Ronin Ro: I love Run-D.M.C. I was a lonely adolescent who looked forward to Raising Hell coming out, so I could get it on vinyl and play it for three hours. It was a world on wax for me. This book was a heartfelt project.
How cooperative were the group in your research?
I interviewed Run and D.M.C., Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin declined to participate.
The beef between Run and L.L. Cool J is well documented throughout the book. What was that really about?
Run, at that point in time was the greatest. L.L. came along and he's selling a lot of records and has a major distributor. L.L. walked through the door that Run-D.M.C opened and all of a sudden there’s L.L. with the same style. Run had to say, 'Hey, I created this and this is my sound and I want to be the only source for this sound on the market.'
Do you think hip hop beefs today are about ego and competition or is it something else?
I think it’s always been the same. Also, a lot of today’s beef is based on the flawed logic of being the big cat in the ghetto and that’s not something to be proud of or glorify.
Jam Master Jay made so many extraordinary contributions to the group, but his life seems to be summed up by his murder. Why?
Jay was a good-hearted person who wanted to help his friends, just [like] many of these cats in these feuds are trying to do. Jay had good intentions, but he may have chosen the wrong people to help.
How are Run-D.M.C going to go down in hip hop history?
The reality is they are the greatest group of all time. They are going to go down in history as the group who really refined hardcore hip hop. The game has changed and they didn't have to resort to the shenanigans of today to sell records. They didn't glorify drugs and violence and adultery to sell records. They were the drug free superstars. They were the greatest. Everything that could possibly be done they tried to do it.
Read more vibe.com online exclusives.
del.icio.us
digg
Furl
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Comments
No comments have been posted.