It’s no secret that Run DMC has a legacy in the hip-hop game. When they first stepped on the scene with their single Sucker MC’s, they changed the entire landscape of the genre. The group introduced what is now known as “new-age rap” to the world and never looked back.
“When I heard Sucka M.C.’s, I knew the whole game was changing,” Kid Cupri shared with WBLS at the red carpet premiere of the Peacock Original Kings from Queens: The Run DMC Story. “When they came in with that, it showed that they could make music withouth having music in it. It was just a drum and a clap and it was a hit record. It opened doors in a big way.”
Joseph “Run” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell created a sound that no one has ever heard before and since. While other rappers were using samplign beats from disco and R&B, the trio stood out by sampling Rock n’ Roll.
They even dubbed themselves kings of Rock n’ Roll with their 1985 hit King of Rock. McDaniels even recalled that in the beginning of their careers, people who didn’t know them thought they weren’t even rappers.
“In the beginning, a lot of people thoguht Run DMC was a band,” he explained to WBLS. “So they would see us and they’d go ‘he’s Run, he’s DMC, who the hell is that guy back there playing records? And where is the band?’ That went on for all of ’83 into ’84 before we dropped the album.”
Although the trio have undoubtedly paved the way for many artists to come after them with their own unique sounds, the group humbily gives the praise to those who came before them and not only paved the way but created the lane of hip-hop itself. Simmons believes that its important to give credit where credit is due.
“They always say we’re old schoo, but the truth of the matter is, we’re kind of new school,” he shared. “There was a school before us that had the Cold Crush Brothers, Fantastic 5, Grand Master Flash. Even before records were made, Flash was there.”
The group is celebrating their legacy and impact on a genre that mad them who they are today. Check out the full interview above!