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. 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. == Impact of "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. The music video for "Rock Box" became the first rap video played on MTV in the summer of 1984. 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. 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. 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. "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). == Appearance in films ==

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. == Critical reception and influence ==

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". 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. and just plain "reportage". In 2003, the album was ranked number 240 on Rolling Stones list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album's ranking moved to number 242 in the 2012 version of the list, and to number 378 in the 2020 update. "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." Accolades • The Observer – no. 40 at "50 albums that changed music" (2006) • NME – no. 25 at "101 Albums To Hear Before You Die" (2014) • Rolling Stone – no. 51 at "100 Best Albums of the Eighties" (1989) • Rolling Stone – no. 240/242/378 at "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" (2003/2012/2020 editions of the list, respectively) • Rolling Stone – no. 26 at "100 Best Debut Albums of All Time" (2003) • Rolling Stone – "The 40 Most Groundbreaking Albums of All Time" (2013) • Spin – no. 11 at "The 25 Greatest Albums of All Time" (1989) • Spin – no. 7 at "The Ten Reasons We Wish Spin Had Started In 1984" (2005) • The Source – "100 Best Rap Albums" (1998) • The Source – "Albums Rated 5 Mics (Out of 5)" (1998) • The Source – "100 Best Rap Singles" (1998) • Beats Per Minute – no. 73 at "The Top 100 Albums of the 1980s" (2011) • XXL – "40 Years of Hip-Hop: Top 5 Albums by Year" (2014) • Uncut – no. 33 at "50 Greatest New York Albums" (2015) • Complex – no. 37 at "''The Best Rap Albums of the '80s''" (2017) • Complex – "The Best Hip-Hop Producer Alive, Every Year Since 1979" (2018) • The Village Voice – no. 10 at "Pazz & Jop: Top 10 Albums By Year, 1971–2017" (2018) • Pitchfork – no. 41 at "The 100 Best Rap Albums of All Time" (2025) == Track listing ==

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 == Charts ==