1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:21,280 Speaker 1: Run DMC are insane, but not in the way you think, 3 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: not in a particular Disgraceland way. Their story born in 4 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: part out of the crime and grime of seventies and 5 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:32,200 Speaker 1: eighties New York City gang violence, stick up kids, and assassins. 6 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 1: Aside from the unsolved murder of djjmmaster J, the insanity 7 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,639 Speaker 1: surrounding Run DMC is more about the group's music than 8 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:44,160 Speaker 1: it is about true crime. Run DMC were the first 9 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: rap group to grace the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, 10 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 1: to be played on MTV, to be nominated for a 11 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: Grammy Award. Run DMC were not only real deal be 12 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: boys from the block. They were the first rap group 13 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: to sell half a million records, then a million, first 14 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: to have a multi million selling album, gold, platinum, and 15 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 1: multi platinum, and it was all due to the groundbreaking 16 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:10,960 Speaker 1: music they recorded. Great music. That music you heard at 17 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: the top of the show that wasn't great music. That 18 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: was a preset loop from my mellotron called Malory and 19 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: Nick MK one. I played you that loop because I 20 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 1: can't afford the rights to Jump by Van Halen, And 21 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 1: why would I play you that specific slice of hairy 22 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: chest virtuoso synth cheese. Could I afford it? Because that 23 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: was the number one song in America on March twenty seventh, 24 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:40,119 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty four, And that was the day Run DMC 25 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 1: released their self titled debut album and changed the face 26 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: of popular music forever. On this episode, truth and hard Beats, 27 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: Virtuoso Cheese, the evolution of hip hop, and a dead DJ. 28 00:01:54,800 --> 00:02:22,800 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan, and this this disgraceland. In Jamaica, Queens, 29 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 1: they had the Savage Skulls, and over in Brooklyn the 30 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: Young Barons cut a dude's nose off. Here in the Bronx, 31 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,920 Speaker 1: the gang murders were just as prevalent and no less colorful. 32 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: The year before, in nineteen seventy two, there were a 33 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: total of fifty four gang related homicides. A dealer down 34 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,800 Speaker 1: in South Bronx was shot thirty seven times, his body 35 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: riddled with bullets in the form of a cross, his 36 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: blood and his life escaping in the direction of the Father, 37 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 1: the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And for residents of 38 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: the Bronx in nineteen seventy three, there was no escaping 39 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: the gang violence. The neighborhood in the nineteen seventies resembled 40 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: nothing less than a war zone. New York City's rent 41 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: control policies had long ago deincentivized landlords to care for 42 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:11,359 Speaker 1: their properties. As a result, the Borrow's apartment buildings fell 43 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: into disrepair en mass. All of this at a time 44 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: when unemployment in South Bronx was hovering around twenty five percent, which, 45 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:23,000 Speaker 1: to give you some perspective, was the national unemployment rate 46 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: during the Great Depression. Crime was rampant in nineteen seventies. 47 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:31,120 Speaker 1: Bronx violence was so prevalent that the streets were unwalkable 48 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: and for most the neighborhood unlivable. Soon it became clear 49 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 1: to property owners that their Bronx real estate was worth 50 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: more on fire than it was as is, and as 51 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: a result, the Bronx burned, and while the insurance dollars 52 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: poured in, the gangs took over hard times, spreading just 53 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: like the flu Black Assassins, Majestic Warlocks, Brothers of Satan, 54 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: the Reapers, the Henchmen, the Dirty Dozen, and the biggest, 55 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: most dominant gang, the Black Space. It's the gangs ruled 56 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: the Bronx, intimidating residents into respecting their authority, their turf, 57 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 1: and bending to their violent will, robbing whatever shop owners remained, 58 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: pedaling dope, raping young women. It was a brutal gang 59 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 1: ruled reality in the Bronx in nineteen seventy three, especially 60 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: if you were a teenager. There was safety in numbers. 61 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: Disco had already begun to rule the airwaves, but in 62 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:32,599 Speaker 1: the Bronx, disco represented a glitz and glam that was unrecognizable. 63 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:35,919 Speaker 1: North of Times Square, one hundred and tenth Street was 64 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:39,880 Speaker 1: a disco firewall. On the other side, the deep gurus 65 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,159 Speaker 1: of the JVS, Simon Day and the Fat Back Band 66 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:46,279 Speaker 1: ran deep and far all the way up Lennox Avenue 67 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 1: from Harlem to the Bronx. But this sophisticated funk was 68 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: still adult music. It was cool, but not all that exciting. 69 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: In order to turn a party out, to get a 70 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 1: room full of young teenagers excited, something else was needed. 