To read Pt. I of this interview with D.M.C., please click here.
SHAD The tour in the summer of 1988-Run-D.M.C., Public Enemy, LL Cool J, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. What was that experience like?
D.M.C. It was really fun because all those groups at the time were burning hot. And so it wasn’t like we were the only top dogs then. For me personally, I thought Public Enemy was way, way better than us. So me, I’m a fan, I think Chuck D is the greatest thing to ever happen to the microphone. I don’t even care about my career anymore because I was on tour with the hard-rhymer Chuck D. But you asked about the tour, every tour we did was incredible. Highly competitive, but we all were family. So The Raising Hell Tour, Together Forever with the Beasties, that tour (in ’88) was The Tougher Than Leather Tour with P.E. and them. To this day, the same way we felt about each other way back then, we even feel stronger about each other now.
Chuck D.
That’s really special. Because me, as a younger person, I’m twenty-five. And so when I see it, I’m just like all those acts are legendary. All of them shifted the genre of hip hop. So just trying to imagine all these people going out on tour, it’s an overwhelming thought to me. It was so much love then. Fun. It was fun! It was a fun time.
Run-D.M.C. hosted the pilot episode of Yo! MTV Raps. How do you think that show changed the perception of hip hop? People got to see and experience 24/7, it wasn’t just hearing us (rappers) on the radio, seeing us perform or just seeing us in action in a video. You got to sit there and hear us talk and interact. The people, the public, the fans, even adults and people that didn’t really understand us got to experience the total us. So Yo! MTV Raps was a blessing. You got to see the humorous side, the real side, you got to sit there and see us just talk and not just be entertainers. I think that was the blessing of Yo! MTV Raps. Plus, you got to see the vast variety. It wasn’t like it is today where everything is so who sold the most records? Who is playing on the radio? When you saw Yo! MTV Raps, it didn’t matter that Run-D.M.C. were the kings because you got to see all of the groups that you just said. Everybody collectively is what made hip hop great. You know what I’m saying?
Yeah. I caught the tail-end of Yo!, as a kid in the mid-90s, watching MTV when I wasn’t supposed to. What really grabbed me about that show, considering that I wanted to be a writer, is that Fab 5 Freddy, Ed Lover and Dr. Dre weren’t just journalists. They were part of the culture. And that really inspired me. Exactly. It was a really good thing because hip hop itself was good.
The best Run-D.M.C. performance that I ever saw was in September 1999 at the MTV Video Music Awards when you performed with Kid Rock and Aerosmith. That’s a legendary performance.
It is. What do you remember most about that evening? Well, I couldn’t believe that they wanted all three of us simultaneously to do that. And I think that’s really what’s missing from hip hop today. The unity of good artists coming at you on a platform where everybody’s on the same level trying to do the best music possible and it’s all inclusive of everybody. And what was significant about that is just to be able to have three generations of rock and roll. Because think about it- you’ve got the Aerosmith generation, the Run-D.M.C. generation then got with Aerosmith, and we gave birth to the Kid Rock generation. And because of Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. knocking down that wall, Kid Rock said, “Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith had a baby and I popped out.” Korn, Limp Bizkit, Travis Barker, Linkin Park, they all say because of that, what Run-D.M.C. did with “Walk This Way”, they are able to be. That was a signature moment.
One other performance I really liked that was an homage to Run-D.M.C., and Rest in Peace Jam Master Jay, that took place after his passing was the one with Kid Rock and Chuck D when they did a medley of Run-D.M.C. classics. At the time, Kid Rock was really into his southern rock vibe and that is clearly a different demographic than Public Enemy’s. That example shows that whether it’s country music, whether it’s indie rock, wether it’s rebellious, political music, Run-D.M.C. was able to fit people in the same room at the same time together. I think what Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith did- we showed that music is the most powerful force on the face of the earth. It succeeds where politics and religion fail. We made it possible, even before “Walk This Way,” when Run-D.M.C. toured with the Beasties, (people were like), “how in the world are these white, punk, rock kids going to get with these black b-boys and b-girls from New York City? Ain’t nothing good going to come out of that.” We proved them wrong. We went and sold out Madison Square Garden. We sold out the Philadelphia Spectrum with the Beastie Boys. Then we went overseas with the Beastie Boys, and toured Europe. White people and black people together. We just broke down all barriers to unity between people by using the most powerful force. Yeah, hip hop is its own genre, but hip hop is the brother and sister of rock and roll.
Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys in New York City, 1987. From L to R: MCA (R.I.P.), DJ Jam Master Jay (R.I.P.), Ad Rock, D.M.C., Mike D., Run
I agree. It’s why rappers say that they rock the mic instead of rap it, right? Exactly.
In your opinion, what do you think is Run-D.M.C.’s greatest accomplishment? Wow, good question. The greatest accomplishment, it’s easy. If you listen to “My Adidas”, I say, “We took the beat from the street and put it on TV.” That’s all we did. We really didn’t want you wearing sneakers with no laces. We just wanted to show people what Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation were saying in all their records and their representation of the hip hop culture. When Afrika Bambaataa named it “hip hop” and he said on Planet Rock, “Be what you be, so be.” We just put it up there and when people saw it, I think Run-D.M.C. took the beat from the street, but it wasn’t just about being a musician. Hip hop didn’t just create emcees, DJs, and rappers. It created journalists, such as yourself, it created designers, politicians. It created doctors, scientists, lawyers, CEOs. So Run-D.M.C., the thing that we did, we were the first to get it on MTV. We put the beat as it was, in its own special uniqueness, on TV for all to see and experience. That was it.
Thank you for everything you guys did. Thank you for liking it.
To see Run-D.M.C. accept their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, please click here.
What has being a solo artist allowed you to do creatively that you were unable to as 1/3 of Run-D.M.C.? Oh, I can be the rock star that I really want to be. When I was with Run-D.M.C., I had a position. If I’m playing on a football team, there’s a role. You’ve got the quarterback. You’ve got the running-back. You’ve got the wide receiver. I’m not going to try to be quarterback or receiver. But when I’m solo, I can do anything, say anything any way I want to and I don’t have to worry about anybody saying, “How come?” or “Aren’t you supposed to?” Not that I couldn’t have done that with Run-D.M.C., but my reputation I established with Run-D.M.C. had to allow me to stay particular to my position. My new music that’s going to be coming out in November or December- I’m not political, but I’ll do a socially conscious record. But a lot of my music now, I’m going right after the government. I’m going right after established religion. I could do that as a solo artist because if I would’ve done that with Run-D.M.C., if I’m at a press conference or if anybody’s writing about me, they are going to key into those things because they stand out and it’s going to be controversial and significant. So as a solo artist, I can talk about the things that Darryl really wants to talk about. When you’re in a group, you’ve got to be the “D.M.C. King of Rock” guy that everybody loves.
I can’t wait to hear more from Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels- one of the greatest emcees of all-time.
Words: Shad Reed [SReed0508@gmail.com; @Shad1424]
Videos (vía youtube.com): Rock2Night4Roll, rockhall
Photo Credit: publicenemy.com, DMI/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
