In Fx’s new series Hip Hop Uncovered, Dr. Dre reveals that the legend we all know and love wouldn’t exist without Run-DMC.
Dr. Dre is featured in episode 2, “Cash Rules Everything Around Me”, along with Too $hort, Ice-T and Run-DMC’s Darryl “DMC” McDaniels to discuss the origins of hip-hop.
There, Dre talks about how the iconic rap group, Run-DMC influenced his early career– from the way they dressed to the things they rapped about in their 1983 hit “Hard Times”.
“Hip Hop is a culture,” say Dre. “Hip Hop is a lifestyle. It’s not just the music. It’s a way of walking and talking and dressing. We all looked up to Run-DMC. That’s why we wore the big gold chains and sh*t like that. Run-DMC were the first to ever do that with fat gold chains and sh*t like that. That’s only reason why we did that; it was because of Run-DMC. On some real sh*t, without Run-DMC, there is no D-R-E. That was the f*cking Beatles. That was it — Run, DMC and Jam Master Jay.”
DMC responds to Dre’s compliment by paying tribute to their own predecessors in hip-hop.
“It’s great to see that our culture has a generational impact,” DMC tells HipHopDX. “Inspiration, motivation and creation. He says that about Run-DMC, but there would be none of this if it wasn’t for the true pioneers and legends — all those who created Hip Hop before we were going into the studio to make records. There’s no D-R-E without Run-DMC but no Run-DMC without Furious Five, Cold Crush 4, Funky Four + 1 and The Treacherous 3!”
Check out more from Hip Hop Uncovered, and take a look at the show’s trailer below! – Jihan Lewis (@Jihan.Lewis)