The classic self titled album Run-DMC debuted 30 years ago today, Hip Hops first certified gold album. The list of “firsts” for Run-D.M.C. continued with their next album, King of Rock - Hip Hops first platinum. They went on to be the first rappers to turn up on MTV, Saturday Night Live and the cover of Rolling Stone. They were the first rap act nominated for a Grammy Award (Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Group), for 1986’s Raising Hell. They even turned up at Live-Aid and on American Bandstand. Rap and its messages became more assimilated into the American mainstream following the trailblazing lead of Run-D.M.C.. They did it all by being themselves, dressing without image or affectation, and popularizing adidas shoes in the process - the first rap group to realize the marketing potential connected to their music. For first album though, coming on the heels of pioneer rap acts like Grand Master Flash, cuts like “It’s Like That”/”Sucker MCs” were hailed by critics as signaling a hardcore, streetwise new direction for rap. The delivery was straightforward, the words hard-hitting and the beats and backing sparse and powerful, with lots of space. Hip-hop writer Sasha Frere-Jones noted the “legible, populist minimalism” of Run-D.M.C.’s records, and made this observation about their interplay as rappers: “The rhymes go back and forth like beach balls between sea lions, with one finishing the other’s line, a strategy that hasn’t been heard since battle crews like Cold Crush Brothers ruled in 1980 and 1981.”
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 03:55:48 +0000
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