Run Dmc Analysis

LECTURE 9

– First house hold name in rap is RUN DMC – Significant because they changed it for a lot of artists – RUN DMC picture on the far right is Jam master Jay (belated DJ for run DMC), person on the far left is Joseph Simmons aka RUN of RUN DMC, MIDDLE is Darryl mcdaniels aka DMC – 1ST few songs were 12 inch singles before they were on albums – Sometimes 2 singles on 1 album – Later on you put it on the LP – Greatest group in the history of hip hop based on historians – They’re the 1st rap group to get a gold plaque – Whodini (escape) was platinum album because it was the first time a RAP album sold a million copies – This title however, is shared because RUN DMC shares this title
– Not sure who ACTUALLY got it – As far as rappers starring in MTV, they were the first RAPPERS to be on MTV – First household name serving over 2 generations – If you look back in the 80s, they were the ones that ruled the 80s – Back then they were so young and naïve when our prof interviewed them – RUN DMC is from queens – If you have money this is where middle class black people live – Run dmc was a group that helped prove that hip hop can come from areas other than south Bronx and still thriving – Kurtis blow went to college and russell simmons – RUN and as well as D went to university thats like #3 and #4 for sure based on the history books – The youngest person in the group is RUN – RUN aka JOSEPH hes in school (kid at this point) Russell simmons is in NY as a promoter, developing, finding himself as an industry maverick but while managing kurtis blow, he brought kurtis blow to RUNS house (parents house) and they just chilled out and had a good vibe – And this is what led to the chemistry that let run joining kurtis blow – DJ run was the son of kurtis blow – Fast as a exploding bullet, my son run ? QUOTE – He stopped djing cuz he broke his arm – In his heart, even though run was a DJ he always wanted to be a rapper – At age 17, Russell brought his little brother into the recording studio to start making records – Run had never seen this before, it was like his world just opened up – He was also in his last year of school – One of the things that was SIGNIFICANT that gave an advantage was that he TOURED with kurtis blow so he brought back his set tapes of shows they did live, and hung out with this dude that did comic book sketches Darryl mcdaniels (friend of Russell) – So run is kinda doing Darryl a favor cuz not a lot of ppl brought stuff – Run went to Lagurdia community college and studied mortuary science – Darryl mcdaniels AKA DMC attended st.JOHNS university – And that’s apparently kinda cool cuz not a lot of ppl brag about going to university in their raps – So one day run convined D to work together and perform on stage with him (remember this is the time where theres only 1 or 2 rappers not a lot of major rappers) – Kurtis blow was the only major label mercury he got signed to – The character of this guy D according to RUN he was a hardcore b-boy dude, he didn’t like radio friendly rap and shit – There was another guy that was even more hardcore, he had equipment he was a legit DJ and his name was Jason MIZEL aka DJ JAM MASTER J. this was the 3rd person to perform (well first album he wasn’t officially part of the group, framed him as a paid musician, 2nd album he was official) this explains why in one of the album pics hes not in there ? – 1983, theres about to be a kind of division with new school and old school THIS IS SIGNIFICANT – And run DMC would be one of the groups that their sound and message would be the same, lot more hardcore but when RUN dmc just shifted EVERYTHING – First double single 12 inch “its like that” profile records is the home record – Even though they sound hardcore, their msg is in the beginning very conscious and positive – Wars going on across the scene, a lot of conscious lyrics – We heard a different sound, delivery, style, but we didn’t tap into it that the lyrics were meaningful cuz it was so hardcore – This was non traditional rap cuz it was slow before you could bounce your head to it – This was fast paced it was 120 beats per min, almost as same as house music – Theres no music in that its just beats, no baseline, no fancy pretty piano, its just rappers rapping over naked beats – 2 songs were on this single its like that and SuckerMCS – According to this song, suCKER mcs, russel simmons does not produce music hes an industry maverick, when Run was just coming out with this first record, he was irreistable he had to try putting his hands on something; he had multi talent. Russel gets credit for producing this record supper mcs. This record has a minimalist