Run-D.M.C. (album)

The music on the album was created by Larry Smith's group Orange Krush using the Oberheim DMX drum machine and Jam Master Jay's scratches mixed in a guitar riff.{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=e3klDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA61|title=Sounding Race in Rap Songs (2015)|access-date=January 26, 2019|isbn=9780520283985|last1=Kajikawa|first1=Loren|date=March 7, 2015}}

The album was dedicated to the memory of DJ June Bug who worked as a DJ in the Bronx at the club Disco Fever, selling drugs at the same time.{{cite web| url=http://www.oldschoolhiphop.com/video/krushgroove.htm |title= Krush Groove (Jan 7, 2010)| website=oldschoolhiphop.com |access-date=February 10, 2019}}

{{Main|Rock Box}}

Run-D.M.C.'s second listed track, "Rock Box" (which was released as the album's third single on April 16, 1984), is credited by music critics for dissolving social and racial boundaries within the music industry between rock music and mainstream hip hop at the time of the album's release.{{Cite web |date=October 28, 2019 |title=Find Out How Run-DMC Broke Boundaries With "Rock Box" {{!}} AMC Talk {{!}} AMC |url=https://www.amc.com/blogs/find-out-how-run-dmc-broke-boundaries-with-rock-box--1005345 |access-date=2022-04-11 |website=www.amc.com |language=en}}

The music video for "Rock Box" became the first rap video played on MTV in the summer of 1984.{{Cite web |date=2019-10-07 |title=Although Blondie's "Rapture" Was The First Music Video With A Rap Aired On MTV, Run-D.M.C.'s "Rock Box" Was The First Hip-Hop Music Video By A Rap Group Aired On MTV {{!}} DailyRapFacts |url=https://dailyrapfacts.com/6656/rapture-was-the-first-video-with-a-rap-on-mtv-rock-box-was-the-first-hip-hop-video-by-a-rap-group-on-mtv/ |access-date=2022-04-11 |website=dailyrapfacts.com |language=en-US}}{{cite web| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/run-d-m-c-is-beating-the-rap-106981 |title=Run-D.M.C. Is Beating the Rap (by ED KIERSH) [DECEMBER 4, 1986]| website=rollingstone.com |access-date=May 4, 2019|date=December 4, 1986}} The video was filmed in the famous New York punk club Danceteria. As Run-D.M.C.'s first major video release, the trio represented 1980's New York street fashion with their signature look of black Kangol hats, black Lee jeans, black t-shirts and leather jackets, white Adidas sneakers, gold chains, and, as always, D.M.C. is wearing his trademark glasses.{{cite web | url=http://nightflight.com/take-off-to-street-music-run-d-m-c-s-rock-box-video-rocked-from-the-floor-up-to-the-ceiling/ | title=Take Off to Street Music: Run-D.M.C.'s "Rock Box" video rocked from the floor up to the ceiling (by Bryan Thomas) on January 11, 2017 | website=nightflight.com | access-date=May 4, 2019 | archive-date=January 23, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123121336/http://nightflight.com/take-off-to-street-music-run-d-m-c-s-rock-box-video-rocked-from-the-floor-up-to-the-ceiling/ | url-status=dead }} Run-D.M.C. has been credited for evolving African-American fashion, breaking away from the highly glamorous looks of disco and early hip hop.{{Cite web |title=The History of Hip Hop Fashion: How Street Culture Became Fashion's Biggest Influence |url=https://www.afterglowatx.com/blog/2019/3/26/the-history-of-hip-hop-fashion-how-street-culture-became-fashions-biggest-influence |access-date=2022-04-11 |website=afterglow |language=en-US}}

In a 2019 episode of the AMC docuseries The Songs That Shook America, "Rock Box" was applauded for its blending of snare drum beats accompanied by the guitar riffs performed by American guitarist Eddie Martinez.{{Citation |title=Rock Box: 1984 |date=2019-10-27 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12205778/ |series=Hip Hop: The Songs That Shook America |access-date=2022-04-11}}

{{Blockquote|text=By mixing rock and rap, 'Rock Box' redefined both genres. Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, Linkin Park, Rage Against the Machine, and Blink-182, none of them would be the same without this one song, and hip hop and rock might still be segregated art forms. That's its impact.|author=Questlove}}

"Rock Box" would also go on to inspire many of Run-D.M.C.'s future material in the rap-rock genre, including the title track of their second studio album King of Rock (1985), the singles "Walk This Way" and "It's Tricky" from the group's third studio album Raising Hell (1986), and the title track of their fourth studio album Tougher Than Leather (1988).{{Cite web |title=Before they could walk this way, Run-D.M.C. started with Rock Box |url=https://www.tampabay.comundefined/ |access-date=2022-04-11 |website=Tampa Bay Times |language=en}}{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

