Run-DMC

Run-DMC's second album, "King of Rock" in 1985 (Profile) fell away from their trademark sound, then came back the next year with "Raising Hell," (1986, Profile), which achieved their ultimate success as the first African-American double-platinum Hip Hop album. The album featured a collaboration with Aerosmith ("Walk This Way") and became a crossover success single. That same year (1985) they appeared in the rap movie "Krush Groove." A successful tour along with Beastie Boys, L.L. Cool J, and Public Enemy, raised them again and they became the first African-American rap group to grace the cover of Rolling Stone, and the first rap act to achieve airplay on MTV. Then came their 1988 movie, "Tougher Than Leather," with its Run-DMC soundtrack, a vehicle that was intended as a parody of the 1970s blaxploitation films. The times changed rapidly, and the audience had shifted, wanting political rappers like Public Enemy, not crossover artists. Overwhelmed by newer slicker artists which they had cleared the brush for, the group continued to perform for disciples into the 1990's. In 2002, Jam Master Jay was murdered in Queens, NY, his death marking the end of the pioneering era of the style. 15hqqh.