Joseph Simmons: Run of Run-DMC, from Hollis to the Rock Hall | Ultimate Hip Hop Reunion

Why fans still care

Run-DMC took rap from the street corner to the charts, and Chuck D called them “the chief architect of hip-hop”. The Rock Hall lists their firsts: first rappers on MTV, first nominated for a Grammy and first on the cover of Rolling Stone. Raising Hell was the first rap album to go multi-platinum.

Run’s voice is one half of that sound, trading lines with DMC over the hardest drums of the era.

Early years

Joseph Simmons grew up in Hollis, Queens, the younger brother of Russell Simmons. He started out as DJ Run, billed as “The Son of Kurtis Blow”. That was only a stage billing, not a family link.

Darryl McDaniels, Who’s Who number 18, says he taught Run to DJ in his basement.

The breakthrough

Producer Larry Smith made the early demos of “It’s Like That” and “Sucker MCs”, the stripped back sound that launched them. The first two albums were made at Greene Street Recording in New York.

Career chapters

1. 1984Run-D.M.C. and “Rock Box”, the first rap video on MTV
2. 1985King of Rock; the film Krush Groove
3. 1986Raising Hell and “Walk This Way” with Aerosmith
4. 1987“Christmas in Hollis”
5. 1988Tougher Than Leather, album and film
6. 1993Down with the King
7. 2005solo album Distortion; Run’s House on MTV
8. 2009Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
9. 2016Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award

Rock Box 1984

On “Rock Box”, DMC programmed the drum machine beat and Eddie Martinez played electric guitar. Complex says it was the first rap video on MTV.

Raising Hell 1986

Raising Hell reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200. “Walk This Way”, their take on the Aerosmith song with Steve Tyler, Who’s Who number 23 in Highway to Hell,, Who’s Who number 23 in · Highway to Hell and Joe Perry, Who’s Who number 17 in the Ultimate Guitarist Reunion,, Who’s Who number 17 in · Ultimate Guitarist Reunion reached No. 4 on the Hot 100. Run told American Songwriter he spent the session “acting like I don’t care because I don’t know what I’m doing”.

“My Adidas” came from the same album. Russell Simmons came up with the idea, and DMC says he and Run wrote it with pen and pad. Classic Pop reports it led to a deal with Adidas.

Christmas in Hollis 1987

Jam Master Jay, Who’s Who number 19, built the beat with Rick Rubin as co-producer, chopping up Clarence Carter’s “Back Door Santa”. Mental Floss reports that Rolling Stone named it the best video of 1987, and it still comes back every December.

Screen

The Source lists his films with the group as Krush Groove (1985), Tougher Than Leather (1988) and Who’s the Man? (1993). His family show Run’s House ran on MTV from 2005 to 2009.

Craft, sound and the studio

Writing his own rhymes

Run has always been clear that he and DMC wrote the rhymes and the producers made the beats. In 1993 he told Guru, “Pete Rock didn’t write my rhymes.”

Making beats with their mouths

On “Hit It Run” the group made the sounds vocally, because they weren’t sampling back then.

Stories people still tell

1. The Kurtis Blow myth.

   People still say Run is Kurtis Blow’s son. He isn’t. “The Son of Kurtis Blow” was a billing on his early DJ gigs.

2. The Grammy myth.

   Run-DMC never won a competitive Grammy. Their Lifetime Achievement Award was a special honour, and the first to go to rappers.

Legacy

Eminem, Who’s Who number 23, inducted Run-DMC into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. In 2024 the Peacock series Kings From Queens: The RUN DMC Story told the group’s story, and it was nominated for the Grammy for Best Music Film. Jam Master Jay died in 2002.