(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)

They weren�t the first rappers, but Run-DMC were the ones who transformed rap from a ghetto phenomenon into a consumer product. After Run-DMC�s success, hip hop became a chart-topping phenomenon. The group relates to hip hop as Ray Charles does to soul and James Brown to funk. While the work of most rappers was, all in all, a classic example of how black street culture could be sold to young white bourgeois audiences once adapted to their sounds and concerns, Run-DMC�s career was almost paradoxical: their sound succeeded precisely because it was more faithful than others to the street sound (Grandmaster Flash, in fact, had been largely a studio invention). Their early records are not works of art�they are documentaries of what was happening in the Bronx and Queens.

Run-DMC were two New York kids (Joseph �Run� Simmons and Darryl �DMC� McDaniels), aided by DJ Jason �Jam Master� Mizell, who made their name with Sucker M.C.�s and It�s Like That (the two sides of their first 45, in 1983). The dynamism of the first track would become the standard for dozens of rappers. The second track was clearly inspired by Grandmaster Flash�s The Message and, although officially the single�s �A side,� was actually much less interesting. These tracks established the �hard b-boy jam,� made purely of beats (polyrhythmic) and rhymes (polyvocal), their preferred musical form. The intertwining of rhythms�far from regular�and voices, alternating or counterpointed, gave the lyrics remarkable rhetorical power.

The dawn of a new era in hip hop was marked by their third single, Rock Box (March 1984), destined to remain their masterpiece, where the stormy rhythm of their hip hop is paired with a simple bass riff and a romantic electric guitar melody (Eddie Martinez)�essentially a heavy-metal framework. Their first album, Run-DMC (Profile, 1984), added to the repertoire Hard Times (a single from December 1983, originally by Kurtis Blow), their quintessential �tragic message,� along with self-tribute classics Hollis Crew and Jam-Master Jay. The �rap�n�roll� of this period codified the final stage of the �street culture� of young black people in Queens. From the same period comes Together Forever, slow and weak in the �old school� style of the genre, yet charged with the suspense of dub, showing that Run-DMC were the first to fuse hip hop tradition with reggae tradition. Their hits had an impact comparable to the first singles of the Sex Pistols: lightning-fast, brutal, and revolutionary.

Their tours were punctuated by violent battles between white and black gangs, while anthems to toasting (a kind of rap equivalent of We Are The Monkees) continued to pour out, such as Jam-Master Jammmin', with another piercing backdrop of distorted guitar, and the title track of King Of Rock (Profile, 1985), featuring a tank-like riff. Starting with Walk This Way (1986, by Aerosmith, perhaps more the work of producer Rick Rubin than the trio), the group specialized in restoring rock and soul classics�an entertaining art, but in the long run, not very productive.

On Raising Hell (Profile, 1986), their best-selling album ever, the most rock-oriented track is Hit It Run, followed by It�s Tricky (which borrows the riff from My Sharona by The Knack), while the most syncopated track is My Adidas, with an almost swing-like rhythm and violent scratching breaks. You Be Illin' is an ironic track reminiscent of the 1950s novelty songs by The Coasters. Peter Piper even incorporates jazz, dub, and batucada moves. Here, the attempt to create a mainstream genre from street rap is most evident�a genre intended to be marketable to white teenagers rather than black ones.

But on Tougher Than Leather (Profile, 1988), only They Call Us recalls the glory of their early days, while tracks like Run�s House and Beats To The Rhyme rely on elaborate arrangements to compensate for the repetitiveness of the ideas.

Jason "Jam Master" Mizell was murdered in october 2002.