beat, advanced rhyme style. Ppl consider this song to be the first hardcore rap song in the history of rap. – This is the single most creative thing I have ever done – quote by RUSSEL – Ppl say it’s a really aggressive sounding rap song – Theyre young, fresh, and green, they didn’t know they were the BEST. No gangster history, no violence. They even went to church. They grew up in queens so they arent suffering as much in comparison to the Bronx where ppl to things they don’t wanna do to just pay rent. – With this record, Russell simmons had some connections, where they could put it into the hands of djs at the radio. But the radio programmer said “SUCKER MCS IS THE ABSOLOUTE WORST RECORD IN YEARS ON THE RADIO” “theres problems with the record, couldn’t understand the lyrics, no harmony, no melody, no keyboards, no baseline” that beat (skeletal beat just like kool herc and grandmaster flash) this was how rap was going. – Give me the breakdown lets just loop it so we can rhyme over it cuz we have samplers that can do that – So now music is changing in front of peoples eyes – They were the defining group from what was in the past, and what happened NOW – It had no HOOK, which is the catchiest part of the record – People thought the song was kinda jumpy, jumbled up and that was JUST a beat, it sounded like it was fake sounding, even the hand clapping – Todays generation would not agree with this – That generation back then was given their first hip hop work though – The rest of the world just needed to adapt to RUN dmc – This song became a hit ANYWAYS, it became a hit cause people didn’t wanna hear what the radio programmers had to say. We saw ppl would listen to this on the street regardless – At this point in time the album hasn’t come out yet, so its released its like that and sucker mcs (2 singles) – Then they put out another 12 inch called “hard times” – Album still hasn’t come out yet – It sounds similar to the previous record – Its like that and hard times are almost exactly alike – This record also had a song called jam master J on it – It’s a very thin like, maybe a lil more implied melody, but theyre still sticking to their hardcore style at this point in time – Theres this guy that worked with WHodidni now run dmc his name is LARRY SMITH – Hes the behind the scnees producer guy, if you heard anything from whodini or run dmc on the radio, he made the keyboard and sounds that made it pretty for the radio; the adult r and b radio to the sound – Run dmc is going to put their 3rd single out and still don’t have an album – Rap moves faster than all types of other music, you don’t sit on it and promote it for 3 months, as soon as you promote, put it out the next day – This song is called Rock Box (played the video instead of just the song) s – Run DMC is dressed differently. They said our DJS are better than all these bands, and they have a band in the beginning (playing electric guitar); theyre incorporating different instruments. Theres a lot of leather which is symbolic of toughness, rockstardom. Which si why rappers were tryin to emulate them. Grandmaster flash did it wrong cuz they look wack – These guys look totally cool – You know they say video killed the radio star – This was RUN DMCS first video so theyre trying to market themselves for MTV that’s why theres rock and roll and white people. That’s why they had professor Irwin who had the celebrity status who had to draw white ppl in at the beginning, then black people in the middle and end – This is how RUN DMC put their foot in the door – They didn’t sell out but they shifted focus a little and put in the rock guitar (Eddie Martinez) – White people didn’t like the record when it came out, even though he tried to incorporate rock and roll to appeal to a wider audience – A lot of black people hated it as well – People were like “yow hats up” – Radio was having a problem playing it – RUN DMC had to experiment they were FEARLESS – Now finally the LP was about to drop (the black and white LP also called RUN DMC) – 5 songs and 3 singles finally out – They were tapping into the teenage market; rock and roll, beer, alcohol etc – They say this album was the first RAP album to go gold (but our prof says he doesn’t think he stands by it but this is what the history books say) – Russell Simmons managed RUSH and then DEF jam…something about rick rubin (founder of Def Jam) (showed pic) – Russell now was goin to package RUN dmc with a bunch of 80s “the fresh fest” national strategic sets of tours that would happen for years in a row; would assemble the hottest rappers in a bus and go small towns, cities and have big concert – Whodini, utfo, fat boys, newcleus, kurtis