71 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,839 Speaker 1: And this something else was exactly what an innovative young 72 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:07,359 Speaker 1: DJ brought to the first floor wreck room of the 73 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: fifteen to twenty Sedwick Avenue housing projects on August eleventh, 74 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy three. DJ Cool Hirks Back to School Jam 75 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: a place to escape the heat off the street, a 76 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: cause to get out from under the nightly terror of 77 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,120 Speaker 1: the gangs, a late summer hang, sweating it out on 78 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: the dance floor together admission twenty five cents for the ladies, 79 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: fifty cents for the fellas, nine pm to four am. 80 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: Seven hours of fun, seven hours of partying, seven hours 81 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 1: of dancing, and that's a long time to keep A hot, 82 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:44,280 Speaker 1: restless crowd of kids entertained. Relying on their parents' music 83 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: alone wasn't going to cut it. So herk improvised. He'd 84 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: start out with the funk, with the Jimmy Caster Bunch 85 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: and the incredible Bongo Band. But when their hits, it's 86 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 1: just begun in apache get to their respective breaks, the breakdowns, 87 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:03,600 Speaker 1: the parts of the songs where the world seemed to 88 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: drift off to strip the listeners of their cares and worries, 89 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: leaving them out on the dance floor with nothing but 90 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:14,160 Speaker 1: the beat, Those incredible beats, those beats that propelled partygoers 91 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:17,280 Speaker 1: deeper and deeper into the abandon of the dance floor. 92 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,679 Speaker 1: When Dj cool Hirk came to the breaks in those tracks, 93 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: he did something revolutionary. He kept them going. Dj cool 94 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: Hirk knew this to keep rocking the party, Can't stop, 95 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: Won't stop. Park was the first DJ to bring two 96 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:37,719 Speaker 1: copies of the same record to the party, and of 97 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:42,039 Speaker 1: course too turntables. Just as the breakdown of one funky 98 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:45,240 Speaker 1: song was ending on one turntable, Park would jump to 99 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:48,400 Speaker 1: the same point on the same record on the other turntable, 100 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:50,920 Speaker 1: and when that finished, he'd jumped back to the beginning 101 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:53,599 Speaker 1: of the break on the same song on the original turntable, 102 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: and then switched back on and on and on. Should 103 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:01,479 Speaker 1: I say it really should on and on and on 104 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: to the break of don I mean, because it was 105 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 1: literally to the break of dawn. That's how long herk 106 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 1: would rock the parties until until four or five am. 107 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: But I'm not going to say it's cheesy anyways, I digress. 108 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: This extension of the track, this extension of the beat, 109 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: This Merry Go Round is hurt called. It was virtually 110 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:24,320 Speaker 1: endless and had the desired effect of keeping kids on 111 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: the dance floor for long stretches of time. It was 112 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,240 Speaker 1: so simple, so genius, and it would go down in 113 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: history as the innovation that sparked the beginning of what 114 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:37,680 Speaker 1: we now call hip hop. These beats that played continuously 115 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 1: in the songs breaks. These breakbeats that Herk played endlessly 116 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: inspired dancers to go for it in ways their parents 117 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: can never dream of. Perk's music inspired them to take 118 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:51,239 Speaker 1: what James Brown was doing and to push his dance 119 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 1: style over the top, to reimaginate into something futuristic, athletic, youthful, competitive. 120 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: So a new form of dance emerged over the break beats, 121 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 1: break dancing by kids who would utilize the time afforded 122 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,040 Speaker 1: by the extended beats to compete against each other and dance. 123 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: These kids came to be known as bee boys, identified 124 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: as much by their dance as they were by their style. 125 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: Like everyone else within the walls of the Sedgwick Avenue 126 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: rec room, these kids were from the street, jeans, T shirts, 127 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: sneakers in the bronx. It was a far cry, fashion 128 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: wise from the fur and leather of downtown Manhattan nightlife, 129 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: and the crowd was wild. It was dark and mysterious, exciting. 130 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: The smoke from grass and angel dusts hung heavy under 131 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:39,840 Speaker 1: the low ceiling, and all of it, along with the music, 132 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: created a vibe that was more tranced than a block party. 133 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:46,680 Speaker 1: Herk had a mic in reserve for his boy Coke Rock, 134 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: to weaponize in an instant in case the crowd needed 135 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:53,040 Speaker 1: a little something extra to keep them going. Coke was 136 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 1: Hirk's party rocker, his de facto master of ceremonies. While 137 00:08:57,440 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 1: Herk kept the beat going, Coke would jump on the mic, 138 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,840 Speaker 1: call out his friends in the audience, make them laugh, 139 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:05,920 Speaker 1: entertain them, guilt them into getting back on the dance floor. 140 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 1: While doing so, Coke would tend to his other job 141 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,160 Speaker 1: for the night, selling nickel bags of cannabis while on 142 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,440 Speaker 1: the mic, dispensing dope to his friends on the side. 143 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: On an average night, a quarter pound of nickelbags in 144 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:21,640 Speaker 1: under two hours, all while keeping the party going with 145 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: Herk with his shoutouts that took flight from his mic 146 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:27,439 Speaker 1: in the form of rhymes inspired by his parents' record 147 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 1: collection pig Meat, Markhams, here comes the Judge and Gil 148 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,559 Speaker 1: Scott herons the revolution will not be televised. And when 149 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:38,960 Speaker 1: Coke Rock was done, Bhila the MC was born, and 150 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:42,720 Speaker 1: so was rap as we know it today. Two turntables, 151 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:50,920 Speaker 1: a microphone, a breakbeat, an MC and a rhyme. Hirk's 152 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:54,000 Speaker 1: parties quickly became legend and were attended by those who 153 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,200 Speaker 1: would go on to become the founding fathers of hip 154 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:59,960 Speaker 1: hop Africa. Bambada, who would unite the warring Bronx neighbors 155 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,600 Speaker 1: