Album Review: Raising Hell, Run-D.M.C.
*Originally submitted February 24th, 2019 for the Cultures of Hip-Hop course at the University of Virginia
Rating: ★★★★☆
By Annie Klein May 16th, 1986
If Run-D.M.C. and King of Rock didn’t cement Run-D.M.C. as hip-hop idols, Raising Hell, the group’s junior album, most definitely will—and they know it, too. On almost every track, you’ll hear Run and D.M.C. take turns boasting about and lamenting the pitfalls of their celebrity, and claiming to be the best MC’s on the scene. A clear step up from their previous two albums, Raising Hell raises the bar in terms of tongue-twisting rhymes, surprising rock samples (including a feature from Aerosmith themselves), inventive beats being spun by Jam Master Jay, and a poignant political statement to finish it off. Admittedly, a few tracks are more or less filler, a trend seen in their previous two albums as well. But the tracks that impress really impress, and will undoubtedly change the course of hip-hop for all MC’s after them.
When the group released their debut album Run-D.M.C. in 1984, it had only been eleven years since DJ Kool Herc “started” hip-hop in the South Bronx, and only five years since Sugarhill Gang’s genre-transforming “Rapper’s Delight”. At this point, hip-hop was still heavily influenced by disco, both culturally and sonically. In typical Run-D.M.C. fashion, they ignored this completely on their first album. Well maybe not completely, but their debut album was certainly a big step away from the disco-hip-hop of the late 70s and early 80s. Run-D.M.C. took hip-hop away from disco and brought it onto the streets, infusing it with a rock influence that has become somewhat of their signature. It seems to have started with “Rock Box” on the first album, and expanded on King of Rock in 1985. The group’s second album features nine tracks, three of which have the word “Rock” in the title, including the title track. “King of Rock” also samples an AC/DC riff, pushing it further into the recognizable rock world. Also released in 1985 was the first big single from a fellow Queens MC, LL Cool J, who Run-D.M.C. would go on to sample in a good handful of their songs.
All of these influences lead to the release of Raising Hell in 1986, the group’s third (and best, thus far) record. The album was produced by close collaborators Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, and continues to push the rock-hip-hop style that was established with the first two albums. Run, D.M.C. and Jam Master Jay mix together samples from Aerosmith and The Knack with samples from LL Kool J, Kurtis Blow, and even themselves. This conglomeration of rock and hip-hop samples is typical of Run-D.M.C., but is groundbreaking for the genre. To mix an inherently white-washed genre with an inherently black one may be jarring at first, but Run-D.M.C. make it work. Throughout these twelve tracks you will also hear the MC’s lay down countless rhymes boasting about and lamenting the pitfalls of fame and celebrity. And while the whole album is very lyrically impressive, it also impresses in its cohesive and consistent sound throughout, from the first track to the last.
The album opens with “Peter Piper”, a nursery-rhyme filled rap laid down over Bob James’ “Take Me to the Mardi Gras”. The opening verse starts: “Now Peter Piper picked peppers, but Run rocked rhymes/Humpty Dumpty fell down, that’s his hard time/Jack B. Nimble was nimble, and he was quick/But Jam Master cut faster, Jack’s on Jay’s d*ck.” Right off the bat, the MC’s are showcasing their impressive rhymes and skills, while also positioning themselves at the top with their claims. The track is pretty simple and pretty much what you’d expect from the group. It relies heavily on a drum machine, as does the rest of the album, and mixes in some bells, courtesy of the Bob James sample. “Peter Piper” seems like a good choice as the opening track, because it sounds familiar to Run-D.M.C. fans, but is slightly elevated in terms of lyrics and production.