blow run dmc would tour and diff artists would headline at diff times depdnin on who was hotter – And the coolest thing about the fresh fest, first time you would see a tour with NO bands, no electric guitar, NO DRUMS – People were like WOW – Helped rap kick itself through the door – Other forms of music didn’t benefit from touring as much as rap cuz ppl wanted to see the rappers – Ppl would leave the concert and would want to go and BUY the record after – 5 thousand dollars they would take home after a sold out show – Ppl like whodini but RUN DMC would be the HEADLINERS..kurtis blow and fat boys would get 3500 and split it btwn the group – Russell simmons would get 1200 bucks after a sold out show – But after 50 markets, they grossed 3 million dollars which is SIGNIFICANT; helped establish RUN DMC as entertainers, rockstars, rap stars, – Run dmc, in terms of fashion were ahead of times – They say fashion is one of the 5th elements of hip hop – On stage they would dress in black jeans, black leather, jackets, glasses (gazelles the big square glasses they were fashionable back then), sometimes matching black leather suits, galor hats? , addidas un laced running shoe sneakers – Very fashion friendly – NOW ONTO ALBUM #2 – Called king of rock – One of the hardcore bboys, they weren’t tryna sell out but they feel they have the right to try diff styles to take rap in a diff direction – Russell rimmons tried to be a genius, later again he would try to do it again in history but now its 1985 – Run DMC IS HOT – You talk too much and can you rock it like this?
Songs are on this album. Can you rock it like this made by a 16 year old kid this was LL cool J’s first contribution to hip hop (ll cool j was a ghost writer) – This 2nd album went PLATNIUM 1 million – Ppl approaching russell wanna buy rap for themselves now – There was a big concert to raise money “live aid” this was a concert put together by bob geldof from some town…? – The only rap group and artist of color that was featuring all rock music was RUN dmc – It was shocking, and inspiring – They were so big that rock and roll ppl made ROOm for this rap infultrator – Then a movie started coming out – Krush Groove (1985)(starred run dmc, had fat boys, beastie boys, ll cool j, kurtis blow) they say it was kinda based on russel simmons? It was about a rap artist tryna make it in the industry…they rated it on R which cut down the audience cuz there was a bit of violence, tougher than leather – The best film of the 80s was purple rainbow – RUN DMC was so big that they blamed hip hop on them and the VIOLENCE that came with RUN
dmc – Ppl blamed violence on them – King of rock is the other song he played – Ppl back then loved dmc but kind of felt uncomfortable cuz they rapped – RUN DMC were amongst the first of a combo btwn rap and rock – Rap ppl felt a sense of betrayal because of the rock music in it – Ppl weren’t the creators though, they were the consumers – 3rd album called raising hell – This would be the biggest LP for RUN DMC – This would quickly become the BIGGEST SELLING RAP ALBUM IN HISTORY – #3 IN BILLBOARD CHARTS – This album would signal raps evolution – This album sold 3+million becuz the success of a couple of songs; 1 called my addidas – Nelly had a song called air force 1 (talking a bout sneakers) – But the first time rappers endorsed a shoe was not done to make money, they were a mirror of what was happening on the streets – Ppl were wearing adidas, the bboys and bbgirls were trendsetters – So RUN DMC saw the fashion trend and said lets rap about it – It was a stupid little song but it was a hit for a while – Peter piper and jam master j ?? – Marti Gras record grandmaster dj put it out but it was called peter piper ?? – The addidas song made a lot of people go out and buy adidas, at concerts they would say show me your adidas, and ppl would show them – Puma would try and compete against addidas – MC shan endorsed puma and made a song my pumas or something – The biggest record that got them on the radio and some respect from rock and roll ? – Aerosmith from boston, is a symbolic of rock and roll; theyre at their lowest point in popularity but they got a lil help – Rock and roll humbled itself because when run and D would make lyrics..or something..they liked rock ? they asked aerosmith if they could make a remake of the song but they also created a video for the song and aerosmith would be REVIVED – Hip hop HELPED SAVE AEROSMITH who went through the lowest of their lowest because it became an extremely successful song – Played the music video for this song .. walk this way – This was from album #3 name of the album: raising hell – Run dmc was