hoods with his parties that emphasized community and shared culture, 156 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:06,319 Speaker 1: and a young kid who went by the bee boy moniker, 157 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 1: Grandmaster Flash, who would take Hirk's DJ style and evolve 158 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:13,040 Speaker 1: it further, going as far as turning his turntables into 159 00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 1: instruments in an effort to avoid the clunky, inelegant sounds 160 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,680 Speaker 1: of switching records by manually dropping the tone erm from 161 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:22,440 Speaker 1: one record to the next. Flash would be the first 162 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:25,080 Speaker 1: to put his hands on the vinyl to turn back 163 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:28,120 Speaker 1: the beat on one table with one hand while pausing 164 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:30,439 Speaker 1: the beat on the other turntable with his other hand, 165 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 1: cutting the record from side to side and creating a 166 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:38,000 Speaker 1: seamless transition where the beat was never disrupted, scratching the 167 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:44,959 Speaker 1: record for emphasis and effect. It was revolutionary, infectious, and inspiring. Flash, 168 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,280 Speaker 1: along with another one of Hurk's early partygoers, mc Mellimel, 169 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:51,760 Speaker 1: would form the group Grandmaster Flash in the Furious Five, 170 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,360 Speaker 1: and by nineteen seventy eight, the regular nights at disco 171 00:10:55,360 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: Fever in the Bronx were legend flash his name, and 172 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:04,679 Speaker 1: hip hop culture spread through Manhattan's Five Burrows, making its 173 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:08,439 Speaker 1: way to Hollis Queens, a neighborhood where the violent gang 174 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:13,400 Speaker 1: the Savage Skulls once reigned supreme. But for an aspiring 175 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:17,200 Speaker 1: thirteen year old Hollis Bee Boy in nineteen seventy eight, 176 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 1: music not gangs was starting to pave his road out, 177 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: a road that he would travel to bring hip hop 178 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:28,320 Speaker 1: beyond the Burrows to mainstream Middle America and beyond that. 179 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:31,559 Speaker 1: Bee Boy was named Jason Miselle, and he would one 180 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:34,839 Speaker 1: day go by the name Jammaster J and his group 181 00:11:35,400 --> 00:12:04,480 Speaker 1: was called Run DMC. The Stick Up Kids sat in 182 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:07,840 Speaker 1: the back of the seventy eight Cadillac Coupe Deville, dressed 183 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:12,200 Speaker 1: head to toe, black black jeans, black leather jackets, black hats, 184 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: all the bad guys in their own movie, and their driver, Larry, 185 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 1: complete and total herb. His best attribute, aside from his cunning, 186 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:23,480 Speaker 1: was his lead foot. He pushed the Caddy to ninety 187 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: as soon as he'd hit the on ramp onto Interstate 188 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 1: ninety five north out of the city to Boston, south 189 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:32,720 Speaker 1: to Jersey. It didn't matter. Wherever there was money to snatch, 190 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:36,960 Speaker 1: speed was necessary. And there were parties to rock shows 191 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 1: to do, sometimes three in a day, with every appearance 192 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,560 Speaker 1: more money. They'd take their fee off the top after 193 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:46,600 Speaker 1: the show, as was customary for any performer, and as 194 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 1: was far from customary. While they were on stage, Larry 195 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: the Herb, their driver, would rob unsuspecting promoters in attendees 196 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,959 Speaker 1: while they were distracted by the ongoing stage show. They'd 197 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 1: get them coming and going. Rhyme steal, steal, rhyme, rhyme steal, repeat. 198 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 1: For the leather Cloud stick up kids on stage, it 199 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: was a thrilling way of life, except it was a 200 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 1: total fantasy, a fantasy of one of the stick up kids, 201 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 1: Darryl McDaniels, who in all reality was nothing like an 202 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 1: actual stick up kid. He was a freshman at Saint 203 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:26,720 Speaker 1: John's University who, as of just a couple of years prior, 204 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 1: cut his hard earned academic career short to take the 205 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:33,079 Speaker 1: stage name DMC and team up with his Rice high 206 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:37,240 Speaker 1: school friend Joseph Simmons to form the rap group Run DMC. 207 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: For DMC, the fantasy was a youthful daydream, but for 208 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: jam Master Jay, the fantasy was a little closer to home. 209 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 1: Of the three group members who all hailed from Hollis Queens, 210 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:52,640 Speaker 1: New York. Jay's experience was the most street Which isn't 211 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:54,680 Speaker 1: to say that Jay was a gang member, but he 212 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: was hard as nails and not to be fucked with. Smart, 213 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:00,840 Speaker 1: but less academic and more school of hard knocks and 214 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:04,760 Speaker 1: his two other group members. When Jay was thirteen years old, 215 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 1: he built himself a reputation of fearlessness. He'd flash what 216 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:12,040 Speaker 1: little money he had, daring older neighborhood real stick of 217 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 1: kids to attempt to tap his pockets, just so he 218 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:17,240 Speaker 1: could beat them down, whoop their asses, and send them 219 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 1: on their way, sending a message to the rest of 220 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 1: the block that his domain was his own. It's like that, 221 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 1: and that's the way it is. In addition to being tough, 222 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:29,680 Speaker 1: Jay was smart despite the fighting in the street antics. 