You try to bite lines, but rhymes are mine
Youse a sucker MC in a pair of Calvin Klein
Comin from the wackest, part of town
Tryin to rap up but you can't get down
You don't even know your english, your verb or noun
You're just a sucker MC you sad face clown
from "Sucker MC's"
Run-DMC's self titled debut dropped in March 1984 and it was big. It became the first rap album ever to go gold. The innovative minimalism, the heavy beats, and the addition of some hard rock flourishes propelled Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, and "Jam Master" Jay Mizell of Hollis, Queens to the top of hip-hop. They proved that the Bronx didn't have a monopoly on funky fresh rhymes and like Public Enemy later was to rap - "that a deejay could be a band". The next few years would see the hip-hop culture cross over into rock and roll with Run-DMC leading the charge with the guidance of Russell Simmons, Larry Smith, and Rick Rubin to help along the way. Those people who were uprockin' to "It's Like That" in 1984 knew the music was on the one, but I wonder if they knew how big it would eventually be. Run-DMC was a template for the future.
Sugar Hill Records had been dominating the rap game with tracks which fairly gleamed of studio polish, but a style born out of economic necessity would change that. Run-DMC were signed to the tiny Profile label and producers Larry Smith and Russell Simmons didn't have access to big budget studio equipment or a cadre of studio musicians. Their first single was "It's Like That" with "Sucker M.C's" on the flip side. "It's Like That" was musically like Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" minus the bells and whistles. From the liner notes, Run says, "Ours is the hood version. We made a nasty, grimy version of 'Planet Rock.' But, innocent, too." "Sucker M.C's" was even sparser. It's just a drum machine, beats and electronic handclaps which is all the syncopation needed for Run and DMC to lay down some of the dopest lyrics around.
Article comments
1 - Elijah
As heavy as anything Led Zeppelin ever did?!? Do a little homework before making such a statement. It's quite universally accepted that Zepplin INVENTED heavy. This can't be taken seriously. I'm a big RUN DMC fan, but that's proposterous. Not to mention, as skilled as they were, they didn't play any instruments. So, the rap/rock comparison is a bit of a reach.