the first group on the cover of the rolling stones magazine – By the time these guys lleft the fresh fest tour an went on raising hell tour this changed the rules – Now if the tour made 1 million dollars, they would make 85% – Now this is how it works..you cant give a flat rate, you have to give 85% or 80% – Run dmc and violence one 1983 long beach area in CALI it was the LA crips and blood gangs fighting and assaulting and robbing concert goers – Run dmc didn’t deserve this but they attracted violence and 40 ppl got injured – That concert would make national headlines, and the amount of media were after RUN DMC – And anything that was hip hop violence related would be RUN DMCS fault it would be their MUSIcs fault – But if we look at their lyrics they don’t promote violence – But they have this rep that would continue to haunt them – Even if something was not on stage when it happened they would blame it on RUN becuz they were the definition of rap despite them putting out good messages in their lyrics – Instead of saying gang violence they were saying rap violence for the first time – And the concert industry would become ____ ? – Kids were afraid to go out and to these shows if they would publicise so much negativity and blow them up – Now these tours would be cut down, no security, no venues becuz there was fear in the violene about live rap is dangerous, violence etc – Run dmc said our heads our clean, kids be fighting, were role models – They rapped about kids goin to school, stayin in school, goin to church – But hteyre being midunderstood and the power of their music is now showing itself – 1985-1986 we were charged by the beat not the lyrics – And despite all these unfortunate incidents they would sell mount themselves in tours and acts – They would go on stage with beastie boys – Hip hop would have fewer live appearances – Videos would now replace concerts, even on MTV 1985-1986; like every 2 hours; the wall that was up is now gone – 1987 – raising hell was already a success, run dmc is huge and now theres gonna be a 2nd movie (tougher than leather) about RUN dmc harassed by gangsters and again they would cause a stir – Russell Simmons, beastie boys, rick slick ?? – Budget for this movie was 700,000 total – Small budget movie and becu the culture of hip hop was so hungry and eager this movie opened up in 15 theaters mostly in NEW YORK CITY – They bought 2 pages of ads in la and ny one calendar and entertainment section – They didn’t even need to promote themselves media did it – Movie was oversold and only survived 1 weekend becu there were riots and violence when ppl tried to get into the movie – So short run for their music career – Rap audience was not ready for it – They started advertising for coke, adiddas – NOW THEIR 4TH ALBUM: tougher than leather 1988 ? – Rap music changed considerably, rap cords no longer cool? – Lyrics more complex and confrontational and beats are more sample based; ppl finally listening to the lyrics – We got boogie down productions, public enemy, jazzy j from fresh prince?? – This album would go platinum, it was seen as a disappointment tho cuz they wanted to sell more – Run dmc was victim to changing times – 1990 album: back to hell ; record about spiritual awakening becuz of their trials from alcohol and drugs; didn’t attract any interest – 1991 run was charged with raping a college student in ohio which was eventually dropped – Run dmc tried to put their troubles and made a comeback album in 1993 – Now they would have a single that would be top 10 single – Now we got rock smoothe ? song down with the king – Triumph reminder of their last appeal becuz it created the groups biggest selling album at the point in time – Run would go serve as a minister, a Christian sect that is economic empowerment: zoe – Some other dude was a dj or something ?..... – DJ Jam master J got shot – He was a loved DJ for RUN DMC very skilled, one of the best dj performances – And was also recording in the studio, producing at the same time – When he got killed he was in the studio and nobody knows why – He was the music man in run dmc – Jam master j produced OMNYX ? – JASON NEVINS MADE A TRIBUTE HE MAKES HOUSE MUSIC 1998 SOLD A 1 MILLION COPIES – THEY WERE supposed to put an album called crown royal but they were running into problems with it finding its release date – They were tryna remarket it they had naz, fat joe, kid rock, – February 2001 came out finally then jam master j got killed – Then they decided to pack up – They are the most influential group in hop hop – They were iconic in everything they did – And everybody that raps today owes a bit to them – He played down with the king

