So why is Run-D.M.C.’s Raising Hell on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
I have two childhood memories involving Run-D.M.C. that bring me great joy.
In the first one, I’m around ten years old and sitting in the backseat of my parents’ car. We’re going someplace kind of “far,” far enough away that I was smart (brilliant?) enough to take a cassette tape player and headphones along for the ride.^
* This was the ‘80s kids, so it’s way, way before the Internet, streaming, Bluetooth, MP3s, and even compact discs weren’t yet in wide circulation.
The memory of the cassette tape player cracks me up to this day: it was made by Fisher-Price, and was called something like My First Tape Player. It had not one but two tape players on it, meaning you could play a tape on one side and record on the other (mixtapes, here we go!). And best of all, it was bright orange. Like super bright orange. Little kiddie style, in other words, but in my mind’s eye it was more baller style.
And what did I play on that car ride, as loud as my little ears could stand it? “It’s Tricky” and the entirety of Raising Hell.
The second story is shorter. It’s a few years later, and I’m on the Long Island Railroad with a friend, and we’re heading into New York City a.k.a. The City. My friend is looking at his ticket, which has all of the route station names on it, and points out Hollis, which is located in Queens.
He simply says, “Christmas in…” and we both bust up, howling with laughter.
(I still absolutely adore “Christmas in Hollis,” it’s all kinds of fun and wonderful.)
Going back to the first story, I’m not sure that there’s a rap album that I have a more intimate relationship with than Raising Hell, due in part to how early it came into my life. Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill comes in a distant second, but while I found them to be fun at the time it was only when I was a little bit older – particularly by the time Check Your Head came out – that I began to fully appreciate them.
I still love Raising Hell as much as I did when I was a kid, and I still think that “It’s Tricky” is an absolute smasher of an old school hard rock-infused hip hop track deep from the streets of Queens* and New York City.
* Queens is the NYC borough I was born in, as aside, lived during my first few years, and then later in Astoria with friends post-college before departing for California in the (way out) west.
I’m not sure if my first ever exposure to Run-D.M.C. was by way of the breakthrough/megahit music video that pairs Aerosmith with Run, Darryl Mac, and Jam Master Jay for an update of “Walk This Way,” but in any event there’s no doubt what influence this wild fusion of hip hop and rock and roll had on me and music fans generally.
Which is to say it’s the best kind of celebration of music: loose, a little edgy (slightly naughty, perhaps), ultra confident, and all kinds of joyous.
What’s important to note about Run-D.M.C. is that they are first and foremost entertainers, and tracks like “You Be Illin’” show off their goofy sense of humor. This one makes me laugh to this day.
He didn’t walk straight, kind of side to side
He asked this old lady, “Yo, yo, um…is this Kentucky Fried?”
The lady said “Yeah,” smiled and he smiled back
He gave a quarter and his order, small fries, Big Mac!
You be illin’
I also have fond memories of attempting (and please throw quotes around “attempting” if you’d like) to bust out the lyrics to “Son of Byford” with my friends way back in the day.
Oh, those days of Commack, New York lore.
Some stats & info about Run-D.M.C. – Raising Hell
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rap, Hip Hop, East Coast Rap, Golden Age, Hardcore Rap, Old School Hip Hop
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #209
- All Music’s rating – 5 out of 5 stars
- When was Raising Hell released? 1986
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #235 out of 1,000
Run-D.M.C.’s Raising Hell on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Run-D.M.C.’s Raising Hell that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
In New York, the people talk and try to make us rhyme, they really hawk, but we just walk because we have no time.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.