ragtime 2:42
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Today's Artists are an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. They are widely acknowledged as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture and one of the most famous hip hop acts of the 1980s. Along with LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy, the group pioneered new school hip hop music. They were the first group in the genre to have an album certified gold and to be nominated for a Grammy Award. They were the first to earn a platinum record (King of Rock, 1985), the first to earn a multi-platinum certification (Raising Hell, 1986), the first to have their music videos broadcast on MTV, and the first to appear on American Bandstand and the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. The group was among the first to highlight the importance of the MC and DJ relationship. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked them #48 in their list of the greatest musical artists of all time. In 2007, the group was named "The Greatest Hip Hop Group of All Time" by MTV and "Greatest Hip Hop Artist of All Time" by VH1. In 2009, they became the second hip hop group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2016, thanks to making the industry lots of money , they received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. ...... N Joy
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More than any other hip-hop group, Run-D.M.C. are responsible for the sound and style of the music. As the first hardcore rap outfit, the trio set the sound and style for the next decade of rap. With their spare beats and excursions into heavy metal samples, the trio were tougher and more menacing than their predecessors Grandmaster Flash and Whodini. In the process, they opened the door for both the politicized rap of Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions, as well as the hedonistic gangsta fantasies of N.W.A. At the same time, Run-D.M.C. helped move rap from a singles-oriented genre to an album-oriented one -- they were the first hip-hop artist to construct full-fledged albums, not just collections with two singles and a bunch of filler. By the end of the '80s, Run-D.M.C. had been overtaken by the groups they had spawned, but they continued to perform to a dedicated following well into the '90s.
All three members of Run-D.M.C. were natives of the middle-class New York borough Hollis, Queens. Run (born Joseph Simmons, November 14, 1964) was the brother of Russell Simmons, who formed the hip-hop management company Rush Productions in the early '80s; by the mid-'80s, Russell had formed the pioneering record label Def Jam with Rick Rubin. Russell encouraged his brother Joey and his friend Darryl McDaniels (born May 31, 1964) to form a rap duo. The pair of friends did just that, adopting the names Run and D.M.C., respectively. After they graduated from high school in 1982, the pair enlisted their friend Jason Mizell (born January 21, 1965) to scratch turntables; Mizell adopted the stage name Jam Master Jay.
In 1983, Run-D.M.C. released their first single, "It's Like That"/"Sucker M.C.'s," on Profile Records. The single sounded like no other rap at the time -- it was spare, blunt, and skillful, with hard beats and powerful, literate, daring vocals, where Run and D.M.C.'s vocals overlapped, as they finished each other's lines. It was the first "new school" hip-hop recording. "It's Like That" became a Top 20 R&B hit, as did the group's second single, "Hard Times"/"Jam Master Jay." Two other hit R&B singles followed in early 1984 -- "Rock Box" and "30 Days" -- before the group's eponymous debut appeared.
By the time of their second album, 1985's King of Rock, Run-D.M.C. had become the most popular and influential rappers in America, already spawning a number of imitators. As the King of Rock title suggests, the group were breaking down the barriers between rock & roll and rap, rapping over heavy metal records and thick, dense drum loops. Besides releasing the King of Rock album and scoring the R&B hits "King of Rock," "You Talk Too Much," and "Can You Rock It Like This" in 1985, the group also appeared in the rap movie Krush Groove, which also featured Kurtis Blow, the Beastie Boys, and the Fat Boys.
Run-D.M.C.'s fusion of rock and rap broke into the mainstream with their third album, 1986's Raising Hell. The album was preceded by the Top Ten R&B single "My Adidas," which set the stage for the group's biggest hit single, a cover of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way." Recorded with Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, "Walk This Way" was the first hip-hop record to appeal to both rockers and rappers, as evidenced by its peak position of number four on the pop charts. In the wake of the success of "Walk This Way," Raising Hell became the first rap album to reach number one on the R&B charts, to chart in the pop Top Ten, and to go platinum, and Run-D.M.C. were the first rap act to received airplay on MTV -- they were the first rappers to cross over into the pop mainstream. Raising Hell also spawned the hit singles "You Be Illin'" and "It's Tricky."
