Rev Run

It has been a long road for Reverend Run: from the basements of his Queens, New York homeland where he once spun records as Kurtis Blow’s DJ to performing in front of worldwide audiences as a premier rapper, this pioneer has seen more than most.

“I wanted my first solo single ‘Mind on the Road’ to feel like a man reminiscing,” says the man known today as Reverend Run, baptized Joseph Simmons. “It’s exciting being part of a great group, thrilling the crowd on stage and then signing autographs afterwards. That was the feeling I wanted to inject in ‘Mind on the Road.’”

With Run’s powerful voice and electric guitar energy reminiscent of Run-DMC classic collaborations with Eddie Martinez (“Rock Box”), Areosmith (“Walk this Way) and Rick Rubin, “Mind on the Road” is the perfect track to re-introduce this legendary artist to a new generation. “Before our DJ Jam Master Jay was killed (2002), we were on the road non-stop,” Run says. “This is a tribute to those days of sweating on stage and playing spades on the plane.”

As one-third of Run-DMC, the hip-hop group that changed the sound of rap by simultaneously being more street and rock ‘n’ roll than their contemporaries, Run-DMC emerged on the scene with boom box classic single “Sucker MCs” (1983), and never looked back. Dressed in their trademarked black hats, outfits to match and strangely laced Adidas sneakers, Run-DMC swaggered onto the stage of American’s collective consciousness, determined to make rap music more than a street soundtrack for folks in the hood.

Indeed, the harder the beats and attitude the deadly trio laced in the grooves, the more suburbia wanted to be down with these kings. Managed by Run’s brother and main supporter Russell Simmons, the awe-inspiring Run-DMC defined a new level of Black cool for the world. With a sonic canon that includes their self-titled debut disc, as well as King of Rock, Raising Hell and Tougher Than Leather, the illustrious group stayed at the top of the pop charts for most of the ‘80s. Although these brothers from separate mothers stopped recording in 1999 with the release of their last disc Crown Royal, Run-DMC has never become irrelevant in the eyes of the Hip-Hop Nation.

The first release on the newly formed Russell Simmons Music Group (RSMG), Run says, “I didn’t play anything for Russ until I recorded eight songs. When he did finally hear the tracks, he started sweating and almost fainted. Then he screamed, ‘My brother’s still got it.’ He couldn’t believe how crazy the tracks and flow were on the album. Russell knew that Rev had struck gold. God has allowed me to recapture those yesterdays on Distortion.”

“Run-DMC knocked open the doors to commercial freedom for the rap generation,” stated Russell Simmons. “Their very best efforts were big in the streets and were ahead of their time when it came to the mainstream. The music from Rev Run on Distortion is honest; it’s creative, special and refreshing. He’s being true to himself.”

While Run now spends the majority of his time with building the foundations of his church and family, working closely with big bro Rush at Phat Farm and taping his television show Run’s House, he started feeling the urge to once again verbalize in the studio.

Though Run could have surrounded himself with a posse of popular sideman (i.e. Carlos Santana on Supernatural), he boldly chose to roll alone in front of the microphone. Beginning with conceiving a concept for Distortion, he knew he wanted to do his own thing and sound like himself. He made a point of being true to Run. “After checking out a bunch of producers, I did a lot of soul searching and finally settled on a direction.” says Run. “I decided to let go of any new school sounds. There is no Tim or Pharrell, just me and producer Whiteboy. I was not listening to any A&R person; I just waited for God to show me a sign of which route to take.

Producer Whiteboy, a virtual unknown, was recruited to work with Run. “I really wanted to create something hot for a man who was one of my rap heroes,” says Whiteboy, who produced the majority of Distortion. “Watching Run work in the studio was an amazing experience. There was not a lot of fooling around, because Run knew exactly what he wanted. Run and I would be in the studio from 11 to 4. Run would come in, do his job well, then leave.”

Citing the raw dawg track “Boom Ditty” as his favorite, Whiteboy adds, “I call the sound of this record Tough Fun, because we used a lot of big drum loops and aggressive sounds, but one can hear in Run’s vocals he was having the time of his life.”

Breathing fire as though bringing 1988 back, Distortion is a towering inferno of funky drummers, blazing guitars and quirky vocal styling that ranges from fierce to furious to a whole lot of fun. As Run informs the listeners on “Boom Ditty,” a big beat boast that instantly restores the faith any naysayer might be feeling, “I got rhymes so def and rhymes galore, rhymes you never even heard before.”

Dropping textual jewels about his late friend Jam Master Jay on the touching “Home Sweet Home,” brother Run samples the country bumpkin funk of Lynyrd Skynyrd to create a beautiful autobiographical song of their life together. “Jay was the kind of dude who would give you his last dime,” Run says. “I was determined to create a song that would enrich the man’s legacy.”

Working on Distortion, Run put himself and producer Whiteboy on a tight timetable. “I would go to the office in the morning and then be in the studio by 11 a.m. and out by 4 p.m.,” Run recalls. “Whiteboy and I worked so fast, sometimes I was running to the booth while he was still looping

Well known as the "Run" in Run-D.M.C., Rev Run is a respected rapper from hip-hop's golden age who broke out on his own in the mid-2000s. Born Joseph Simmons in Queens, Rev Run started out as Kurtis Blow's DJ. His brother, Russell Simmons, formed the hip-hop management company Rush Productions in the early '80s. By the mid-'80s, Russell had formed the pioneering record label Def Jam with Rick Rubin. Encouraged by his brother, Run and his friend Darryl McDaniels formed the rap group Run-D.M.C. DJ Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell) completed the group's lineup in 1982 and the act went on to sell millions of albums, open numerous doors for hip-hop, and blend rock into the mix with their hit cover version of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" in 1986. The senseless murder of Jam Master Jay in 2002 brought an official close to the group. Rev Run carried on with producer Whiteboy and began to work on an album. They had completed eight songs before they presented them to Russell, who was now working on forming a new label, RSMG (Russell Simmons Music Group). Blown away by the tracks, Russell was once again pushing his younger brother to take it to the next level, but this time as a solo artist. Reflecting the hard grit of the tracks, the album was named Distortion and released by RSMG in 2005. Rev Run also shows his deep spiritual side by posting "Rev Run's Words of Wisdom" daily on his website. In late 2005, Run signed a deal with MTV for the reality show Run's House, a look into the daily life of Rev Run's family. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide