Needless to say, Run-D.M.C. put rap on the map (with no rhyme intended), at least with the mainstream crowd, with the triple-platinum Raising Hell their masterpiece. Even the aforementioned Chris Rock called it the fourth greatest hip-hop album of all time. "My Adidas" and "It's Tricky" were signature rap anthems for the band, one boasting about their apparel and style in general (what is rap without a good boast?) and the other trying to explain to the laymen just how difficult it is to time a rhyme just right. Of course, the blistering "Walk This Way," one of the first songs to combine rock with rap - and the first to have any commercial impact - was one of those "you-got-chocolate-in-my-peanut-butter" sweet combos. The style has been imitated countless times since but arguably not to such success. Aerosmith's '70s tune with its classic guitar riff was retrofitted into the '80s with a smoking beatbox, and despite having their song interrupted several times - as evidenced by the music video - Steven Tyler and Joe Perry sang and played with the rap trio themselves, proving they were good sports. I'm sure I omitted many of your favourites, so feel free to tell me what I missed in the comments below.
Michael Perone has written for The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, The Island Ear (now titled Long Island Press), and The Long Island Voice, a short-lived spinoff of The Village Voice. He currently works as an Editor in Manhattan. And he still thinks Michael Keaton was the best Batman.
