This double CD collection of Run DMC tracks isn’t just a compilation of one of the originators of hip hop. It isn’t just a disc you put on to bang your head and stomp your feet to the mad rhymes and the crackin’ beat. It isn’t just music. It’s a history lesson of the biggest musical phenomena ever to sweep the planet: hip hop.
Opening with ‘Sucker M.C.’s’, this compilation runs from the urban simplicity of the trio who helped create the genre on the streets of New York - not in a fancy recording studio.
Much like the great blues men before them, hip hop was originally filled with tales of life on the street and sadly a song like ‘Hard Times’ is just as relevant today as it was in 1983 and you can even see the earliest incarnation of what became tedious bragging from the likes of 50 Cent in the form of self empowering lines like “Hard times is nothing new on me/I'm gonna use my strong mentality.”
In ‘King of Rock’ MC Run announces “I'm the king of rock, there is none higher/Sucker MC's should call me sire/To burn my kingdom, you must use fire/I won't stop rockin' till I retire!” in a tune long before the Beastie Boys, Rage Against The Machine or Limp Bizkit ever put guitars to hip hop - a move that Public Enemy and De La Soul adopted 20 years later!
It was of course Run D.M.C.’s collaboration with Aerosmith that saw them skyrocket in popularity. They covered Aerosmith’s ‘Walk This Way’, in which Steven Tyler’s vocal style was undeniably close to a rap and the genre’s most avid opponents couldn’t help but shake their ass to.
The best thing about this thirty-six song compilation is that there is not a single song on here that I couldn’t write about, so rather than go through them all track by track I’ll just say that this is the perfect collection of tunes.
It spans their whole career, it covers the well known songs and the lesser known songs, it generally rules so freakin’ hard you’ll wonder why sucka MC’s hadn’t busted it onto yo ears sooner.
Who’s house? Run’s house!
Track listing:
Disc 1
1. Sucker M.C's
2. It's Like That
3. 30 Days
4. Hard Times
5. Hollis Crew (Krush Groove 2)
6. Can You Rock It Like This
7. Jam-Master Jammin'
8. King Of Rock
9. You Talk Too Much
10. My Adidas
11. Walk This Way Feat. Aerosmith
12. You Be Illin
13. It's Tricky
14. I'm Not Going Out Like That
15. Mary, Mary
16. Run's House
17. Roots, Rap Reggae
18. It's Not Funny
Disc 2
1. Soul To Rock and Roll
2. Down With The King
3. Papa Crazy
4. Rock Box
5. Jam-Master Jay
6. Peter Piper
7. It's Like That (Run DMC Vs Jason Nevins)
8. Hit It Run
9. How'd Ya Do it Dee
10. It's Tricky 2008 Feat. Jacknife Lee
11. Tougher Than Leather
12. Beats To They Rhyme
13. You're Blind
14. Darryl And Joe (Krush-Grrove 3)
15. Together Forever (Krush-Groove 4)
16. Ragtime
17. Proud To Be Black
18. They Call Us Run DMC
