1000 Day Album Challenge (#65) Run-D.M.C.: Run-D.M.C. (1984) [05.03.24]

two years ago, a friend of mine / asked me to say some MC rhymes / so I said this rhyme I'm about to say…

Run-DMC were very much a turning point in the development of hip hop and rap. prior to their debut single It's Like That / Sucker MC's (1983) hip hop was grounded in the sounds of disco and funk. before their producer, Larry Smith’s use of the Oberheim DMX drum machine to power Run-DMC’s new sound rappers primarily rapped over replayed hooks and grooves from old disco and funk tunes. we wouldn’t hear our first electronically sampled drumbeat until later that year when Trevor Horn sampled Funk Inc.’s Kool is Back for Yes’ Owner of a Lonely Heart.

Rock Box, the third single, from Run-DMC, all predating the album’s release, was the first rap video to be played on MTV. well before the Beastie Boys started sampling rock beats on Licensed to Ill, Run-DMC was featuring Eddie Martinez’ heavy metal guitar on Rock Box. “The distorted guitar sound that runs through the entire Rock Box record was one Questlove deemed the sound of the 1980s that connected Prince and Def Leppard to hip hop songs such as LL Cool J’s I Need A Beat and Fat Boys’ Jailhouse Rap.” (https://www.okayplayer.com/originals/songs-that-shook-america-episode-three-run-dmc-rock-box.html)

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