30 Year Later: Revisiting Run-DMC’s Confident & Hardcore Rap Loaded ‘Down With The King’

Every artist who is gifted longevity in their field hits a transition period in their pursuits. They’ve reached a point where their success and talents are undeniable but their legacy is at stake, questions like “How much longer will this last?” or “What’s next?” begin to rattle around the heads of fans and critics alike. Some artists face this time in their careers head-on, putting the stresses of a life in art back into their creations while some let these worries build up and dilute their art by focusing on what’s to come instead of right now. In 1993, Run-DMC arrived at this terrifying position. Coming off of the lackluster response to their 1990 album, Back From Hell, which saw the trio largely disregarding their innovative rock-fusion sound in lieu of the more hardcore Hip-Hop that was running rampant through that era. ‘93 saw Run-DMC release Down With The King (released 5/4/93), a 15-song outing that saw the trio continuing their deep dive into the gritty sound of New York City while bringing along the lessons learned from their first attempt three years earlier. 

Down With The King allowed Run-DMC to find a middle ground between their latest endeavors and the classics that established them as pioneers of the genre. Sonically, the album featured the dirty drum loops that the trio fell in love with on their 1990 album and matched it with the infectious rhythms that make their earlier recordings so memorable. Instead of surrendering themselves to modern sounds, they rearranged them to fit their harmony-filled hooks and rhythmic rhyming while still building the instrumentals around the idea of minimalism. DMC reached out to some of the era’s best producers with credits ranging from Pete Rock to Q-Tip to The Bomb Squad, although the overall sonics of the album would suggest otherwise. The group didn’t just select random beats from the hottest beat-makers of the time, they worked with these artists to infuse the two worlds into one, making for some interesting instrumentals. A song like “Hit ‘Em Hard” (produced by KayGee) features the perfect balance of grooves from the past and the neck-breaking drums that echoed throughout 90’s New York Hip-Hop. The marriage of these two worlds not only put Down With The King leagues above Back From Hell but acted as a proper continuation for a group that had already established themselves as legends. 

After a decade of being at the forefront of an adolescent genre, Run-DMC seemed happy that Hip-Hop was moving forward but fearful they would get left behind. They looked at local groups like Onyx and the harsher sound of the West Coast and ran toward the fire. They emerged in a blaze of black leather jackets and beanies, indicating that the style that defined their first 10 years as recording artists and its accompanying sonics are going to stay in the past. The trio boldly ditched a working formula in the pursuit of their love for rapping and the results speak for themselves. You now see 90’s rappers looking down at the sound of the new generation of rappers, claiming their own creations as the “Golden Era” while simultaneously and maybe even subconsciously attempting to keep a borderless genre at a standstill. If DMC had the same approach as the more modern legends employ today, we might not be here discussing their sixth studio album. By accepting their role in Hip-Hop while creating music that defies time, Run-DMC created an album that can hold its own against some of the other Hip-Hop classics that dropped in 1993. 

Down With The King is far from the best Run-DMC album and seems to evade being mentioned in the achievements of the pioneers, although the album does deserve more credit. The trio approached 1993 with a fresh slate, taking their history in the genre and blending it with the up-and-coming era to create a wildly entertaining milestone for Hardcore Hip-Hop. Out of a fear of being left behind, Run-DMC leaped into this new sound with a level of confidence only suited for a group like themselves and reinvented themselves to not only achieve a new sound but completely change the trajectory of their careers. Along with some of New York’s finest, Run-DMC grasped for longevity through head-nodding minimalism and unfiltered creativity and reemerged with an album that, despite the many outside influences, still feels as Run-DMC as any other album in their discography. 

Related Content

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

New to Glide

Keep up-to-date with Glide

Twitter