Run DMC were hip-hop’s first superstars, and a key ingredient in the New York trio’s success was their intuitive mastery of the new medium of video. MTV was launched in 1981, but it wasn’t until Michael Jackson released Thriller in 1982 that the station began to feature black artists. Hip-hop had to wait even longer: a situation addressed, dissected and dismissed in the group’s 1985 video, King of Rock. The rappers Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and their DJ, Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell, barge their way into a fusty rock museum, and argue forcibly for their right to be included. As well as throwing a trademark Homburg hat over a set of Beatles busts, they trample on a single black glove — then Jackson’s signature prop. Not content with being kings of rock, Run DMC were going for mainstream pop’s jugular.

The following year, they hit it big. Walk This Way, a cover of an Aerosmith song, was accompanied by arguably one of the greatest pop promo clips. Run DMC and Aerosmith are rehearsing in adjacent studios, both playing the same song, the two irked by the other’s rendition. Before the first chorus, the wall has been breached and rock and rap have collided. By the end of the song, both bands are sharing a stage. This was the moment that made rock fans start to listen to rap: within five years, the majority of rap sales would be to white suburban teens.

The rest of the band’s videography is a largely endearing mix of what would become rap video clichés. Mary, Mary is a set of visual double entendres set at a Run DMC gig, It’s Tricky co-stars the magicians Penn & Teller, while The Ave, an ill-considered 1990 bid to prove their street credentials, found them jousting with cops, drinking beer and talking about guns.

Videos for the Jason Nevins remix of It’s Like That and last year’s unnecessary It’s Tricky revision round out a selection severely undermined by a failure to utilise the possibilities DVD affords. The extras are almost nonexistent, comprising only a dated short documentary on Profile, their record label, and a text-only discography. The opportunity to tell the group’s story, particularly in the light of Run and D’ s decision to retire after Mizell’s murder in 2002, has been spurned. Though otherwise wholly admirable, this collection is the weaker for it.

DVD extras Documentary, list-only discography

Angus Batey

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