Customer Reviews

Raising Hell: The Reign, Ruin, and Redemption of Run-D.M.C. and Jam Master Jay

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I'm pretty perceptive when it comes to scoping out the right books to read (i.e. whether or not it's actually worth the time & money).

This one was another great page-turner!

Particularly for fans of hip hop music, those who came of age before the genre crossed over to the mainstream, and also for music fans who've probably heard countless great tales from the industry that are starting to come off like a broken record.

"Raising Hell: The Reign, Ruin and Redemption of Run DMC" is a book title that could very easily read "Raising Hell: The Reign & Ruin of Run DMC."

I said that because for as much as I loved this group growing up and still love what they achieved circa-1985 and their place in moving the genre forward, the book did a lot to burst my bubble (so to speak) on what remains an iconic group.

Without giving away the juicy details of the book, Run DMC should be credited for their historic, innovative stylings.

Coming off the more glossy hip hop infancy of blinged out artists like Kurtis Blow, Afrika Bambaataa, Grand Master Flash & the Furious Five, it was Run DMC who made it cool to "just be yourself" without all the celebrity, wearing-your-wealth-on-your-sleeves images.

It was Run DMC who (at the time) came with a more deviantly hardcore hip hop sound (read: not your commercially-friendly, R&B-type rap music).

And it was Run DMC who helped the hip hop culture grow the most in the mid-80s by experimenting with a slight rock&roll flavor that became their signature sound while expanding hip hop's fanbase.

Where this book may surprise you is hearing all the behind the scenes tales of (now Rev.) Run, DMC and Jam Master Jay -- at least it all surprised me b/c they weren't always true to their music images.

Jam Master Jay (may he rest in peace) is presented as the cool, laid back brotha who stayed runnin' in the streets. You won't find out anything more than theories about who his killer might be, but just finding out he at least ran with more than his share of greasy cats even into his 30s will make you wonder if that didn't play some small part in his demise (i.e. He didn't deserve to die but this wasn't just some random act of violence as the media initially tried to portray it).

Perhaps a little less surprising is the book's portrayal of Run (the group's leader) as this egotistical, control freak who refused to compromise and even as a born again Christian remains a shady, alcohol-overconsuming man of the world posing as a disciple of the Lord.

DMC, my personal favorite of the group, comes off as perhaps the group member with the most issues.

The book paints him as this slightly introverted pushover who stomached Run's ego trips back in the day during the group's run at the top and one who didn't grow a backbone until their best days had passed them by (thus all the tales of the turmoil, hatred and conflict that defined Run DMC's circa-2000 comeback).

And yet with all of the aforementioned flaws (we all have some!), the most disgusting part of these behind the scenes tales all involve the way Run and DMC reacted to JMJ's murder.

The only specific detail of this book I will divulge is that Run and DMC came off as spiritually unchanged by their best friend's death and more concerned with how to exploit it for money in the same vein TuPac and Biggie's deaths were milked for cash.

Great read but depending on what perspective you're coming from and what image you have of this group, this may or may not be recommended material.

By the end of "Raising Hell," I can't say I lost any respect for them as a whole.

But I guess it's a lot easier to keep their immense accomplishments in context while also acknowledging their utter human qualities and inevitable sameness with most who survive to tell about their music industry experiences (i.e. drugs, sex, some good times & lots of shady dealings).

If you love old school rap, you'll enjoy reading the interesting facts that Ro presents in this comprehensive presentation about the Kings of Rock, RUN DMC. However, I wouldn't exactly call Ronin Ro a story teller. I thought his writing lacked a compelling story line, so if you're not a RUN DMC/old school fan you'll have a hard time getting through the book. It's more like a chronological presentation of facts. The little nuggets about the relationships of the old school players and the songs they mastered is what will get you through it (for example, why LL Cool J's song "Rock the Bells" does not have bells in it). The book did change my view of RUN DMC, especially Reverend Run and Russel Simmons, although not necessarily for the better.

If you are a TRUE Run-DMC FAN as opposed to a listener;
if you are a TRUE student of Rap's beginnings;
if you are a TRUE student of HIP-HOP;
THIS BOOK NEEDS TO BE IN YOUR LIBRARY. Id go as far to say the lessons learned in regards to the music industry, and its treatment of rising or new artist could serve as a knowledge foundation for those aspiring to be in the music industry.
WALK THIS WAY and GET THIS BOOK

I'm a big run dmc fan and this book told me more about this group then anyother book i have read. This book tells you how they met what got them started,what got russell started, i mean this book tells you evrything you would ever want to know about run dmc and jam master jay. I couldn't put the book down truly a great book you will really enjoy it.

"Raising Hell..." is a biography on the career of the hip-hop band Run-DMC. Author Ronin Ro begins the book with the middle-school aged Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels and Jason Mizell, the future (Rev.) Run, DMC, and Jam Master Jay, respectively. In their working-class neighborhood of Hollis, Queens (New York), the three youths became involved with the local hip-hop scene as it spread from the South Bronx to the other minority-heavy areas of New York City. As the hip-hop genre had its first recorded hits circa 1980, Joseph's older brother Russell quit college to become a full time party promoter and manager for rap acts. That would soon include the group that `Joey' decided to start with his friends Darryl and Jason.
The book goes to chronicle the bands rise to local, then national, then international prominence, and the unfortunate, if not altogether unpredictable, fall from grace that happens to many popular recording artists. Interviews were conducted with the band members (with the exception of the late Jam Master Jay, whose murder is glimpsed in a prologue and given further detail in the final chapters). Also interviewed were intimates of the group like Russell Simmons, members of the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy, and more.

