THE KING OF ROCK IS 40!

Ok - I realize simply based on that title, you may be saying "Lando - what are you talking about?" To me, the King of Rock is Elvis, and he's been deceased more than 40 years. True - there have been a number of artists who laid claim to the title, but in this case, I'm talking about the true King of Rock - the Run-D.M.C. album that was released on January 21, 1985.

King of Rock was the hip-hop group's sophomore album and almost immediate follow up to their Run-D.M.C. titled debut. While that first album was groundbreaking lyrically, it employed more of the current hip-hop style production and sound of the time, relying heavily on an Oberheim drum machine.

King of Rock, however, broke the boundaries and quickly separated Run-D.M.C. from their peers, especially in the burgeoning hip-hop genre of the time, as producer Larry Smith, who incorporated the Oberheim drum machine again, also utilized a heavy dose of guitar driven instrumental riffs to make King of Rock the first mainstream album that one could crown as the launch of rap-rock. In addition, as a sidenote, King of Rock was also the first hip-hop album to blend rap with dancehall reggae, as one of the tracks on the album, "Roots, Rap, Reggae," featured Yellowman.

It wasn't just in its sound that King of Rock was considered groundbreaking - the album was the first hip-hop album released on CD, a brand new format at the time.

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So, between creating a whole new sub-genre of hip-hop (rap-rock), incorporating guitar heavy riffs never before heard on any sort of hip-hop album up to that point and laying the groundwork for many artists who followed, as well as being released on a completely new format (CD), one might ponder if Run-D.M.C. can truly lay claim to the title, King of Rock.

23rd Jan 2025 Lando