Harking Back to the Time When Hip-Hop Raised Hell

All baggy-jeans-wearing, boom-box-toting, hip-hop-loving suburban kids owe both their fashion and their attitude to Run-DMC. Were it not for Run, DMC, and DJ Jam Master Jay, modern rap would not exist. It was the group’s seminal 1986 album Raising Hell that brought hip-hop from the urban metropolis and into the ’burbs and the hearts of the masses.

Raising Hell is most famous for a couple of catchy and oft-used songs that have found their place in pop-culture thanks to commercials and teen movies. “It’s Tricky,” a much-adored, used, and misquoted song, is track number two on the album. With its witty rhymes, guitar riffs, heavy beats, and insanely catchy hook, the song epitomizes Run-DMC’s fun, clean, and positive aesthetic. (This was long before the misogynistic, violent streak of gangster rap.) Tracks like “My Adidas” and “You be Illin’” are further examples of Run-DMC’s goal—to write good, fun rap songs with clever lyrics that can bring people together. It is no surprise then why it was Run-DMC that transitioned hip-hop music from underground phenomenon to mainstream genre.

The real standout of Raising Hell, and the song that perhaps single-handedly lifted rap onto the radio, is “Walk This Way.” Featuring Top-20 darling Aerosmith, the song launched Run-DMC into fame due in part to the then-new media outlet of MTV. With rock guitar riffs, the wails of Steve Tyler himself, and a solid hip-hop beat, “Walk This Way” was, in many ways, a hip-hop-rock peace treaty. The song lifted the ban and allowed suburbanites to see how cool rap could be. “Walk This Way” laid the foundation for a multitude of subsequent hip-hop and rock collaborations that continue to excite the mainstream and challenge our expectations. For example, without Run-DMC, there would be no Outkast—but there would also be no rap metal. No rap metal could have been a positive in pop evolution, but Outkast still delights.

Though Raising Hell is a far cry from today’s hip-hop music, with its slowly enunciated lyrics, simple beats, and feel-good attitude, its influence is still ubiquitous. Hip-hop’s brand obsession takes its cue from “My Adidas” and Afrocentric hip-hop of the late ’80s and early ’90s was surely affected by “Proud to be Black.” You won’t find any drugs, booze, or wild sex on the album. Optimistic dance songs and emphatic beat-boxing are favored over violence or expletives. Raising Hell is a reminder of the days when all you needed was a tracksuit, a gold chain, and a pair of Adidas to be badass.