223 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:32,360 Speaker 1: At the age of fourteen, Jay was in the smartest 224 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,120 Speaker 1: group in his class. And this is all to say 225 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:37,920 Speaker 1: he was a natural leader, a natural leader who was 226 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:41,240 Speaker 1: obsessed with the burgeoning world of rap music being spread 227 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 1: by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and others. But 228 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:48,240 Speaker 1: being the leader that he was, Jay wasn't content to 229 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:52,120 Speaker 1: imitate his heroes. Naturally, he did what was authentic to 230 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:56,040 Speaker 1: him and ultimately the complete opposite of Flash, Melly, mel 231 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: Bambada and others. Right around the time of the Eighth 232 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: Jay started to take his personal fashion seriously. He started 233 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: shopping for clothes that represented a style he could envision 234 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:10,880 Speaker 1: in his head, a style that matched the innovative beats 235 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:13,600 Speaker 1: and the excitement of the music that was fueling him. 236 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 1: He bought a black floor hat with a feather. He 237 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 1: preferred jeans lee jeans, they fit better than Levi's and 238 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:22,800 Speaker 1: were easier to find. Along with the black jeans and 239 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 1: black hat, he'd wear a different colored T shirt and 240 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 1: matches color to the shoelaces in his white shell toe Adidas. 241 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: So if he wore a blue shirt, blue laces, red shirt, 242 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:37,320 Speaker 1: red laces, white shirt, white laces, etc. The matching was crucial. 243 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: He'd even match his underwear to one of the other 244 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:42,920 Speaker 1: colors he was rocking. But Calvin Kleins aside, the matching 245 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:45,560 Speaker 1: of the laces had become a giant pain in the ass. 246 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:50,240 Speaker 1: Relacing is Adidas every single morning before school was time consuming, 247 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:53,680 Speaker 1: so he decided to just ditch the laces all together. 248 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:57,840 Speaker 1: No shoelaces in his shell toe Adidas, because no shoelaces 249 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:01,880 Speaker 1: matched everything, and a style was born. Bee boy style. 250 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: Jay's b boy style out on the streets anyway, wasn't 251 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:11,280 Speaker 1: as novel as it sounds. It was just more fully 252 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:14,760 Speaker 1: realized cultivated than what other bee boys usually rocked whatever 253 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 1: block party or dance they attended. Jay just took what 254 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:20,280 Speaker 1: was being worn on the streets and amped it up 255 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: a bit, personified it. On the street, it looked normal, 256 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 1: if not fully realized compared to most, but still, aside 257 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 1: from the no shoelaces, pretty basic. But once Jay took 258 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:34,120 Speaker 1: his style to the stage with his group run DMC, 259 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: the style became revolutionary. Up to this point, earlier rap 260 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:42,960 Speaker 1: performers Jay's and his groupmate's heroes, The Furious Five, the 261 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,760 Speaker 1: Funky Four plus one, Curtis Blow, Sugarhill Gang, they all 262 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:48,720 Speaker 1: dressed like they were trying to get into the clubs 263 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 1: that their music was rebelling against. They dressed up aspirational 264 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:55,880 Speaker 1: like the discos and clubs they were avoiding for their 265 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 1: own block parties and rec room jams. Instead of dressing 266 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:01,080 Speaker 1: in a way that was really relatable to their friends 267 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:03,600 Speaker 1: and bands from the hood and the audience. They dressed 268 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:08,040 Speaker 1: in leather and feathers, elaborate headdresses, and jewelry matching denimen 269 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:12,000 Speaker 1: in some cases even formal wear. It was more Village 270 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,119 Speaker 1: people than East Village, where white punk rock kids with 271 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,439 Speaker 1: their own tendencies to dress down were fast picking up 272 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: on the hip hop sounds emanating from north of Central Park, 273 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 1: but as of yet not fully adopting the culture instinctively. 274 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:32,440 Speaker 1: Jay was on to something, and so was his band's manager, 275 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:37,040 Speaker 1: Russell Simmons, brother of Jay's bandmate Joseph run Simmons. When 276 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: it came time to record the group, just as Jay 277 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:42,600 Speaker 1: was going for something different with his bee boy fashion, 278 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:45,639 Speaker 1: Russell was going for something different with the group's sound. 279 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:49,920 Speaker 1: Despite the incredible musical innovations brought to life by Herk 280 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,119 Speaker 1: and Flash, when it came to recorded rap music, the 281 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:56,439 Speaker 1: genre was still stuck in the dark ages. What was 282 00:17:56,480 --> 00:17:59,480 Speaker 1: being released on record in the early eighties was vastly 283 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:01,679 Speaker 1: different than what was being played on the streets and 284 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 1: in the clubs. Sugarhill Gang had the first bonafide mainstream 285 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: rap hit with rappers Delight and Funky four plus one 286 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:11,520 Speaker 1: would set off a whole new style of rapping with 287 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:14,960 Speaker 1: their first single, That's the Joint but as legendary and 288 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:19,080 Speaker 1: influential as those songs would become as musical productions, Russell 289 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 1: Simmons saw them for what they were, limiting and unrepresentative 290 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:26,359 Speaker 1: of what true hip hop culture was actually about and 291 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 1: where it could actually go. Rappers Delight, in essence was 292 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:33,679 Speaker 1: just Sheikh's good times plus a funny story about eating 293 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:36,720 Speaker 1: shitty food at a friend's house, while That's the joint 294 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:39,119 Speaker 1: was just a rap over Rescue Me by a taste 295 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:43,760 Speaker 1: of honey. Those songs, despite their lyrical and melodic brilliance, 296 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:47,560 Speaker 1: are each built on existing tracks by other artists, samples 297 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:51,399 Speaker 1: of whole songs, instrumentalized and extended cut to allow for 298 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:54,720 Speaker 1: new rap melodies. None of that sounded like what was 299 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:57,439 Speaker 1: being played by rappers and DJs at block parties, in 300 00:18:57,480 --> 00:18:59,960 Speaker 1: the parks and in reck rooms. It was all too 301 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:04,640 Speaker 1: produced to elaborate. The sound on the street was stripped down, simple, 302 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,760 Speaker 1: and begged for something more representative of the street, something hard. 303 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:12,919 Speaker 1: Russell Simmons knew that that hardness could be achieved with 304 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:17,119 Speaker 1: simplicity of production by stripping away the sonic elements instead 305 00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:20,760 Speaker 1: of adding to the production. Fuck the full tracks, forget 306 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:24,480 Speaker 1: the nile Roger's funk guitars and the Bootsy Collins style basslines. 307 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 1: Forget about the sins, forget about the strings. Lose the bongos, 308 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:30,720 Speaker 1: lose the congas, and get rid of those horns, get 309 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:33,359 Speaker 1: rid of those flutes, and completely eliminate any and everything 310 00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: that didn't contribute to the bigness of the beat. Strip 311 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 1: it all away. Keep the programmed drums, accent them with 312 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:43,440 Speaker 1: other drum samples and effects were necessary to maximize their impact. 313 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:46,320 Speaker 1: Give it all to jam Master Jada cut in sequence 314 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 1: with the rhymes. His brother Run and friend DMC would 315 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:51,880 Speaker 1: lay over it while all of them were clad uniquely 316 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:56,439 Speaker 1: in their own fully realized Bee Boys style. This this 317 00:19:56,680 --> 00:20:00,600 Speaker 1: was Run DMC, and this was the way tore a 318 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:04,440 Speaker 1: new sound with a new image to accompany new previously 319 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:11,520 Speaker 1: unimaginable success for any group of rap artists. We'll be 320 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:24,240 Speaker 1: right back after this word word word. The Scraggly Rocker 321 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:28,280 Speaker 1: emerged from a CD Times Square hotel and dragged himself 322 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:30,360 Speaker 1: and what was left of his twenty dollars a day 323 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,560 Speaker 1: allowance out onto the street and over to Ninth Avenue 324 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 1: to scr dope. He needed it bad. It was a 325 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 1: daily habit out here, on that jagged edge where vice 326 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:47,159 Speaker 1: meets inspiration, he could hear the sound of a city 327 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:50,879 Speaker 1: and a culture evolving. Stick them by Fat Boys and 328 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 1: Houdini's Freaks Come Out at Night seeped out of random boomboxes, 329 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:59,160 Speaker 1: as did run DMC's rock box. Radio stations were still 330 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:02,440 Speaker 1: insisting on playing Tana Gardner's heart Beat and Tom Tom 331 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:06,880 Speaker 1: Club's Genius of Love, and of course Blondie's Rapture, all 332 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:11,439 Speaker 1: mainstream affiliated bangers that sonically moved beyond disco to flirt 333 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:14,680 Speaker 1: with this new style of music known as rap, and 334 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:17,320 Speaker 1: the rocker loved it, all of it, even if it 335 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:20,359 Speaker 1: was completely foreign to the beefy blues based hard rock 336 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:24,680 Speaker 1: his band was filling colosseums with. His band was Aerosmith, 337 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: and his name was Stephen Tyler. He may have been 338 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 1: part cartoon character, but there was no part of him 339 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:34,760 Speaker 1: that was a dummy. Stephen could sense a shift in 340 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:37,720 Speaker 1: youth culture right there on the streets of New York City. 341 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: A new form of music was coming, Rap music. It 342 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: was very real, not a fad at all, as its 343 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,400 Speaker 1: detractors would claim, so real and impactful that one day 344 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:51,080 Speaker 1: in the not too distant future. It would save his 345 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:56,160 Speaker 1: and his bandmate's career, but first Stephen needed to save himself. 346 00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:59,840 Speaker 1: That men fixing up before his jones really kicked in, 347 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:02,560 Speaker 1: and that meant scoring from one of the various gang 348 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:07,280 Speaker 1: affiliated dealers out on Ninth Avenue, Pusher's Pimps, muscle Henchmen. 349 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,240 Speaker 1: They were all the same to Stephen. The only thing 350 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:12,439 Speaker 1: that distinguished any of them from the other was their 351 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:14,679 Speaker 1: ability to take a five dollars bill out of one 352 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:16,639 Speaker 1: of his hands and put a tenth of a gram 353 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,360 Speaker 1: of dope stamped in a neat little wax paper packet 354 00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:23,480 Speaker 1: into his other. Stephen Tyler remembered this time fondly as 355 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:27,200 Speaker 1: he listened to the pitch from David Geffen's Henchman. Geffen 356 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:30,680 Speaker 1: at the time, some four years later, in nineteen eighty six, 357 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:33,920 Speaker 1: had one of the most powerful gangs in the music industry, 358 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 1: Geffen Records, and the Henchmen Slash A and R Man 359 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:42,959 Speaker 1: was desperate, just like Stephen Tyler was his band his charge. 360 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,679 Speaker 1: Stephen Tyler's band, Arrowsmith, couldn't buy a hit in eighty six, 361 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:50,040 Speaker 1: and they were over weakened by the excessive drug use 362 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,480 Speaker 1: and a strong tumble off the charts. The band, once 363 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:57,919 Speaker 1: the biggest in the country, was effectively dead. If Geffen 364 00:22:57,960 --> 00:22:59,879 Speaker 1: Records are going to recoup the millions that it had 365 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:02,680 Speaker 1: invested in Arrowsmith, and if the A and R Man 366 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:05,840 Speaker 1: was going to save his job, then something bold was needed, 367 00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:08,399 Speaker 1: which is why Geffen's henchman took the meeting with the 368 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:11,159 Speaker 1: Kid with the new label Deaf Plan or Dead Tan 369 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: or Deaf Jam or whatever the fuck a meeting in 370 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:18,000 Speaker 1: a goddamn dorm room of all places. The A and 371 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:21,160 Speaker 1: R Man was no regular suit. His name was John 372 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:24,439 Speaker 1: Kallaner and he was known for his long hair, his beard, 373 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:28,520 Speaker 1: and discerning ear. He signed XTC and Susie in the Banshees, 374 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:33,719 Speaker 1: but still a fucking dorm room. However, despite the inauspicious Diggs, 375 00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:35,920 Speaker 1: he knew he had to take the meeting with the 376 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:39,679 Speaker 1: Kid and that kid Rick Rubin, despite not having a 377 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:42,719 Speaker 1: real office to work out of, was currently producing one 378 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:46,960 Speaker 1: of the biggest acts on the planet, Run DMC. Run 379 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:51,200 Speaker 1: DMC was a goddamn sensation. Their self titled debut had 380 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:55,080 Speaker 1: gone gold, their follow up Platinum, and Run DMC was 381 00:23:55,119 --> 00:23:58,119 Speaker 1: the first rap group to get played on MTV and 382 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:00,639 Speaker 1: at the moment we're getting more air time from the 383 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:07,359 Speaker 1: influential network than Arrowsmith was. Rick Rubin's idea was simple. 384 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,160 Speaker 1: Mixed the rap vocal stylings of one of the hottest 385 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:12,679 Speaker 1: groups going at the time with the hard hitting riffs 386 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:15,000 Speaker 1: of one of the most iconic rock bands of the time, 387 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:18,040 Speaker 1: and the opening drum beat to walk This way was 388 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 1: already familiar with block parties, but the three members of 389 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:24,040 Speaker 1: Run DMC had to be sold on the idea. It 390 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:26,399 Speaker 1: was a cover song and they have plenty of their 391 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,879 Speaker 1: own rhymes. Wasn't this just the type of artistic compromise 392 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:32,480 Speaker 1: that had soured them on the sampled backgrounds of other 393 00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:36,480 Speaker 1: rap ACKs. But a compromise was necessary to win over 394 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:41,119 Speaker 1: a larger audience. Arosmith needed relevance. Collaborating with Run DMC 395 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,920 Speaker 1: would give them that, and Run DMC and rap music 396 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:47,520 Speaker 1: in general needed to be seen as a credible art 397 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:51,760 Speaker 1: form from the mainstream establishment rock press. Working with Arrowsmith 398 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:54,880 Speaker 1: would give them that. So a deal was struck, studio 399 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:57,959 Speaker 1: time was booked, and the rest, as they say, is history. 400 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:04,840 Speaker 1: As Reuben suspected, the collaboration went gangbusters, rocketing the joint 401 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:08,720 Speaker 1: Run DMC Aerosmith single, a remake of the Aerosmith classic, 402 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:11,719 Speaker 1: Walked This Way to number four on the Billboard charts. 403 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:15,080 Speaker 1: Arrowsmith was relevant again and on their way to their 404 00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:18,760 Speaker 1: own singular chart dominance, and for run DMC, working with 405 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:22,040 Speaker 1: Arrowsmith ushered the group and rap as a genre into 406 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:25,639 Speaker 1: the mainstream. Run DMC went on the headline sold out 407 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:28,960 Speaker 1: arena tours in Madison Square Garden. They became the first 408 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:31,399 Speaker 1: rap group to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone 409 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:35,240 Speaker 1: magazine and on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. They were the 410 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:40,359 Speaker 1: first rap group nominated for a Grammy Award, but the 411 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:45,119 Speaker 1: gains were short term. Despite Walk This Way's success, Ultimately 412 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:49,119 Speaker 1: the track was a regression, just as they suspected, and 413 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:51,679 Speaker 1: the wheel of success it put them on caused them 414 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:54,440 Speaker 1: to take their eye off the ball, to cease innovating, 415 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:58,080 Speaker 1: and ultimately left them vulnerable to a potent threat coming 416 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:02,479 Speaker 1: up from the streets. As groundbreaking as Walk This Way was, 417 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,960 Speaker 1: it was a double edged sword for run DMC. Sure, 418 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:09,240 Speaker 1: the genre melding single blew them up beyond their wildest dreams, 419 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,040 Speaker 1: but the arrangement of the song and its composition was 420 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:15,679 Speaker 1: the exact opposite of the hard, simple beat oriented records 421 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:20,240 Speaker 1: run DMC came to prominence with Seesaws slinging the same style, 422 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:24,399 Speaker 1: while their next record, Tougher than Leathers, suffered creatively suffered 423 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:26,639 Speaker 1: at a time when they could least afford it, a 424 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:28,800 Speaker 1: time when the streets of New York were about to 425 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:34,840 Speaker 1: give rise to a new breed of MC. Daryl McDaniel 426 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:39,280 Speaker 1: sat in his Cadillac stone still. He was sweating his signature. 427 00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:42,840 Speaker 1: Big framed black Kezaal glasses were sliding down his nose, 428 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:47,240 Speaker 1: greased by the perspiration. He cranked the ac but it 429 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:51,040 Speaker 1: didn't matter. The proverbial heat was on. He could feel 430 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:53,879 Speaker 1: it beating down on the back of his neck, and 431 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:56,199 Speaker 1: the assassin was coming for him. It was only a 432 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,119 Speaker 1: matter of time, he knew it. He didn't know where 433 00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:01,960 Speaker 1: the fatal shot would come from, and frankly, he was 434 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:05,000 Speaker 1: tired of looking over his shoulder. Part of him wished 435 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:07,280 Speaker 1: it would just happen already and have the whole thing 436 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:11,520 Speaker 1: be done with this thing, this game, the constant pressure 437 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:14,639 Speaker 1: of it all. Pressure on the street to stay alive, 438 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:18,280 Speaker 1: pressure in his head to stay relevant, pressure back home 439 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:21,280 Speaker 1: to keep slinging those royalty checks, to keep the lights on. 440 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:22,639 Speaker 2: So many lights. 441 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:27,520 Speaker 1: He could feel the assassin creeping, sense his presence. His 442 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,760 Speaker 1: man Larry could too. Larry had betrayed him, brought the 443 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:34,080 Speaker 1: assassin into his world, welcomed him, thought bringing him around 444 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:37,480 Speaker 1: would motivate d All it did was send fear sprinting 445 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:41,760 Speaker 1: down his spine. And the assassin was no joke, lethal 446 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:44,560 Speaker 1: as they come, and on some completely new trip. He 447 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:47,680 Speaker 1: didn't fuck with the old way, the way of the gun. No, 448 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:51,040 Speaker 1: he worked a different set of weapons completely his mind 449 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:57,359 Speaker 1: and his tongue. Larry put the cassette into the mouth 450 00:27:57,359 --> 00:28:01,800 Speaker 1: of DMC's Cadillac set. Player d sunk back into a seat, 451 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:05,159 Speaker 1: resigned to listen to the assassin's weapons blast out and 452 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:11,120 Speaker 1: accept his fate. The voice of the lyrical assassin, Rock 453 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:14,440 Speaker 1: Kim blast out over his DJ Eric Be's beat through 454 00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:17,520 Speaker 1: the speakers, and when Darryl McDaniels heard it, he knew 455 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:22,359 Speaker 1: Run DMC was dead. Rock Kim as an MC was 456 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:26,159 Speaker 1: something entirely different, completely abnormal to what was accepted as 457 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:29,359 Speaker 1: wrath before him. His style was so unique that it 458 00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:32,720 Speaker 1: necessitated the invention of the concept of flow as a 459 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,359 Speaker 1: means to describe what he was doing with his voice. 460 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:38,480 Speaker 1: Rock Kim grew up on Long Island, away from the 461 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:41,160 Speaker 1: Bronx Hollis, Harlem and the growing world of hip hop. 462 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:45,240 Speaker 1: To experience it, he had to imagine it. The process 463 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:48,440 Speaker 1: of doing so sharpened his imagination, and as a result, 464 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:52,320 Speaker 1: the imagery in his lyrics was crystal clear technicolor to 465 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:56,080 Speaker 1: the listener. As a boy, he grew up playing saxophone 466 00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,640 Speaker 1: and obsessed over bebop, so when the MC bug bit 467 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:02,400 Speaker 1: he finally got on the mic, it wasn't Ron or 468 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:05,800 Speaker 1: DMC or Mellie mel or Cope Lac or Pygmy Markham 469 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:08,479 Speaker 1: who informed his style. It was one of the greatest 470 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 1: jazz innovators of all time, John Coltrane. His melodies had 471 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:16,240 Speaker 1: little to do with the established MC style on the street, 472 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:21,280 Speaker 1: the simplified rhymes that DMC traded on. Instead, they traced 473 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:24,760 Speaker 1: the horn melodies Coltrane Blue onto his classic records Blue 474 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:27,400 Speaker 1: Train and a Love Supreme, and the rhythm of it 475 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:30,880 Speaker 1: of his melodies, combined with the lyrical imagery, struck a 476 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:34,480 Speaker 1: unified technique so influential that it would change hip hop 477 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 1: forever and leave run DMC in their career shot down 478 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:58,000 Speaker 1: dead on the side of the road as far as 479 00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:01,520 Speaker 1: run DMC's future was concerned. Rock Kim marked the beginning 480 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:04,480 Speaker 1: of a new phase in hip hop's evolution. Eric B 481 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:07,760 Speaker 1: and Rock Kim, Public Enemy and Boogie Down productions would 482 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:11,080 Speaker 1: inject consciousness into the scene, one that sounded much more 483 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,080 Speaker 1: vibrant and compelling than the party rocking anthems and park 484 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:17,720 Speaker 1: jams Run DMC. In the previous generation of rap, the 485 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:20,800 Speaker 1: d MC, Run and Jam Master J were born out 486 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:23,520 Speaker 1: of and traded on and out on the West Coast. 487 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:26,240 Speaker 1: An entirely new style of hip hop was emerging from 488 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:30,000 Speaker 1: South central Los Angeles, gangster rap, a style that would 489 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:32,760 Speaker 1: soon be as prevalent on the minds of American teenagers 490 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:35,880 Speaker 1: as it was on the streets, and all told, the 491 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:41,520 Speaker 1: entire shift ultimately left Run DMC stylistically irrelevant and creatively spent. 492 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:46,280 Speaker 1: The group introduced America to rap and conquered the mainstream 493 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:48,960 Speaker 1: with the Walk This Way fueled album Raising Hell in 494 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:52,360 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty six, and their eighty eight follow up, Tougher 495 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:55,040 Speaker 1: Than Leather, did well, but not nearly as well as 496 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:58,360 Speaker 1: its predecessor. The slip was on, and by the time 497 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 1: the group released Back from Hell in nineteen ninety, the 498 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:05,000 Speaker 1: writing was on the wall tagged with thick, bold lines. 499 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:10,400 Speaker 1: Daryl dmc McDaniel struggled with depression and pill addictions, overcoming 500 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:14,479 Speaker 1: them to write an autobiography. MC run got religion, becoming 501 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:18,440 Speaker 1: Reverend run in a reality TV star with MTV's Runs House. 502 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:22,240 Speaker 1: Jam Master J kept his feet firmly planted in the game, 503 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:26,680 Speaker 1: and in nineteen eighty nine started jammaster J Records. Part 504 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:29,520 Speaker 1: of owning and running a record label is about investing, 505 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:33,880 Speaker 1: investing in the future of younger artists. That generosity of 506 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:38,600 Speaker 1: spirit suited Jay's personality, a man beloved worldwide and especially 507 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:41,120 Speaker 1: back home in Queen's where he set up shop with 508 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:47,760 Speaker 1: the JMJ Records recording studio on Merrick Boulevard. Jay found 509 00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 1: early success with the signing of a local rapper, Curtis Jackson, 510 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:54,520 Speaker 1: who went by the name fifty Cent. Fiddy, as he's 511 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:58,120 Speaker 1: now referred to, was complete street beyond even a gangster 512 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:02,000 Speaker 1: wrap that shot down run dmc'scus career. Fifty Cent began 513 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:05,120 Speaker 1: dealing drugs on the streets of jam Master Jay's Queen's 514 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:08,600 Speaker 1: at the age of twelve. Later, a friend introduced them 515 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:12,280 Speaker 1: to Jay, who not only recognized Fiddy's emerging talent, but 516 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:16,800 Speaker 1: also his authentic image. Jay recorded his unreleased debut album, 517 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:19,880 