The song "It's Like That" was performed on stage in the 1985 Warner Bros. film Krush Groove, in which the Run-D.M.C.'s members starred in April 1985.{{cite web| url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089444/soundtrack|title=Krush Groove (1985) - Soundtracks - IMDb| website=imdb.com |access-date=May 4, 2019}}

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite web|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/run-dmc-mw0000650722|title=Run-D.M.C. – Run-D.M.C.|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=February 8, 2011}}

| rev2 = Chicago Tribune

| rev2score = {{Rating|4|4}}{{cite news|last=Kot|first=Greg|author-link=Greg Kot|date=December 2, 1990|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-12-02-9004090776-story.html|title=A Rundown On The Recording History Of Run-D.M.C.|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|access-date=January 29, 2022}}

| rev3 = Pitchfork

| rev3score = 8.1/10{{cite web|last=Breihan|first=Tom|date=September 22, 2005|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11816-run-dmc-king-of-rock-raising-hell-tougher-than-leather/|title=Run-D.M.C.: Run-DMC / King of Rock / Raising Hell / Tougher Than Leather|website=Pitchfork|access-date=February 8, 2011}}

| rev4 = Record Collector

| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|last=McCann|first=Ian|date=October 2017|url=https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/album/run-dmc|title=Run-DMC; King Of Rock; Raising Hell; Tougher Than Leather {{!}} Run-DMC|magazine=Record Collector|location=London|issue=471|access-date=January 29, 2022}}

| rev5 = Rolling Stone

| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Miller|first=Debby|date=August 30, 1984|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/run-d-m-c-201535/|title=Run-D.M.C.|magazine=Rolling Stone|location=New York|access-date=February 8, 2011}}

| rev6 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev6score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite book|last=Tate|first=Greg|author-link=Greg Tate|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor1-link=Nathan Brackett|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|editor2-link=Christian Hoard|year=2004|chapter=Run-D.M.C.|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|edition=4th|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/708 708–709]}}

| rev7 = The Source

| rev7score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite magazine|title=Got Five On It|magazine=The Source|location=New York|issue=150|date=March 2002|pages=174–179}}

| rev8 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev8score = 9/10{{cite book|last=Weisbard|first=Eric|author-link=Eric Weisbard|editor1-last=Weisbard|editor1-first=Eric|editor2-last=Marks|editor2-first=Craig|year=1995|chapter=Run-D.M.C.|title=Spin Alternative Record Guide|title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide|publisher=Vintage Books|location=New York|isbn=0-679-75574-8|pages=338–339}}

| rev9 = Uncut

| rev9score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|title=Run-DMC: Run-D.M.C.|magazine=Uncut|location=London|issue=78|date=November 2003|page=130}}

| rev10 = The Village Voice

| rev10score = A−{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=April 24, 1984|url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv4-84.php|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|access-date=February 8, 2011}}

}}

Debby Miller of Rolling Stone complimented Run-D.M.C.'s boasts about "messages that self-improvement is the only ticket out" and viewed their style as a departure from most hip hop acts at the time; stating "they get into a vocal tug of war that's completely different from the straightforward delivery of The Furious Five's Melle Mel or the everybody-takes-a-verse approach of groups like Sequence. And the music ... that backs these tracks is surprisingly varied, for all its bare bones".

In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau described it as "easily the canniest and most formally sustained rap album ever, a tour de force I trust will be studied by all manner of creative downtowners and racially enlightened Englishmen". Christgau commented on the group's "heavy staccato and proud disdain for melody", writing that "the style has been in the New York air long enough that you may understand it better than you think".

The album has been regarded by music writers as one of early hip hop's best albums and a landmark release of the new school hip hop movement in the 1980s. According to journalist Peter Shapiro, the album's 1983 double-single release "It's Like That"/"Sucker M.C.'s" "completely changed hip-hop ... rendering everything that preceded it distinctly old school with one fell swoop."Shapiro, p.327Shapiro, p. 401 Run-D.M.C. rapped over the most sparse of musical backing tracks in hip hop at the time: a drum machine and a few scratches, with rhymes that harangued weak rappers and contrasted them to the group's success. "It's Like That" is an aggressively delivered message rap whose social commentary has been defined variously as "objective fatalism", "frustrated and renunciatory",Rose, Tricia. "'Fear of a Black Planet': Rap Music and Black Cultural Politics in the 1990s", The Journal of Negro Education, Summer 1991. and just plain "reportage".

In 1989, the album was ranked number 51 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s.[http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=6936976 Product Notes – Run-D.M.C.]. Muze. Retrieved on February 8, 2011. In 2003, the album was ranked number 240 on Rolling Stone{{'}}s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.Staff (November 2003). [https://archive.today/20120907222233/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/run-dmc-run-dmc-19691231 500 Greatest Albums: Run-DMC – Run-DMC]. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on February 8, 2011. The album's ranking moved to number 242 in the 2012 version of the list, and to number 378 in the 2020 update.