Much detail is given into the personal character arcs of the principal players in the Run-DMC saga. Consumption of malt liquor and smoking marijuana were apparently regular activities even before the group became famous; the group (and manager Russell) graduated to harder drugs by the group's zenith; only their collective loss of fortunes seemed to at least moderately curb the substance abuse. Also, members of the group were initially not as enthusiastic about the rock-fusion experiments they were credited with pioneering--Run and DMC derisively looked at Aerosmith's "Walk this Way" as `hillbilly music' when they first listened to the original song in its entirety (the group was used to simply repeating the drum-kick intro for their DJ routines).

By the mid-to-late 90s, internal tensions in the group began to mount. Run had divorced and remarried, then became a born-again Christian, joining a prominent Harlem church whose pastor advocated "prosperity Gospel" teachings. Subsequently becoming an ordained minister, Run was still enthused about competing musically and lyrically with contemporary rappers. DMC was in distress about a rare condition that drastically altered his voice, his own ambivalence about the post-gangster rap atmosphere in urban music, and a classic-rock muse that allegedly wasn't met with warmth by his partners. He soon became disenchanted with being a part of Run's church. Jam Master Jay found a second career as a producer of other hip-hop acts, but allegedly still struggled financially with back taxes and other bills.

Intermittent lawsuits filed on their behalf to extricate the group from their first record label stalled the recording of new material (it was an open secret that Russell Simmons wanted them released to record for his label Def Jam--but Profile Recordings owners stonewalled). In the meanwhile, trends in hip-hop came and went, and before long, the group were tagged as trend-chasers rather than trendsetters. Still, by the new millennium, the group became a popular concert draw again, this time as old-school standard bearers.

The book's closing chapters offer more detail on the day of the still-unsolved murder of Jam Master Jay at a recording studio, and the weeks immediately following, which included some allegedly incredulous behavior on behalf of the surviving members as well as Russell Simmons.

This is a great book offering some poignant insight about hip-hop cultural history, as well as a cautionary tale about the dark side of the business.

my 1st love was rap music back in the late 80`s early 90`.rap was new, and
ground breaking.on day a friend of mine came at my house with a new album he had baught.... raising hell from run dmc.this is one of my best album still today.this book explaines every thing, from russel simmons to rick rubin and from beastie boy to ll cool j (all of them was signed by or produce by def jam) i read this book in 2 days and when i finished, i almost cried.1st because i realised that im 34 years old and that all
this music was going on at the same time i was groing up (i feel i was part of something) 2nd is that i realised (again) that rap today has nothing to do with run dmc public enemy etc etc. i still weir my addidas shell toes with pride.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Run-DMC is a group I grew up listening to (even attended 2 of there concerts back in the day). The book provides interesting information about Run-DMC's golden era as well as Def Jam's founders Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin. Although the book sometimes portray's Run and Russell Simmons in a negative way, it still does not change my respect for what they accomplished with Run-DMC and HipHop as a whole.

now on the real I was more of a Whodini Fan back in the day than Run DMC,but having said that Run DMC was the first Mega SuperStar Rap Group&Act that truly was mainstream&made you take notice."Peter Piper",it's like that,King of Rock,Mary,mary&then later Down with the King were some of my jams from those Cats. they had there own Image.they were rocking Sneakers way before alot of NBA Cats had gotten Shoe deals.matter of fact they were rocking Adias right around the time Michael Jordan's Air Jordan's were just starting to take off.Run DMC was a rare act back in the day of Hip-Hop in that they were making albums after albums where as alot of Acts were ran off the road after a couple of albums.they were very influential.LL Cool J,Dr.dre,Ice Cube,Hammer,Nelly,Snoop,-Outkast,50 cent, all owe Run DMC alot of Props for paving the way.this Book takes you back to a time when Hip-Hop was still cracking into the mainstream&all the Politics involved.these cats were multi tasking back in a time period when alot of these Record Companys didn't know much about marketing Rap Music let alone product endorsing things.this is a must read all the way.

This is Rob Wiser, a fellow writer and buddy of Ronin's during the UBO days. (Ronin, that was an interesting chapter in our lives, huh? LOL...) As a fan of the pioneering hip hop juggernaut Run DMC, and a fan of my boy Ronin's writing ever since "Have Gun Will Travel," I picked up a copy of this book. As usual, Ro delivered the real deal on the subject -- written from the perspective of someone who lives and breathes hip hop, and pulls no punches.

Ro, I have a book out right now called Mack Tactics...it's doing very well and it would be cool to reconnect with you. Amazon won't allow me to post my contact info so just type in my book's URL (same as the book title) and you can email me through my site. Keep up the good work.

-- Rob Wiser