By Odeisel

In this episode of Long Live The King, DMC tells Planet Ill how Run DMC came to be and talks the pressures that began to eat at them once they reached the top. How did Russell feel about D joining the group? Were they prepared for the fame? When did it all begin to change for the group? We give you the answers to these and more in part two of our in-depth exclusive with the King of Rock. Enjoy.

Planet Ill: “King of Rock.” I’m not ashamed to say that song is the reason I fell in love with this music. The reason I run this site, everything.

DMC: “King of Rock?”

Planet Ill: That particular song. Hip-Hop wasn’t omnipresent so we had to stay up late. I was a kid trying to sneak and listen to Carlos De Jesus on [TV show] Hot Tracks.

DMC: Oh man, I remember Carlos, Dag!

Planet Ill: We wasn’t on MTV, Michael Jackson… the President of CBS [Records] had to threaten them to even play Michael Jackson

DMC: Yeah, you’re right homie.

Planet Ill: So all of a sudden, three guys wearing regular people shit; they ain’t got no guitars they ain’t got no band and some skinny kid with glasses is talking about he’s the King of Rock! Holy shit! Did you realize the kind of power that was at that time?

DMC: Not really .  I mean the motivation… it was almost like a fantasy. It was a Rock & Roll fantasy of mine because my whole introduction into the actual being or trying to be what idolized in my basement because this dude Run, Joseph Simmons who grew up in my neighborhood with me, his brother just happened to be this dude Rush who threw these parties. He would hire Kurtis Blow and Flash and Bam and Hollywood to come do his college parties. And me being a kid like, “What the hell is this?” Find out my man Joseph got us in.

So everything that I was creating at the time was actually me pretending to be Batman or pretending to be Superman or  how I can describe it  is when kids was younger, girls played with their Barbie dolls and the boys played with their G.I. Joes and their army men.  So I would just be in my basement pretending I’m in a show with Melle Mel; pretending I was with the cold Crush and it was all pretend. And then once’ I started getting on records then I realized, wow, we’re in studios where Mick Jagger and these dudes be, just from me pretending from a comic book make-believe fantasy.

In my mind I said, “Man these rap dudes; the competition who was competition to me but it was so innocent. When I said, “We’re live as can be not singing the Blues, we’re here to tell ya’ll all the good news. The good news is that there is a crew, not 5 not 4 not 3 just 2,” that was a rhyme that I wrote in my basement when I was pretending. Easy D battled the Furious 5 the Cold Crush 4 and the Treacherous 3 myself. I was just in the mirror rhyming it.

So when Joe would go, “Yo D, bring your rhyme book to the studio,” and I was laying all this down, it still was all make-believe to me. “Sucker MC’s got on the radio but the Rock thing came from, “I’ve conquered the villainous emcees that exist! Now I’m going after Queen and the Rolling Stones and all the disco groups and Rock groups that was out at the time. That’s where it came from. In my mind I was like Moe Dee and Caz and Busy B, Starski, that’s light work for me!  Remember, disco was big, but the Rolling Stones had made and Queen had made “Another One Bites The Dust.”

When I look back on it, it was a time when Rock groups were trying to make disco records without trying making disco records. So for me, this rap shit was about beats, rhymes and dominance; being dope and destroying all. So it kinda came from, I was like, “Joe, I got these rhymes here man we going for the jugular!” We don’t want just limit ourselves to the streets of the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island and Brooklyn. We’re going for Hollywood and Rock & Roll!

Planet Ill: Now you get there. Adidas is selling. Records are selling. Wrestlemania. And now those lights get brighter. Now it’s real pressure. The first album, you’re playing with house money. Now you’re a success. How does that begin to eat at you as a man and as a teammate? Personally and as part of an ensemble cast? How does that affect your relationships?