In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060214200158/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/source.htm The Source: 100 Best Rap Albums]}}. Rocklist. Retrieved on February 22, 2009.

"It's the first rap album that broke big," observed Ice-T, "which paved the way for everybody into being able to make rap albums, not just singles."

{{cite journal|first= Mansel |last= Fletcher |title= 100 Best Albums Ever |journal= Hip Hop Connection |date= March 2000 |page= 37}}

• The Observer – no. 40 at "50 albums that changed music" (2006){{Cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jul/16/popandrock.shopping |title=The Observer's 50 albums that changed music| newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=May 4, 2019|date=July 16, 2006}}
• NME – no. 25 at "101 Albums To Hear Before You Die" (2014){{Cite web| url=https://www.nme.com/list/101-albums-to-hear-before-you-die-1259 |title=101 Albums To Hear Before You Die| website=nme.com |access-date=May 4, 2019|date=May 7, 2014}}
• Rolling Stone – no. 51 at "100 Best Albums of the Eighties" (1989){{Cite web| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-best-albums-of-the-eighties-150477/run-d-m-c-run-d-m-c-66582/ |title=100 Best Albums of the Eighties| website=rollingstone.com |access-date=May 4, 2019|date=November 16, 1989}}
• Rolling Stone – no. 240/242/378 at "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" (2003/2012/2020 editions of the list, respectively){{Cite web| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/run-d-m-c-run-d-m-c-2-169211/ |title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time| website=rollingstone.com |access-date=May 4, 2019|date=May 31, 2012}}{{cite web| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/run-d-m-c-run-d-m-c-2-169211/| year=2012| title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time| publisher=Rolling Stone| access-date= September 16, 2019}}
• Rolling Stone – no. 26 at "100 Best Debut Albums of All Time" (2003){{Cite web| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-best-debut-albums-of-all-time-143608/run-dmc-5-228507/ |title=100 Best Debut Albums of All Time| website=rollingstone.com |access-date=May 4, 2019|date=October 13, 2013}}
• Rolling Stone – "The 40 Most Groundbreaking Albums of All Time" (2013){{Cite web| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/interactive/most-groundbreaking-albums-of-all-time/#run-dmc |title=The 40 Most Groundbreaking Albums of All Time| website=rollingstone.com |access-date=May 4, 2019}}
• Spin – no. 11 at "The 25 Greatest Albums of All Time" (1989){{Cite web| url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/spin100.html#25 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051001133950/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/spin100.html#25 | url-status=usurped | archive-date=October 1, 2005 |title=The 25 Greatest Albums of All Time| website=rocklistmusic.co.uk |access-date=May 4, 2019}}
• Spin – no. 7 at "The Ten Reasons We Wish Spin Had Started In 1984" (2005){{Cite web| url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/spin100.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051001133950/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/spin100.html | url-status=usurped | archive-date=October 1, 2005 |title=The Ten Reasons We Wish Spin Had Started In 1984| website=rocklistmusic.co.uk |access-date=May 4, 2019}}
• The Source – "100 Best Rap Albums" (1998){{cite web|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/source.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060214200158/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/source.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=February 14, 2006|title=The Source - 100 Best Rap Albums|website=rocklistmusic.co.uk |access-date=May 4, 2019}}
• The Source – "Albums Rated 5 Mics (Out of 5)" (1998){{cite web|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/source.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060214200158/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/source.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=February 14, 2006|title=The Source: Albums Rated 5 Mics (Out of 5)|website=rocklistmusic.co.uk |access-date=May 4, 2019}}
• The Source – "100 Best Rap Singles" (1998){{cite web|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/source.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060214200158/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/source.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=February 14, 2006|title=The Source - 100 Best Rap Singles|website=rocklistmusic.co.uk |access-date=May 4, 2019}}
• Beats Per Minute – no. 73 at "The Top 100 Albums of the 1980s" (2011){{Cite web| url=https://beatsperminute.com/features/the-top-100-albums-of-the-1980s/ |title=The Top 100 Albums of the 1980s| website=beatsperminute.com |date=September 8, 2011|access-date=May 4, 2019}}
• XXL – "40 Years of Hip-Hop: Top 5 Albums by Year" (2014){{Cite web| url=https://www.xxlmag.com/news/2014/01/xxl-lists-best-hip-hop-songs-albums-last-40-years-xxl-issue-152/ |title=40 Years of Hip-Hop: Top 5 Albums by Year| website=xxlmag.com |access-date=May 4, 2019}}
• Uncut – no. 33 at "50 Greatest New York Albums" (2015){{Cite web| url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nme_soundtrk.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629131726/http://rocklistmusic.co.uk/nme_soundtrk.html | url-status=usurped | archive-date=June 29, 2006 |title=50 Greatest New York Albums| website=rocklistmusic.co.uk |access-date=May 4, 2019}}
• Complex – no. 37 at "The Best Rap Albums of the '80s" (2017){{Cite web| url=https://www.complex.com/music/50-greatest-rap-albums-1980s/ |title=The Best Rap Albums of the '80s| website=complex.com |access-date=May 4, 2019}}
• Complex – "The Best Hip-Hop Producer Alive, Every Year Since 1979" (2018){{Cite web| url=https://www.complex.com/music/2018/10/best-hip-hop-producers |title=The Best Hip-Hop Producer Alive, Every Year Since 1979| website=complex.com |access-date=May 4, 2019}}
• The Village Voice – no. 10 at "Pazz & Jop: Top 10 Albums By Year, 1971–2017" (2018){{Cite web| url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/01/22/pazz-jop-top-10-albums-by-year-1971-2016/ |title=Pazz & Jop: Top 10 Albums By Year, 1971-2017 | website=villagevoice.com |date=January 22, 2018 |access-date=May 4, 2019}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| extra_column = Sample(s)

