So why is Run-D.M.C.’s Tougher Than Leather on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
I I grew up on Long Island, New York in the 1980s, two counties over from Run-D.M.C.’s homeland of Queens.
There was a period of my childhood where what I understood to be rap music boiled down to precisely two albums: Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill and Run-D.M.C.’s Raising Hell (#235 of best 1,000 albums ever).
I entered high school in the fall of 1988, and by that time Run-D.M.C. had mostly fallen off my radar (you’d be most likely to find me listening to U2’s Rattle & Hum (#197) or a Led Zeppelin mixtape via portable cassette player by that time).
The one song that initially cut through and onto my personal radar was the joyous, boisterous, and all around wonderful “Christmas in Hollis.”
It was December 24th on Hollis Ave after dark
When I seen a man chilling with his dog in the park
I approached him very slowly with my heart full of fear
Looked at his dog, oh my God, an ill reindeer
I have a specific memory of taking the Long Island Rail Road into New York City with a close childhood friend. Back then the physical ticket was rectangle shaped, a little bit smaller and narrower than a standard envelope if I recall correctly. On the back of the ticket was a map of the LIRR’s train lines, extending from The Hamptons all the way into Manhattan.
My friend – who I had a falling out with of sorts many years later, which makes this remembrance both painful and bittersweet – pointed to the Hollis station on the route map and said, “Christmas in…” and we both howled with laughter.
In any event, I still greatly enjoy the song and might even consider it my favorite holiday-adjacent song of all time.
Fast forward a bunch of years and life eras, and I eventually found my way back around to Tougher Than Leather, and I was absolutely blown away by how good it is, how fresh, how fundamentally New York City hip-hop it is in its very musical DNA.
And what’s crucial to it too is the masterful blending of rock samples and rap that you simply don’t see nearly as much of these days because of licensing fees and royalties or whatever other business stuff is involved.
The greatest of them all is “Mary, Mary.” It’s a perfect rap song, expertly blending in samples from “Mary, Mary” by The Monkees and “I Can’t Stop” by John Davis and the Monster Orchestra. Fresh to death and then back to life again. I can literally never get enough of it.
Yet another masterful track – this one leveraging The Temptations’ “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” – is “Papa Crazy,” and it’s absolutely sizzling in leveraging that soulful R&B vibe.
The title track, “Tougher Than Leather,” is one of the best uses of hard rock in a rap song that I’ve ever heard. And dig the old school hip-hop flavor here, just divine.
And “Miss Elaine” brings in a little heavy metal flavor to incredible effect.
Some stats & info about Run-D.M.C. – Tougher Than Leather
- 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 – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was Tougher Than Leather released? 1988
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #132 out of 1,000
Run-D.M.C.’s Tougher Than Leather on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Run-D.M.C.’s Tougher Than Leather that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Who’s house? Run’s house.
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.