Run-D.M.C. spent most of 1987 recording Tougher Than Leather, their follow-up to Raising Hell. Tougher Than Leather was accompanied by a movie of the same name. Starring Run-D.M.C., the film was an affectionate parody of '70s blaxploitation films. Although Run-D.M.C. had been at the height of their popularity when they were recording and filming Tougher Than Leather, by the time the project was released, the rap world had changed. Most of the hip-hop audience wanted to hear hardcore political rappers like Public Enemy, not crossover artists like Run-D.M.C. Consequently, the film bombed and the album only went platinum, failing to spawn any significant hit singles.
Two years after Tougher Than Leather, Run-D.M.C. returned with Back From Hell, which became their first album not to go platinum. Following its release, both Run and D.M.C. suffered personal problems as McDaniels suffered a bout of alcoholism and Simmons was accused of rape. After McDaniels sobered up and the charges against Simmons were dismissed, both of the rappers became born-again Christians, touting their religious conversion on the 1993 album Down With the King. Featuring guest appearances and production assistance from artists as diverse as Public Enemy, EPMD, Naughty by Nature, A Tribe Called Quest, Neneh Cherry, Pete Rock, and KRS-One, Down With the King became the comeback Run-D.M.C. needed. The title track became a Top Ten R&B hit and the album went gold, peaking at number 21. Although they were no longer hip-hop innovators, the success of Down With the King proved that Run-D.M.C. were still respected pioneers.
After a long studio hiatus, the trio returned in early 2000 with Crown Royal. The album did little to add to their ailing record sales, but the following promotional efforts saw them join Aerosmith and Kid Rock for a blockbuster performance on MTV. By 2002, the release of two greatest-hits albums prompted a tour with Aerosmith that saw them travel the U.S., always performing "Walk This Way" to transition between their sets. Sadly, only weeks after the end of the tour, Jam Master Jay was senselessly murdered in a studio session in Queens. Only 37 years old, the news of his passing spread quick and hip-hop luminaries like Big Daddy Kane and Funkmaster Flex took the time to pay tribute to him on New York radio stations. Possibly the most visible DJ in the history of hip-hop, his death was truly the end of an era and unfortunately perpetuated the cycle of violence that has haunted the genre since the late '80s.
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This is the album that started it all. The birth of hardcore hip hop. Arguably the first classic hip hop LP. They where the first rap artists to have their video play on MTV. They have opened so many doors with this one, this is hands down the most influential hip hop album of all time. They changed the whole sound of hip hop at that time ending the Sugar Hill era. Years after the release of Run-D.M.C.'s eponymous 1984 debut, the group generally was acknowledged to be hip-hop's Beatles -- a sentiment that makes a lot of sense, even if Run-D.M.C. isn't quite the equivalent of a rap Please Please Me. Run-D.M.C. were the Beatles of rap because they signaled a cultural and musical change for the music, ushering it into its accepted form; neither group originated the music, but they gave it the shape known today. But, no matter how true and useful the comparison is, it is also a little misleading, because it implies that Run-D.M.C. also were a melodic, accessible group, bringing in elements from all different strands of popular music. No, Run-D.M.C.'s expanded their music by making it tough and spare, primarily by adapting the sound and attitude of hard rock to hip-hop. Prior to this, rap felt like a block party -- the beats were funky and elastic, all about the groove. Run-D.M.C. hit hard. The production is tough and minimal, built on relentless drum machines and Jam Master Jay's furious scratching, mixing in a guitar riff or a keyboard hit on occasion. It is brutal urban music, and Run and D.M.C.'s forceful, muscular rhymes match the music. Where other MCs sounded cheerful, Run and D.M.C. prowl and taunt the listener, sounding as if they were a street gang. And while much of the record is devoted to braggadocio, boasting, and block parties, Run-D.M.C. also addressed grittier realities of urban life, giving this record both context and thematic weight. All of this -- the music, the attitude, the words, the themes -- marked a turning point for rap, and it's impossible to calculate Run-D.M.C.'s influence on all that came afterward. Years later, some of the production may sound a bit of its time, but the music itself does not because music this powerful and original always retains its impact and force as music.