| title1 = Hard Times

| length1 = 3:52

| writer1 = {{hlist|Jimmy Bralower|JB Moore|Russell Simmons|Larry Smith|Will Waring}}

| title2 = Rock Box

| length2 = 5:30

| writer2 = {{hlist|Darryl McDaniels|Joseph Simmons|Smith}}

| title3 = Jam-Master Jay

| length3 = 3:11

| writer3 = {{hlist|McDaniels|Jason Mizell|J. Simmons}}

| extra3 = "Scratchin'" by Magic Disco Machine

| title4 = Hollis Crew (Krush-Groove 2)

| length4 = 3:12

| writer4 = {{hlist|McDaniels|Mizell|J. Simmons|R. Simmons}}

| title5 = Sucker M.C.'s (Krush-Groove 1)

| length5 = 3:09

| writer5 = {{hlist|Nathaniel S. Hardy|Jr., McDaniels|J. Simmons|Smith}}

| extra5 = "Live at the Disco Fever" by Lovebug Starski

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| extra_column = Sample(s)

| total_length =

| title6 = It's Like That

| length6 = 4:50

| writer6 = {{hlist|McDaniels|J. Simmons|Smith}}

| title7 = Wake Up

| length7 = 5:31

| writer7 = {{hlist|J. Simmons|Smith|R. Simmons|Daniel Hayden}}

| title8 = 30 Days

| length8 = 5:47

| writer8 = {{hlist|Daniel Simmons|Smith|Moore}}

| title9 = Jay's Game

| length9 = 4:25

| writer9 = {{hlist|J. Simmons|Smith|Mizell|R. Simmons}}

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = 2005 deluxe edition CD bonus tracks

| title10 = Rock Box (B-Boy Mix)

| length10 = 5:52

| title11 = Here We Go (Live at the Funhouse)

| length11 = 4:06

| title12 = Sucker M.C.'s (Live at Graffiti Rock)

| length12 = 3:25

| title13 = Russell & Larry Running at the Mouth

| length13 = 4:37

}}

Musicians

• Jam Master Jay – percussion, keyboards
• Darryl McDaniels "D.M.C." – vocals
• Joseph Simmons "Run" or "Rev Run" – vocals
• Eddie Martinez – guitar

Production

• Orange Krush – composer
• Russell Simmons – producer
• Larry Smith – producer
• Rod Hui – producer; engineer
• Erika Klein- assistant engineer

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|award=Gold|relyear=1984|certyear=1984|artist=Run-D.M.C.|type=album|title=Run-D.M.C.}}

{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true}}

{{Reflist}}

;Bibliography

• Shapiro, Peter. Rough Guide to Hip Hop, 2nd. ed., London: Rough Guides, 2005. {{ISBN|978-1-84353-263-7}}
• Toop, David. Rap Attack, 3rd. ed., London: Serpent's Tail, 2000. {{ISBN|978-1-85242-627-9}}

• {{discogs master|63312}}
• [https://genius.com/albums/Run-dmc/Run-d-m-c Run-D.M.C.] at RapGenius
• {{Official website|http://www.rundmc.com/}}

• [http://www.myspace.com/rundmc/music/albums/run-dmc-13887565 Run-D.M.C.] (Adobe Flash) at Myspace (streamed copy where licensed)

{{Run-D.M.C.}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Run-D.M.C. (Album)}}

Category:1984 debut albums

Category:Run-DMC albums

Category:Arista Records albums

Category:Profile Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Larry Smith (producer)

Category:Albums recorded at Greene St. Recording