Ll cool j

– Ll cool j stands for ladies love cool james – Been rapping since 9 years old – Ll cool j is the greatest rapper of all times – Ll cool j is an actor but he sucks – He gets paid and gets money – Ll cool j in the beginning was a great artist – He scared a lot of rappers – Imagine drag was cocky and stuff and had bad characteristics – That’s what ll cool j was like; he was so intimidating because he was so good and had def jam and russel simmons; sounded so much better, so much base, louder, base was better – Ll cool j came from queens as well but he represented youth; he was younger, ignorant at 16 – This is the same guy that sat in front of a mirror rapping listening to rappers delight – 9 demos all got rejected – Hard to believe that LL now has the reputation of being a soft rapper – He was the hardest rapper of the earth – First record that was heard, no album, 1984 I need a beat – He was 16 and first artist that def jam released that WAS rap – Sold over 100,000 as a single – This established def jam and ll cool j – Played I need a beat – Back then hip hop technologically was significant – The quality was so vinyl so good – I need a beat the beat overpowered the lyrics – The whole album was just a lot of drum machines with a lot of scratching over it – Unlike russel simmons and run, and run dmc, ll cool j did not have a university degree – He dropped out of high school and decided to debut his album radio – It was a good decision cuz he got money and a job – By releasing that single he became the first artist on def jam to release a single – now ll cool j releases an album so this is now the first album by def jam – def jam didn’t have a lot of stars so ll cool j was their star – 1985 the album called radio was released and worldwide critically acclaimed and it went platinum 1million + – Radio was a major hit – Considerable crazy for shaping rap in the direction it did – The first hit was not htat song though, it was I cant live without my radio, which came out in 1985 – In the same year 1985 ll cool j would make a camio experience in crush group – First time Canada saw ll cool j – It was like a gathering place Cineplex in eaton – Girls started screaming in theaters – 2nd and biggest sex symbol was ll cool j – Made women do things they would never think of doing – And he was young and fit – He was pompous, confident, cocky and he moves extremely well on stage, hes like an athlete, like a lebron, hes got some magic – Hes got a little natural to perform live on stage – Rock the bells was played – Hit that made people get into ll cool j – Lyrically were seeing something new going on – We saw a lil clue with whodini but rock the bells “ll went to hell something something” – He insulted a whole league of rappers washed up rappers and this kid is only 16 that’s like a son beating up his father; hes got no manners – Ll cool j has no manners, “true as a wizard…im rhying and designing with a girl in my lap” – When ll was a kid, skinnier and in shape he was like a GOD – He was an individual in comparison to run dmc – Ll cool J was THE MAN; 1 person; solo rapper; separated everything that went before him – He was the epitomy of rap music and he had the best record label and his music was good – Good looking…. – He even wrote his own book..whats the name? – 2nd album now he played “bigger and deafer” the 2nd lp which also went platinum..both made him a star – Ll 1986 toured with run dmc, kurtis blow ,beastie boys, in this 2nd album ll cool j hardcore reputation would change because we have something called a cross over a pop rap cross over – But this one song “I need love” would make this album shoot to #3 because of 1 chart topping single – This song was like a ballet, slow dancing love song – This was the first time cross over rap/pop – It was here “I need love” this song put every girls smile on their face – This record bought a whole new legion into ll cool j and def jam, rick Rubin , russel simmons fan base – We had never seen new appeal for rap because of a change in direction in terms of the structure of rap – So up until ll cool j had been hardcore, yelling and shouting, within the songs on this album we found I need love and according to spin magazine “this song is arguably heaviest rock and roll record released on a major label” prof doesn’t know why they said it, probs just to be cool he says – After this song Came out there were a lot of accusations of him being A SELL OUT – Now ll cool j is hardcore is now doing something what rap didn’t do before he exposed the soft side, the soft side of a rapper or b-boy – Cuz you know bboys don’t wanna show their feelings – They don’t show their personal side in public – Ll cool j now exposed that in the rap community – One concert on fresh fest tour and he performed I need love and during the concert he had a stage crew that would pull out a king size bed and he would strip into his boxer shorts and he would get on the bed and he would dry hump the bed like there was another women and girls would faint – He was a REAL sex symbol – One lyric in this song that prof loves “men we have lost our ability to demonstrate you can scratch my back we can get cozy and cuddle “ CHILVERY – Ll cool j caught btwn being hardcore and lover/rapper – Hes so talented he can do anything – He didn’t know that song would be a big hit, don’t think anyone knew cuz there wasn’t anything like that before – This one song CHANGED the reputability in ll cool j – Played I’m bad from 2nd record – The theme from swat this was the same theme used in this song called “im bad” – 1989 he puts out “walking with the panther” this is his 3rd album – Now theres a big marketing shift – Someone can either be accused of running things or be a genius – Russel simmons and rick