“Peter Piper” moves into “It’s Tricky”, arguably the best (at least, my favorite) track on the record. This is the track that really starts to push the album into rock territory with the guitar sample of “My Sharona” by The Knacks. “My Sharona” spent six weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard chart in 1979, so it would be pretty hard not to pick up on that sample in “It’s Tricky”. Additionally, by using such a popular rock sample, Run-D.M.C. is pushing hip-hop into a broader audience that may not have listened to the genre before. This tactic is used again, and on a larger scale, on “Walk This Way”. The chorus of “It’s Tricky” repeats, “It’s tricky to rock a rhyme, to rock a rhyme that’s right on time, it’s tricky”, professing that hip-hop is undoubtedly harder than the public perceives it to be. Again, it’s only been thirteen years, give or take, since the genre really came about. Run and D.M.C. are trying to convey through their lyrics that the effort that goes into making these rhymes needs to be taken more seriously. Something else to note is the last verse: “We are not thugs (We don’t use drugs) but you assume (on your own)/They offer coke (And lots of dope) but we just leave it alone/It’s like that y’all (Y’all), but we don’t quit/You keep on (Rock) shock! ‘Cause this is it.” Considering the social and cultural circumstances that birthed and surround hip-hop, it’s significant that two of the most prominent MC’s would denounce drug use.
“Walk This Way” is clearly intended to be the climax of the album. It begins pretty unassuming, the beginning sounding very similar to the fade out of “My Adidas”, but completely transforms when the Aerosmith guitar sample kicks in. The track not only samples Aerosmith’s 1975 hit “Walk This Way”, but Run and D.M.C. even got Steven Tyler and Joe Perry in the studio with them. This is the group’s most direct and obvious hip-hop/rock collaboration to date, and will undoubtedly be a crossover hit. Even if you don’t listen to hip-hop, I am certain you will hear this song everywhere. By featuring such a prominent and relevant rock group, Run-D.M.C. is expanding both their audience and the boundaries of hip-hop. Interestingly enough, remember that hip-hop started as an influence of disco; rock was somewhat of a counter to disco, because disco was associated with African American culture, and rock had become (and still is) predominantly and stereotypically white (despite its black originators). Through this collaboration, the group is transcending not only genre boundaries, but racial boundaries as well.
Ironically, Raising Hell ends with its twelfth and final track, “Proud to Be Black”. Calling to their audience, “Listen party people here’s a serious song”, the duo spends 3 minutes and 15 seconds giving a mini black history lesson, as well as celebrating and embracing their racial identities. It is also interesting that this is one of the few tracks on the album that has no clear rock influences whatsoever, sticking with a simple drum machine beat and record scratches courtesy of “Catch a Groove” by Juice. As mentioned above, rock in recent years has become a stereotypically white genre, the opposite of hip-hop. It is almost as if “Proud to Be Black” is Run-D.M.C. reclaiming the genre for themselves, and even discounting all of the rock influence on the previous tracks. The MC’s proclaim, “You know I’m proud to be black y’all/And that’s a fact y’all/And if you try to take what’s mine/I take it back y’all.” Is this a diss to the white rockers, like Aerosmith, who “took” rock-based music from black musicians? Or should this just be taken at face-value, a general warning against appropriation of black culture? Either way, the statement serves as a powerful ending to an album dotted with samples from white artists.
While these four tracks are all powerful in their own right, not all twelve tracks on the album impress. Like Run-D.M.C.’s previous albums, there are a handful of filler tracks throughout the album, such as “Is It Live”, “Perfection”, and even the title track “Raising Hell”. On their own the songs are great hip-hop, but put together with the bigger tracks on the album, they’re definitely overshadowed. Even something like “You Be Illin” is a great and humorous song, but it gets lost in the presence of the bigger tracks. And though it’s impressive how cohesive the sound is throughout the album, I definitely would’ve liked to hear a little more variation aside from drum beats and electric guitar samples. But overall, Raising Hell is a fantastic representation of Run-D.M.C. as a group, and of how their sound has matured over the last few years. It also pushes the boundaries of hip-hop music into the mainstream, while simultaneously raising questions about origin, authenticity, race, and culture. I would be astonished if this album didn’t become a canonical piece of hip-hop music.