Run DMC - Run DMC (flac 224mb)
01 Hard Times 3:53
02 Rock Box 5:28
03 Jam Master Jay 3:21
04 Hollis Crew (Krush-Groove 2) 3:12
05 Sucker M.C.'s (Krush-Groove 1) 3:15
06 It's Like That 4:45
07 Wake Up 5:30
08 30 Days 5:45
09 Jay's Game 4:17
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Take the title of Run-D.M.C.'s King of Rock somewhat literally. True, the trailblazing rap crew hardly abandoned hip-hop on their second album, but they did follow through on the blueprint of their debut, emphasizing the rock leanings that formed the subtext of Run-D.M.C. Nearly every cut surges forward on thundering drum machines and simple power chords, with the tempos picked up a notch and the production hitting like a punch to the stomach. If the debut suggested hard rock, this feels like hard rock -- over-amplified, brutal, and intoxicating in its sheer sonic force. What really makes King of Rock work is that it sounds tougher and is smarter than almost all of the rock and metal records of its time. There is an urgency to the music unheard in the hard rock of the '80s -- a sense of inevitability to the riffs and rhythms, balanced by the justified boasting of Run and D.M.C. Most of their rhymes are devoted to party jams or bragging, but nobody was sharper, funnier, or as clever as this duo, nor was there a DJ better than Jam Master Jay, who not just forms the backbone of their music, but also has two great showcases in "Jam-Master Jammin'" and "Darryl and Joe" (the latter one of two exceptions to the rock rules of the album, the other being the genre-pushing "Roots, Rap, Reggae," one of the first rap tracks to make explicit the links between hip-hop and reggae). Even if there a pronounced rock influence throughout King of Rock, what makes it so remarkable is that it never sounds like a concession in order to win a larger audience. No matter how many metallic guitar riffs are on the record, this music is as raw and street-level as the debut. It manages to be just as dynamic, exciting, and timeless as that album, as it expands the definition of what both Run-D.M.C. and rap could do.
Run DMC - King Of Rock. (flac 451mb)
01 Rock The House 2:43
02 King Of Rock 5:12
03 You Talk Too Much 5:58
04 Jam-Master Jammin' 4:24
05 Roots, Rap, Reggae 3:14
06 Can You Rock It Like This 4:28
07 You're Blind 5:29
08 It's Not Funny 5:32
09 Darryl And Joe (Krush-Groove 3) 6:30
Bonus
10 Slow And Low (Demo) 4:27
11 Together Forever (Krush-Groove 4) (Live) 3:35
12 Jam-Master Jammin' (Remix, Long Version) 6:45
13 King Of Rock (Live, From Live Aid) 7:26
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This album explodes into life so spectacularly across the first four tracks that it practically becomes the rap answer to The Joshua Tree. Anybody with even the tiniest amount of interest in rap music, of any era, will recognise these songs, so regularly are they played, parodied, referenced, and copied. Even if you don't think you know them by looking at the titles, I can promise you that you'll recognise them when you hear them. Run-D.M.C. were primed for a breakthrough into the mainstream, but nobody was prepared for a blockbuster on the level of Raising Hell. Run-D.M.C. and King of Rock had established the crew's fusion of hip-hop and hard rock, but that sound didn't blossom until Raising Hell, partially due to the presence of Rick Rubin as producer. Rubin loved metal and rap in equal measures and he knew how to play to the strengths of both, while slipping in commercial concessions that seemed sly even when they borrowed from songs as familiar as "My Sharona" (heard on "It's Tricky"). Along with longtime Run-D.M.C. producer Russell Simmons, Rubin blew down the doors of what hip-hop could do with Raising Hell because it reached beyond rap-rock and found all sorts of sounds outside of it. Sonically, there is simply more going on in this album than any previous rap record -- more hooks, more drum loops (courtesy of ace drum programmer Sam Sever), more scratching, more riffs, more of everything. Where other rap records, including Run-D.M.C.'s, were all about the rhythm, this is layered with sounds and ideas, giving the music a tangible flow. But the brilliance of this record is that even with this increased musical depth, it still rocks as hard as hell, and in a manner that brought in a new audience. Of course, the cover of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way," complete with that band's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, helped matters considerably, since it gave an audience unfamiliar with rap an entry point, but if it were just a novelty record, a one-shot fusion of rap and rock, Raising Hell would never have sold three million copies. No, the music was fully realized and thoroughly invigorating, rocking harder and better than any of its rock or rap peers in 1986, and years later, that sense of excitement is still palpable on this towering success story for rap in general and Run-D.M.C. in specific.
