Remember the Kings: Run-DMC

When any of today's rappers declares himself or herself as the best rapper ever, they better check themselves. Once upon a time, not too long ago, there was a rap group by the name of Run-DMC, and as far as most anybody is concerned, Run-DMC was, is and will continue to be the best. In fact, some rap historians claim they were the ones to pave the way for the hip hop of today. Never heard of them?

First, for all you youngins out there, we need to give you a basic history lesson about Run-DMC. The members of this legendary rap act were Jason Jam Master Jay Mizell, Darryl DMC McDaniels, and Joseph Run Simmons. All three members grew up in the Queens area of New York City, which is still a hotbed of rap stars.

The group Run-DMC put Queens on the map, though, back in 1983 with the release of the first Run-DMC single, called "It's Like That." The success of that song was followed up by all-time records, four of them to be exact. The first of these Run-DMC records was "Run DMC" in 1984. The album went gold with such singles as "Rock Box" and "Hard Times."

Kings of Rock

Each subsequent Run-DMC record, however, got them bigger and bigger. Take the 1985 record "King of Rock," which ended up as a platinum record with such Run-DMC songs as "You Talk too Much."

By the time "Raising Hell" came out in 1986, everyone from Queens to Queensland, Australia, was wearing their Adidas loose like Run and DMC did. The album would end up number three on the charts and lead to a triple platinum sales record for the group. We're talking classic Run-DMC singles from this record, including "It's Tricky" and "Walk This Way." Think you've heard of this one?

It was "Walk This Way" that truly revolutionized the way rap (and rock) was done, and still is being done today. If you listen to Run-DMC on this song, you hear the steady, sure-fire Run-DMC lyrics that became their trademark, mixed in with the screeching singing of Aerosmith. It was a rock-rap mashup that made both groups huge amounts of money, and even brought Aerosmith back from obscurity.

Still the Kings

The fourth Run-DMC album was "Tougher Than Leather," released in 1988. It would sell double platinum and finish number nine on the charts," with such hits as "Mary, Mary." And Run-DMC would follow that up with the 1990 record "Back from Hell," which did not do nearly as well as their earlier albums and only finished gold. Still not too shabby, right?

Run-DMC would make a couple other appearances on the hip hop charts, with the 1993 record "Down with the King" and the 2001 "Crown Royal." The former did all right in sales, earning them a gold record. But they were slowly slipping out of the limelight at this point.

Then when Jam Master Jay was killed in 2002, they truly had enough. The group officially announced their retirement. Yet their impact on the industry will not be forgotten. Just imagine this-they were the first rap group with a video on MTV, the first to get a Grammy award nomination, and the first to have gold and platinum albums.

From Run-DMC to Hip Hop Music