 GRAMMY AWARD WINNER Darryl McDaniels, D.M.C., from Run-D.M.C. Will Be Wearing “My Adidas” @ Philadelphia Comic Con! | |  | GET PHILADELPHIA COMIC CON TICKETS NOW!
GET PHILADELPHIA COMIC CON VIP TICKETS NOW! | |  | | | “Now Dr. Seuss and Mother Goose both did their thing. But, Jam Master’s gettin’ loose and DMC’s the king!” | |  Run–D.M.C. (sometimes written Run D.M.C., Run–DMC, or Run DMC) is an American hip hop group from Hollis, in the Queens borough of New York City. Founded by Joseph “Run” Simmons, Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels, and Jason “Jam-Master Jay” Mizell, the group is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture.
Run–D.M.C. were one of the most well-known hip hop acts in the 1980s, who along with LL Cool J, signified the advent of the new school of hip hop music. They were the first group in their genre to have a Gold record and be nominated for a Grammy Award. The group was among the first to show how important the MC/DJ relationship was. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked them number 48 in their list of the greatest musical artists of all time.
In 2007, Run–D.M.C. was named “The Greatest Hip Hop Group of All Time” by MTV.com and “Greatest Hip Hop Artist of All Time” by VH1. On April 4, 2009, rapper Eminem inducted them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In doing so, Run–D.M.C. became only the second hip hop group in history to be inducted, after Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
The initials “DMC” are widely accepted to refer to Darryl McDaniels’ initials.
In the 1984 album King of Rock, DMC says the initials have two meanings: “Devastating Mic Control” and “D for never dirty, MC for mostly clean.”
He also makes a third reference “The ‘D’s for Doing it all of the time, the ‘M’s for the rhymes that all are Mine, The ‘C’s for Cool - cool as can be.”
Frankie F The three members of Run–D.M.C. grew up in the neighborhood of Hollis in the Queens borough of New York City, USA. As a teen, Simmons was recruited into hip-hop by his older brother, Russell, who was then an up and coming hip-hop promoter. Simmons appeared onstage as a DJ for rapper Kurtis Blow, who was managed by Russell. Performing as “DJ Run, Son of Kurtis Blow,” the younger Simmons soon began trading rhymes with Kurtis Blow and beat-boxing for the audience. He would often come back to Hollis and play his taped performances for his friend Darryl McDaniels. Previously, McDaniels had been more focused on athletics than music, but soon began to DJ after purchasing a set of turntables. Simmons convinced McDaniels to start rapping, and though McDaniels would not perform in public, he soon began writing cool and fantastic rhymes and calling himself “Easy D.”
Simmons and McDaniels (who, over time, had overcome his early stage fright) started hanging around Two-Fifths Park in Hollis in late 1980, hoping to rap for the local DJs that performed and competed there, and the most popular one known to frequent the park was Mizell, then known as “Jazzy Jase”. Mizell was known for his flashy wardrobe and b-boy attitude, which led to minor legal troubles as a teen. Thereafter, he decided to pursue music full-time and began entertaining in the park soon after. Eventually, Simmons and McDaniels rapped in front of Mizell at the park, and the three became friends immediately. Following Russell’s success managing Kurtis Blow, he helped Run record his first single, a song called “Street Kid.” The song went unnoticed, but despite the single’s failure, Run’s enthusiasm for hip-hop was growing. Simmons soon wanted to record again—-this time with McDaniels, but Russell refused, citing a dislike for D’s rhyming style. After they completed high school and started college in 1982, Simmons and McDaniels finally convinced Russell to let them record as a duo, and they recruited Mizell (who now called himself Jam-Master Jay) to be their official DJ. A year later, in 1983, Russell agreed to help them record a new single and land a record deal, but only after he changed McDaniels’ stage name to ‘DMC’ and marketed the group as “Run–D.M.C.”, a name which, incidentally, the group hated at first. DMC said later, “We wanted to be the Dynamic Two, the Treacherous Two — when we heard that shit, we was like, ‘We’re gonna be ruined!’”
After signing with Profile Records, Run–D.M.C. released their first single “It’s Like That/Sucker MCs”, in late 1983. The sound was a revolution in hip hop: aggressive, cocky rhymes over spare, minimal, hard-hitting beats. Previously, rap music had been chiefly funk and disco-influenced, but Run–D.M.C.’s sound, like their name, was unlike anything that had been heard in rap before. The single was well received, peaking at #15 on the R&B charts. The trio performed the single on the New York Hot Tracks video show in 1983. Emboldened by their success, Run–D.M.C. recorded their eponymous debut and, released in 1984, Run–D.M.C. was an instant hit and, arguably, rap’s first classic album.[citation needed] Hit singles such as “Jam-Master Jay” and “Hard Times” proved that the group were more than a one-hit wonder, and the landmark single “Rock Box” was a groundbreaking fusion of raw hip-hop and hard rock that would become a cornerstone of the group’s sound and paved the way for the rap rock movement of the late 1990s.
Run–D.M.C.’s swift ascension to the forefront of rap with a new sound and style meant that old school hip hop artists were becoming outdated. Along with pushing rap into a new direction musically, Run–D.M.C. changed the entire aesthetic of hip hop music and culture. Old school rappers like Afrika Bambaataa and Melle Mel of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five tended to dress in the flashy attire that was commonly attributed to rock and disco acts of the era: tight leather, chest-baring shirts, gloves and hats with rhinestones and spikes, leather boots, etc. Run–D.M.C. discarded the more glam aspects of early hip hop’s look (which ironically, was later readopted in 1990 by more “pop” rappers MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice) and incorporated a more ‘street’ sense of style such as fedoras, leather jackets, and unlaced Adidas shoes. The group’s look had been heavily influenced by Mizell’s own personal style. When Russell Simmons saw Jay’s flashy, yet street b-boy style, he insisted the entire group follow suit. | | Join tens of thousands of fans as they converge on the Pennsylvania Convention Center at Philadelphia Comic Con Wizard World Convention to celebrate the best in pop culture. Philadelphia Comic Con brings it all - Movies, Comics, Toys, Video Gaming, Games, TV, Horror, Wrestling, MMA, Original Art, Collectibles, Anime, Manga & More! Philadelphia Comic Con is brought to you by the group who produces the most widely attended Comic Con tour!
For more Philadelphia Comic Con guest and programming updates, become a fan of PHILADELPHIA COMIC CON on Facebook!
Follow us on Twitter by CLICKING HERE!
Save up to 15 percent off the price of tickets by ordering your tickets in advance. Tickets are more at the door.
GET PHILADELPHIA COMIC CON TICKETS NOW!
GET PHILADELPHIA COMIC CON VIP TICKETS NOW! | | | | | | | |
|
|
