Run-D.M.C.

Run-D.M.C. was a hip hop group founded by Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell that included Joseph "Run" Simmons and Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels. The group had an enormous development upon hip hop through the 1980s and is credited with breaking hip hop into mainstream music. The three members of Run-D.M.C. grew up in Hollis, Queens, New York, USA.

Mainstream success

The band signed a record deal with Profile Records in 1983, and Run's older brother Russell Simmons signed Run-D.M.C. to his newly formed management company Rush Productions that same year. On their first major US tour, the group set new trends by performing dressed in baggy black clothing, Adidas sneakers (with the shoelaces strictly removed), and Fedoras.

Related Topics:
Profile Records - Rush Productions - US - Trends - Adidas - Fedora

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Their mainstream success continued as the group performed at the famous Live Aid concert in 1985, and their 1986 album Raising Hell became the highest-selling rap album in history, reaching number 3 on the Billboard album charts and selling over 3 million copies. The album featured the famous track, "Walk This Way", a rap-rock collaboration with the rock group Aerosmith. The song was the first hip-hop track to make the Top 10 on Billboard's singles charts.

Related Topics:
Live Aid - Raising Hell - Billboard - Walk This Way - Aerosmith

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Run-D.M.C. were renowned for breaking new ground in rap music. "Sucker MC's" (1983) was the first hip hop track that relied on electronic beats and nothing else. Peter Piper (1986) was the first rap record in which the DJ (in this case Jam Master Jay) cut up a record (in this case, "Mardi Gras" by Bob James). Run-D.M.C. became the first rap act with a platinum album and multi-platinum album, as well as the first rappers to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, to receive a Grammy nomination and to appear on Saturday Night Live and American Bandstand.

Related Topics:
1983 - Hip hop - 1986 - Bob James - Rolling Stone - Grammy - Saturday Night Live - American Bandstand

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After a period of lacklustre commercial success after the Raising Hell album, the group made a comeback in 1993 with their album Down With The King, which made Billboard's Top 10 for album and the single "Down With The King".

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