Run-D.M.C. has been Raising Hell for over four decades. With the Queens-bred crew's Raising Hell album celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, Run-D.M.C.'s Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels and Joseph “Run” Simmons sat down with Billboard on Thursday (July 9) to reflect on the seminal LP's impact on hip-hop. Explore Run DMC See latest videos, charts and news
“ Raising Hell was special because we wasn’t trying to make a music industry album; we was trying to make a hip-hop album,” D.M.C. explained. Related Jadakiss Responds to 38 Spesh on Track With Fat Joe & Stove God Cooks: ‘Is This About a Verse or Is This About a Career?’ Bad Bunny's Foundation Shares Details for ‘Un Verano Contigo’ 2026, A Free Program For Youth in Puerto Rico Bonnie Tyler's Billboard Chart Legacy: ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ & Beyond
Raising Hell served as Run-D.M.C.’s third album, which arrived on May 15, 1986. The project debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and was powered by singles like their cover of Aerosmith's “Walk This Way,” “My Adidas” and “It’s Tricky.”
“ Raising Hell is the prototype, the blueprint. It’s the Sgt. Peppers of hip-hop. It made everybody after us, if you want to do an album, you got to do it on that level,” D.M.C. continued.
“Walk This Way” notched the first-ever top five hit for a hip-hop single on the Billboard Hot 100, as it reached No. 4.
Run-D.M.C. knocked down plenty of doors in their journey. They were the first hip-hop group to receive a Grammy nomination and Raising Hell was the first rap album to go platinum.
“40 years, I pray it lives up to how me and D felt in ’87 going on tour,” Run added. “[Producer] Jam Master Jay was everything to Raising Hell … He was like the one-man-band making Raising Hell. “
Watch the full video of Run-D.M.C. reliving Raising Hell below.
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