It seems fitting that while The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" rode the beat of Chic's "Good Times" to historic success as the first mainstream rap hit, the first song on Run DMC's self-titled first album is called "Hard Times." Run DMC was the antithesis of The Sugarhill Gang: raw, fearlessly minimalist, and uncompromising. And yet the group made music so ridiculously infectious that it couldn't help but break through into the mainstream. The first three songs on Run-D.M.C.—which, like its three follow-ups, Arista/Legacy has just lavishly re-released with perceptive liner notes and four delightful bonus tracks apiece (including a surprisingly rocking radio ad for Penthouse)—establish a formula as simple and enduring as the group's iconic look. The elements that made Run DMC a legend are all present at the beginning: monster choruses, braggadocio back-and-forth rhymes, unobjectionable messages, and the revolutionary fusion of rap and rock through head-banging guitar and shout-outs to DJ Jam Master Jay. Ironically, the trio's debut is a lot like Michael Jackson's Thriller. Damn near every song is the kind of undeniable instant classic that forever ricochets around popular culture at weddings or bar mitzvahs, or in countless teen movies…
The title of the group's follow-up, King Of Rock, is both a provocation and a boast. Run DMC's first albums recaptured the raucous, rebellious newness of early rock and roll. Though not as revolutionary or fresh, King Of Rock sticks compellingly to the winning Run DMC formula, but ventures into virgin territory on songs like the Yellowman-assisted "Roots, Rap, Reggae." The disc's bonus tracks include a demo of "Slow And Low"—soon to be given to Beastie Boys—and a triumphant live version of the title track from Live AID…
Run DMC's historic run of classic albums continued with the hilarious Raising Hell, where Rick Rubin joined producer Russell Simmons for a disc that brought the group's swaggering rap-rock fusion to giddy new heights, most famously on "Walk This Way." But as Chuck D notes in his reverent liner notes, by the time 1988's Tougher Than Leather came out, the group had gone from setting trends to reflecting the trends set by its golden-age peers. The resulting album reflects a sometimes rocky but often inspired cross between classic Run DMC primal boom-bap and the denser, more frenetic style of groups like Public Enemy. It's the weakest of the four, but tracks like "Ragtime" and "Miss Elaine" are still enormous fun. Together, these essential, lovingly assembled reissues illustrate just how often musical history is made not by master craftsmen or grizzled studio rats, but rather by inspired kids just being themselves.