Aerosmith To Induct Run DMC Into Hall Of Fame

AEROSMITH TO INDUCT RUN DMC INTO HALL OF FAME:

February 4, 2009

When pioneering Queens, N.Y., rap group Run-D.M.C. enters the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April, hometown rockers – and famed collaborators – Aerosmith will handle the induction honors.

But the two groups weren’t always such BFFs.

In fact, their historic collab on the “Walk This Way” remake, which revived Aerosmith’s career and served as a model for scores of rock-rap hybrids to come, almost didn’t happen.

Adidas-wearing, gold chain-sporting rappers Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels wanted little to do with Steven Tyler and Co. Initially, the lyrics to “Walk This Way” sounded like “hillbilly gibberish” that violated the rap trio’s raw, turntables-in-the-park sensibilities; they just wanted to sample the song’s aggressive guitar riff.

But producer Rick Rubin had other ideas. His efforts to play matchmaker between the two groups along with some encouragement from their DJ, the late Jam Master Jay, finally got Run and D.M.C. in the studio to remake the song, and make rap-rock history in the process.

Now, much like rap itself was dismissed and later embraced, D.M.C. recognizes Aerosmith as legendary.

“They’re like gods of rock,” McDaniels said during a sit-down in Boston yesterday. “People think that we did ‘Walk This Way’ to get white people. We did ‘Walk this Way’ because before rap records was made, we used to always have to find beats to rap over. So we used a lot of James Brown, but that Aerosmith beat was one of our favorites to freestyle over.

‘So we did ‘Walk This Way,’ it did what it did for the music, then we did the video, which literally broke down the wall, so it’d be dumb not to have them induct us, because of what we did together and who they are. They’re legends, like pioneers.”

Being a certified pioneer himself is still hard for D.M.C. to comprehend, but he said the honor is bigger than the group itself, or 2007 rap inductees, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

“Being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is not about Run-D.M.C. or Flash, it’s about our culture, the culture that changed the world,” he said.

“This is the world saying ‘aww shoot, we tried to front,’ but as Chuck D said, you can’t stop the bum rush. We have to acknowledge that rap music is a legitimate form. So these awards and inductions are not for the artist themselves, it’s for all the artists before (us) that spoke this into existence.”

Courtesy of www.sleazeroxx.com and news.bostonherald.com