Run-D.M.C. marked the 40th anniversary of their seminal album Raising Hell in 2026, with members Darryl D.M.C. McDaniels and Joseph Run Simmons discussing the project’s impact on hip-hop.
Raising Hell, released May 15, 1986, was Run-D.M.C.’s third album and debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. The project became the first rap album to achieve platinum certification and featured hit singles including a cover of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way,” “My Adidas” and “It’s Tricky.”
“Walk This Way” reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking the first top-five hit for a hip-hop single on the chart. Run-D.M.C. also became the first hip-hop group to receive a Grammy nomination.
D.M.C. described the album’s significance: “Raising Hell is the prototype, the blueprint. It’s the Sgt. Pepper’s of hip-hop. It made everybody after us, if you want to do an album, you got to do it on that level.“
Run and D.M.C. credited producer Jam Master Jay as central to the album’s creation, describing him as “the one-man-band making Raising Hell.”
Source: Billboard