It’s official, Run-DMC are going to the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. Really, it’s no surprise. Of all the rap groups that have come and gone, even of trailblazers like Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five who were inducted last year, Run- DMC is definitely MOST deserving of a Rock Hall of Fame invite.
If you’re a Grownhead, you remember ‘Rock Box,’ and hell the second album was even called The King of Rock. Practically every song on that album were big beats and power chords, you know, rock songs. What’s really amazing is the fact that black folks bought it.
Can you imagine a rapper today making an all-rock record and not being considered a sell-out? OK, Kanye, but did you cop it? Thank you.
When King of Rock dropped in ’85, hip-hop was NOTHING like it is today. It hadn’t crossed over yet and was no MTV Raps or Rap City, or even radio play. Because of Run-DMC, every rapper back then felt obligated to have at least one rock song on the album. And lest we forget, Kid Rock, Limp Biskit and Rage Against the Machine basically used King of Rock as the template for their entire music careers.
I’m not going to get into a big discussion and list all of Run-DMC’s milestones that littered their careers (there are just too many to name), but I will touch on one that in my opinion is one of the most bittersweet. After their third album Raising Hell was released, along with the maelstrom of hits, publicity, appearances and endorsements that followed, the Grammy Awards realized that rap had truly arrived. They made a Rap Category.
This was unquestionably a good thing. When they have to make a Grammy category for you, you have definitely hit
the mainstream. But what makes this all so bittersweet is the fact that the group most responsible for hip-hop’s recognition would never again be big enough or high-profile enough again to actually win a Grammy.
Raising Hell would be Run- DMC’s zenith. Tougher than Leather dropped (and ain’t really that bad once you go back and give it a listen), but Run and Co.’s sales would continue to dwindle. But let’s not end on a sad note. Profile recently released the first four Run-DMC albums, all remastered with a few bonus tracks to boot. So why not pick one of them up and remind yourself (as if you could actually forget) why Run-DMC will always be the kings.
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