Raising Hell (CD)

Until Run-DMC came along in the early 1980s, most hip-hop music wasn't much more than nursery rhymes over disco loops. They popularized the idea of rap as a new kind of rock & roll--the voice of the streets set to the raw sounds of a turntablist one-man-band. The group even managed to pioneer the collision of rock and rap with a groundbreaking take on Aerosmith's "Walk This Way." Run-DMC is now viewed as the avatar of old-school hip-hop, almost quaint by 21st-century gangsta standards, but undeniably influential. Sadly, Run-DMC disbanded in 2002, after the tragic murder of Jam Master Jay, the group's groundbreaking DJ.

• Category:  Music  »  Rap & Hip Hop  »  East Coast Rap
• Format: CD   Learn more about the CD format using Tower WIKI.
• Release Date: June 1, 1999
• Label: Arista/Profile
• UPC: 078221640824
• WAPI (Tower ID): 106719747
• Average Customer Review: There are no customer reviews yet. Be the first to write a review!
• Tower.com Sales Rank: #144400 in Music (See Top 100 Music Bestsellers)
• #3629 in Rap & Hip Hop (See Top 100 Rap & Hip Hop Bestsellers)
• #381 in East Coast Rap (See Top 100 East Coast Rap Bestsellers)

Browse more products related to "Raising Hell"

Browse more products related to "Run-DMC"

Run-DMC''s 1986 rap masterpiece, Raising Hell, storms out of the musical gate. One of the albums that defined the transition from the old school to the new school, with its heavy rhyme sequences layered on top of drum-machine beats, and an assortment of pulse-quickening record stabs thrown in for good measure, it''s relentless. The late-''80s lyricism of MCs Run and DMC is not as complex as that of today''s microphone mathematicians, but that was never the point--what they lack in finesse, they more than make up in intensity, authority, and flat-out lung power. The fact that almost every line of "Peter Piper" has become the hook of another hip-hop song is a testament to the power of these originals (the "not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning good" line alone has been used in countless turntablist routines).

The roots of rap/metal fusion are in here, too, with songs like "It''s Tricky," "Walk this Way," and the title cut making use of distorted rock guitars and pounding drums, while "Proud to Be Black" helped launch the Afrocentric-conscious rap era of the late ''80s. And "My Adidas" prefigured the brand-name fetishism that hip-hop is just beginning to get over. When it comes to beats, bumps, and b-boy bravado, there has never been anyone else like Run-DMC, and this album shows why. --Joe Schloss

There are no customer reviews yet. Be the first to write a review!

• Great Deals on CDs under $9.99

  New Releases, Bestsellers and Classic Albums all for under $10! Great Music for Everyone's Tastes!

• Great Deals on DVDs under $12.99

  New Releases, Bestsellers and Classic DVDs all for under $13! Great Movies, TV and DVD Specials for Everyone's Tastes!

• Great Deals on Books under $14.99

  New Releases, Bestsellers and Classic Books all for under $15! Great Reads for Everyone's Tastes!