Speaker 1: and fifty Cent eventually signed with Columbia Records with a 518 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:23,959 Speaker 1: controversialist fuck song of his twelve inch sleeve entitled Ghetto 519 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:28,360 Speaker 1: Koran Hold Up. There'll be more on the song in 520 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:31,440 Speaker 1: fifty Cent in an upcoming episode on Curtis Jackson, but 521 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:33,880 Speaker 1: for the purposes of this episode, all you get to 522 00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 1: know is that Ghetto Koran went where no other gangster 523 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:42,480 Speaker 1: rap went before. It actually named names names of real 524 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:46,720 Speaker 1: drug dealers and queen's hustlers, bona fide killers gangsters from 525 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:51,240 Speaker 1: fifty cents life. The track was controversial for a number 526 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,920 Speaker 1: of reasons, but this reason landed the snitch label squarely 527 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:58,440 Speaker 1: on fifty cents forehead, and the street blacklisted fifty Cent, 528 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:01,280 Speaker 1: putting the word out that anyone who worked with or 529 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:05,160 Speaker 1: aligned with fifty cent would be killed. Jam Master J 530 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:09,320 Speaker 1: didn't get the memo, or so the story goes, fifty 531 00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:12,040 Speaker 1: cent was well on his way, but apparently Jay kept 532 00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:14,479 Speaker 1: his ties, and fifty cent was on the come up 533 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:16,520 Speaker 1: and Jay was barely hanging on to his place in 534 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:20,640 Speaker 1: the music industry. Times were tight. People close to Jay 535 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,760 Speaker 1: have speculated that he had tried, or at least considered, 536 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:27,040 Speaker 1: the purchase of a major drug package to offset some debt, 537 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:29,640 Speaker 1: but that the deal had gone wrong and Jay was 538 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:37,600 Speaker 1: being blamed by his partners either way. On October thirtieth, 539 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:41,800 Speaker 1: two thousand and two, Jason Masel aka jam Master J 540 00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:44,920 Speaker 1: feared for his life enough that, while sitting in his 541 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:48,840 Speaker 1: Queen's studio lounge playing Madden with his friend Rikio Rincon, 542 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:52,160 Speaker 1: he kept a gun at his side, fearful of the 543 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:55,160 Speaker 1: danger that he could feel at his door. Little did 544 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:59,560 Speaker 1: J know just how real that fear was. At approximately 545 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:04,040 Speaker 1: seven thirty pm, studio receptionist Lydia High buzzed in what 546 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:08,239 Speaker 1: one can only assume was a friendly face. Otherwise, why 547 00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:10,799 Speaker 1: would she have let the person in who proceeded to 548 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:14,080 Speaker 1: storm up the stairs into the studio, gun drawn in 549 00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:18,520 Speaker 1: immediately discharge it execution style into jam Master Jay's head. 550 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:23,960 Speaker 1: The unmasked shooter had an accomplice who stood also apparently unmasked, and, 551 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:27,200 Speaker 1: as court papers claim, quote, pointed his gun at those 552 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:30,080 Speaker 1: present in the studio, ordered them to get on the ground, 553 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:33,560 Speaker 1: and provided cover for his associate to shoot and kill 554 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:38,880 Speaker 1: Jason Mizl jam Master Jay was dead shot in cold 555 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:42,720 Speaker 1: blood in his own studio while as receptionist who buzzed 556 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:45,840 Speaker 1: the shooters in sat at her desk where his driver 557 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:49,160 Speaker 1: and friend sat next to him playing video games, and 558 00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:52,800 Speaker 1: his business partner and another friend sat in the adjacent 559 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:56,800 Speaker 1: control room working on a new artist track. Four potential 560 00:34:56,840 --> 00:35:01,400 Speaker 1: eye witnesses, two shooters, one dead DJ, and no answers. 561 00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:05,680 Speaker 1: How the fuck did this happen? How does this case 562 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:10,040 Speaker 1: continue to go unsolved? For as many conspiracy theories as 563 00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:13,920 Speaker 1: there are, there are zero suspects the police have turned up, 564 00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:17,600 Speaker 1: in a word, nothing, which is astounding giving the amount 565 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:19,359 Speaker 1: of other people who were on the scene during the 566 00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:23,080 Speaker 1: time of the shooting. The conspiracies live on, as does 567 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:29,520 Speaker 1: the confounding nature of the unsolved crime. But regardless, in 568 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:32,280 Speaker 1: the end, this is a story about life, not death, 569 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:37,279 Speaker 1: about innovation and evolution. How jam Master Jay's group Run 570 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:41,560 Speaker 1: DMC took hip hop from its nascent childhood into adolescence. 571 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:46,000 Speaker 1: And yes, the genre Run DMC helped mainstream eventually pass 572 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:49,759 Speaker 1: them by, but eventually the teenager in all of us 573 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:53,080 Speaker 1: dies in this episode of the so called Music and 574 00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:56,960 Speaker 1: True Crime podcast is heavy on music and light on crime, 575 00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:01,040 Speaker 1: but teeming with truth, the truth that Jamaster J and 576 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:04,880 Speaker 1: Run DMC brought to hip hop culture, repping true style 577 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:08,480 Speaker 1: and true attitude, style and attitude they saw happening all 578 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:11,640 Speaker 1: around them in their own neighborhood. B boy style, bee 579 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:20,440 Speaker 1: boy rhymes, party rockers, park jams, jeans, T shirts, sneakers, honest, relatable, groundbreaking, entertaining, inspiring, immortal. 580 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:24,440 Speaker 1: Jam Master Jay's killers may be in the wind, but 581 00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:28,600 Speaker 1: his and Run DMC's legacy will never disappear. And that 582 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:33,120 Speaker 1: is anything but a disgrace. I'm Jake Brennan, and this 583 00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:44,080 Speaker 1: is Disgraceland. 584 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:49,120 Speaker 2: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in partnership. 585 00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:49,560 Speaker 1: With Double Elvis. 586 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:52,120 Speaker 2: Credits for this episode can be found on the show 587 00:36:52,160 --> 00:36:55,920 Speaker 2: notes page at disgracelmdpod dot com. 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