Run DMC - Raising Hell (flac 243mb)
01 Peter Piper 3:22
02 It's Tricky 3:02
03 My Adidas 2:47
04 Walk This Way 5:10
05 Is It Live 3:06
06 Perfection 2:51
07 Hit It Run 3:11
08 Raising Hell 5:31
09 You Be Illin' 3:26
10 Dumb Girl 3:32
11 Son Of Byford 0:27
12 Proud To Be Black 3:15
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Hip hop is a genre that moves fast. Every 3-4 years the genre re-invented itself and it's always been hard for the artists to adapt. Just look at Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash, even though they were the biggest acts of the first few years, as the mid 80s approached they were considered irrelevant. One of the main reasons for that was Run-D.M.C.'s "Sucker MC's", a single that changed hip hop and killed off what was left of disco rap. They became the most popular group of the genre with their popularity peaking with their 3rd album Raising Hell eventually selling more than 3 million copies of it. Their sound was hard and provided by drum machines and it set the blueprint for how to make hip hop in those years.
Which brings us to their 4th album Tougher Than Leather in the year 1988. Following the release of Raising Hell, the drum machine sound was on his way out and replaced by this sample-based sound provided by these samplers. The funk was back as a core element of the genre and it added the "hardness" of the raps innovated by Run-D.M.C.. Although it evolved more in the years to come, this would be the sound that we typically call "east coast hip hop", as it became standard from New York and surrounding areas. So how does Run-D.M.C. adapt to these changes? Sadly they don't. They've essentially released Raising Hell part 2, sticking with their drum machine sound because that's what they do.
At the end of 1986, Raising Hell was rap's best-selling album up to that point, though it would soon be outsold by the Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill. Profile Records hoped that Run-D.M.C.'s fourth album, Tougher Than Leather, would exceed the Beastie Boys' quintuple-platinum status, but unfortunately, the group's popularity had decreased by 1988. One of Run-D.M.C.'s strong points -- its love of rock & roll -- was also its undoing in hip-hop circles. Any type of crossover success tends to be viewed suspiciously in the hood, and hardcore hip-hoppers weren't overly receptive to "Miss Elaine," "Papa Crazy," "Mary, Mary," and other rap-rock delights found on the album. Thanks largely to rock fans, this album did go platinum for sales exceeding one million copies -- which ironically, Profile considered a disappointment. But the fact is that while Tougher Than Leather isn't quite as strong as Run-D.M.C.'s first three albums, it was still one of 1988's best rap releases.
Run DMC - Tougher Than Leather (flac 260mb)
01 Run's House 3:49
02 Mary Mary 3:12
03 The Call Us Run-D.M.C. 2:56
04 Beats To The Rhyme 2:43
05 Radio Station 2:50
06 Papa Crazy 4:18
07 Tougher Than Leather 4:20
08 I'm Not Going Out Like That 4:54
09 How Ya Do It Dee 3:20
10 Miss Elaine 3:05
11 Soul To Rock And Roll 2:17
12 Ragtime 2:42
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1 comment:
Hi Rho
Thank you. Loving the early hip-hop you're posting recently.
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