Rubin if they were responsible for some of these decisions.. this is where his career changed walking with the panther his sound changed cuz he had songs now that were more radio friendly; they would be popular and make money. “right thing to do” – It was also featured in less than a zero a movie – Hip hop fans didn’t accept this album very warmly but this record would be significant – Played: going back to cali this song is similar to im that type of guy – Played: “im that type of guy” – The song is now more r n b / poppy/ video friendly/ radio friendly – Videos coming out for every song now – Now theres a lot of movies – Hes become a diff alternative – Ppl are looking at the album like a pop sell out this single “im that type of guy” sold 500,000 singles – Ppl are responding positive but also critizing him – He performed at the Apollo in new york the biggest were rap artists perform he got booed – This was in the newspaper and ppl were like why? – His audience in 1990 was declining these party raps, cheesy poppy type of raps is not going over an era that we have nwa, public enemy and stuff and talkin about lyrics that are relevant – His popularity for a while would diminish but he survived and he keeps climbing back to the top – Next album was “mom said knock you out” this lp made him a genuine rap artist – It shot to the top of the charts – Marley marl helped produce and revive his brand cuz he was a respected producer – Rnb and rap type of song a soulful serenade with black women a song called “around the way girl” – This song was another sappy ballet – This was like rnb and rapping – Now we have a lot of rappers like this that are rnb and rap – But ppl had to get used to this cuz it wasn’t done often – And ppl had bought into the hardcore ll cool j but it was like we lost him cuz it was sappy rapping – Women loved it, they didn’t aer about the guys that said it – For every guy dissing ll cool j, 2 women LOVED him – And in the end it was insgifnicaint – Ll cool j kept reearning fans over and over again and the weirdest thing about is all this same album would ultimately span over 1 year on the top bilbard POP charts – This is the POP album charts so hes competing against all kind sof music – It would take 70 weeks for it to be removed from the top BLACK album charts..not too bad – So this was his biggest sellin album now he was a BIG pop superstar – He had now proven that rappers could have long term careers, stuck around for a long time – Momma said knock you out would win him a grammy award for best rap solo – People were buying it, women were buying it; he just has what it takes to keep selling over and over again he cant be stopped – This is around the time where he gets the role in the film the hard way with Michael j fox – In 1993, ll cool j would perform at bill Clintons presidential inauguration – Momma said knock you out was put out in 1990 – This album kept him very busy where it wasn’t until 1993 “14 shots to the dome” – If you have seen his series in his house, he started doing this – The only other rap duo to have a sitcom was will smith jacky jeff and fresh prince – Sitcom ll cool j was on : in the house – 1995, ll cool j comes back with an album called mr smith – This became a huge hit and became DOUBLE PLATNIUM – This song has hey lover on it; boys to man is a ballet group and now ll cool j worked with boys to men on this track hey lover – Now its like hes total rnb – But now he picks up his 2nd grammy award for best solo rapper on hey lover – He doesn’t do interviews and stuff and hes winning awards – Played song: hey lover – Ll cool j now the first rap artist to be featured on mtv ROCKUMENTARY ? – ITS WHEN they do a documentary on you and you get a whole album for you 30 mins – Hes featured in major league baseball commercials, spokeperson for the clothing chain gap – 1996 – greatest hits album with whoel world and pehnomen? – 1997 – puts his autobiography out – Ll cool j received the 1997 MTV video VANGUARD award honors life time achievement in music VIDEOS – And ll cool j received this award ..to show the value previous winners were : the beatles, quinsee jones, Michael Jackson, Madonna, janet Jackson, guns n roses, tom petty, peter Gabriel, R.E.M – There were no rappers..he was the only one – In 2000 he releasd GOAT – stands for greatest of all time and this would top the album charts AGAIN and the year 2002 ll cool j releasd TEN featuring love you better – Ll cool j just releasd something 2 weeks ago – This man has over 20 million albums sold worldwide and that’s not over significant compared to 2 pack and nas but for a man who started in 1985-1984 he was the first hop hop to go massive ; 8 consecutive platinum SELLING ALBUMS IN A ROW HE WAS THE FIRST RAPPER

- First Rap artist to be featured on MTV, Rockumentery – like a documentary

- Featured in commercials for major league baseball

- Spokesperson for the GAP

- Things going good for him

- End of 1996 released greatest hit album called : Phenomen

- Put out own biography in 1997

- Received 1997 MTV Music Video Van Guard – lifetime achievement in music videos – will be on test

← Previous winners were: 1)The Beatles, 2) Quincy Jones, 3)Michael Jackson, 4) Madonna, 5) Janet Jackson, 6) Guns and Roses, 7) Tom Petty, 8)Peter Gaberial, 9) R.E.M.

- 2000 released GOAT – greatest of all times – top album charts

- 2002 released 10 featuring love you better

- Has sold 20 million

- First hip hop artist to have eight consecutive platinum selling albums

- Performed at both presidential agnogarations

- By the time he was 33 received two grammy awards

- Had his autobiography

- Was in over 17 films

- Bottom line is that he is still relevant

- Greatest surviving artist of rap of all times

- Last standing artist