Kings From Queens: The RUN DMC Story will show how the powerful trio of Rev Run, DMC, and Jam Master Jay came together to form one of the most influential rap groups in hip-hop history. After a series of life-changing events and challenges — including the death of Jam Master Jay — Rev Run and DMC reunite to tell their story and celebrate the genre of music they helped establish.
DMC spoke with rolling out about the documentary.
What was your favorite part of this documentary?
One of the things that was my favorite about is Rev Run would always say in the latter years of our career that everybody got to experience the Run-DMC phenomenon, except me, him, and DJ. And we were like, “Yeah, what’s up with that?” He said, “The reason why is because we were the ones doing it.” We never got to feel what everybody was feeling. When you look at this documentary, everybody from Ice Cube all the way to Chuck D. and everybody in between — like Jermaine Dupri — is talking about what happened when they were around with or touring or recording with Run-DMC. But we never got the feel that experience because we were the focal points of it. We’re going to learn a lot about ourselves, but also I’ll be able to look back and say what they’re saying we did for them is the same thing Grandmaster Flash, Cold Crush Brothers, Funky Four Plus One, and the Treacherous Three did for me. Now I’m realizing it’s all the same, and it’s a continuation of what hip-hop’s purpose was for in the first place.
What can this film do for the new generation that did not get the experience you all in the past?
Inspire them to make some better d— records. I can’t critique another person’s creativity. Like most kids, they know Run-DMC from TikTok, movies and stuff like that. But then when they go in to see the creation of records and that there was thought put into it, they also see that — if you look at hip-hop right now — everybody who’s number one sounds like everybody else. When you look at everybody who got interviewed for this Run-DMC documentary, and it’s a broad spectrum; we all are rapping, but none of us sound the same. It also shows we are so diverse and so creative. That means it’s really tricky to rock a rhyme because this ain’t easy. Right now, hip-hop has become easy to do because all you got to do is what everybody else is doing, so now everybody sounds the same. It’s creating a monotony, and it’s becoming boring. People say, “I don’t like hip-hop.” No, you’re bored with it because nobody is doing something innovative and creative. Innovation and creativity mean doing something different. It doesn’t have to be new; you could do something they were doing in the 50s right now, and it’ll be crazy and change the game.