DMC:  I don’t think the relationship got affected until after Down  With The King. Cause after King of Rock, the whole Raising Hell shit was this. You know we opened the doors for a lot of people, right? And we wasn’t afraid to say, “Russell, sign the Beasties. Sign LL. Sign EPMD. Yo there’s this dude named Chuck D.” Me and Jay went to Rick Rubin and Russell, “Yo, there’s this dude named Chuck fucking D, God has come down from heaven to rock the mic and he got this motherfucker that talks funny and he wears a fucking clock!  You gotta see this!” So we weren’t scared to say come on, jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, let’s tour.

Like these dudes today that say lock the fucking door let’s fuck all the money and fame out this shit and then leave it in fucking shambles. We always knew we was carrying a torch. We was the doorway. Raising Hell was just, “Yo, we gotta fucking be spotless. Because you look to the left, you got this motherfucker KRS-ONE, you got this motherfucker Chuck D, you got De La Soul, like groups, Kool G Rap and Polo. So Raising Hell was not only just us trying to beat whoever was out, we had to kick  Run DMC and them asses. And we were successful with that.

But like I said earlier,  most of our ride before, I think Tougher Than Leather you can read about this, I think it was Rolling Stone or Spin magazine where Run got all depressed because after Raising Hell, we sold fucking 3.6 million right out the box. Then when we dropped Tougher Than Leather we only sold 1.5, Run went into this depression because of, “Damn my record ain’t selling like it sold last time.” “We gotta make radio records we gotta be on the charts.” Once you make your world based on destinations and achievements, shit falls apart. I remember Russell screaming on Run. He said, “Motherfucking Joey, you stupid motherfucker you sold 1.5 million records. Motherfuckers wish they could sell that!” It started right then and there.

With me man, it was just fucking me pretending to be Melle Mel my whole ride and when it did get shaky, I still didn’t give a fuck cause I turned to the alcohol.  Run you know he was the leader of the group, this and that. Oh man we flopping because we didn’t sell what we did on Raising Hell. But I think mentally, when Run did that, that was the turn of events right there. Most motherfuckers when they successful they don’t give a fuck. They just keep making records.

That’s why I look at the Beastie Boys and I respect them. Even before the ship sailed, they knew something was about to give with this industry; with this whole shit. They went to Russell and Rick and said, “Let us go.” And they was able to go bring the instruments in and evolve into who they are today. That’s why till today, they can come to New York and they can sell out the Garden. Because they kept the most important thing; they didn’t think about record sales and all of that they said we gotta be who we are at all times.

But Run DMC, we was put on a pedestal.  Having so much fun for so long, then when shit started going down, I don’t know if it was both Run and Jay listening to what motherfuckers was saying. My thing was let’s just do what we did that got us here. But as with any entity or any business, and plus we were the only ones to do it at that time, we kinda fell into that trap. But throughout Raising Hell, from the first record to about Back From Hell, from the first record to the Back From Hell album, after Tougher Than Leather, it was always, let’s just do what we do. After Tougher Than Leather, we started listening to other motherfuckers.

Me, I didn’t know about this until I went to rehab, at the time I had suppressed emotions. Meaning I would just see motherfuckers and I can’t say it was wrong. That’s just what they was thinking I think I was wrong for not speaking up at the time. So I don’t want to cause no friction I don’t want motherfucker to think I’m trying to be the boss and I know it all. So I’m going to just sit in the corner and drink my 40 and when it’s time for me to do what I need to do, I’mma just do it and I’mma take my ass home. I think it’s my fault for not being, “Man fuck that bullshit!” See when you gotta take that attitude and bring it to life, that’s not an easy thing to do. When I was pretending it, it worked for me. So I was fucking scared to turn into the Hulk in front of my own people. But I can do that shit with a 40 oz and a microphone. Up until Tougher Than Leather, our main motivation was to be better than the Cold Crush. I remember when I bought that tape. Cause originally, I’m like “Damn man, why didn’t I do this earlier?” But it wasn’t supposed to be written like that.

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