Summer 1987: Rap for the masses-Run-DMC and Beastie Boys make hip-hop popular
“The ‘Together Forever’ tour gave everyone an invitation card,” recalls DMC from RUN-DMC. “She brought hip -hop into the suburbs. Everyone could be there, whether white, Japanese or anything. ”In the summer of 1987, as run-DMC and the Beastie Boys Together on tour, the former were able to sunbathe in the glamor of the sales figures, which imported their best album, “Raising Hell” (1986), and the super hit “Walk This Way”. The Beastie Boys, whose shortly before “Licensed to Ill” prepared to become the best-selling rap album of the 80s, had played a year earlier in the program of Run DMC, which meant that they were in urban sports halls before one mainly had to perform black audiences.
At some point the personality came to light due to the many alcohol
“We thought that when the Beasties came out, the blacks will get hot dogs,” DMC summarizes the situation on this tour. “But they stayed – and they even liked it.” After the success of “Licensed to Ill”, the two bands suddenly filled huge stadiums that mainly attracted white fans.
It was the first time that a big hip-hop show stopped where Styx or such people played, ”explains Beastie Boy Mike D.“ Suddenly you stand in front of people who would have beaten you a year earlier. And many who came had very specific expectations. It was almost as if we were playing a role. ”What they did in a way, because most of the stories of drugs, shootings and other misfortunes on“ Licensed to Ill ”came second. “Friends of us smoked Angel Dust and then told us the wildest stories,” says Rick Rubin, who produced “Licensed to Ill” and “Raising Hell”. “For us these were only nice anecdotes.” On tour, this changed: “At some point, the many alcohol came to light through which they had made fun of” Licensed to Ill ‘. “
HipHop was no longer limited to the ghetto
One evening so much beer swam on stage that MCA slipped, ”says DMC. “He opened hard. And it suddenly became very quiet. We thought he was dead. Then he got up. With a hole in the head, and laughed. ”Behind the stage, things went on cheerfully. “The highest degree of nonsense that has ever been reached in the art of stupid being,” said Reverend Run. Playing was particularly popular. “We put the schnitzel in our pants. Or ice cubes to bed. Once I went to the toilet in my wardrobe and landed in the middle of a sausage plate. I sat between the loud ham and turkey, and the others laughed at me. “
However, it was much more important than these capers: HipHop had proven that he knew no limits and was not a mayfly. “As Run-DMC and the Beasties,” says DMC, “Public Enemy were born, Kid Rock, Eminem. HipHop was no longer limited to the ghetto. “” If people asked us: ‘Where will you be in ten years?’ “Says DMC at the end,” we used to answer: ‘We will be here. And give you an interview. ‘”