New York City Council Deputy Majority Leroy Comrie (D-Queens) hosted a ceremony on Monday, August 31, 2009 to officially rename the corner of Hollis Avenue and 205th Street as “Run DMC JMJ Way” in honor of the legendary Hall of Fame rap group that began their career in this community.
With hundreds of Southeast Queens’ residents in attendance, Rev. Run and DMC joined with family members of the late group member Jam Master Jay to officially unveil the new street sign and become the first hip hop artists to be honored with a New York City street naming.
The ceremony was co-hosted by Power 105 radio personality (and Hollis native) Ed Lover and WBLS radio personality Dr. Bob Lee.
Also in attendance were New York State Senate President Malcolm Smith (D-Queens), hip hop legends Rahiem (of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five) and Kangol Kid (UTFO).
The invocation was delivered by Rev. Carleen Thorbes of New Jerusalem Baptist Church.
The historic day began with a short parade from the Hollis Hip Hop Museum, located in the Hollis Famous Burger restaurant. Led by the Elite Marching Band, Jam Master Jay’s mother Connie Mizell and Council Member Comrie led family members to the ceremony site where they were joined on stage by Rev. Run and DMC. With their numerous hits being played, both surviving group members joined Ms. Mizell in remembering their fallen deejay and delivering positive messages to the audience.
“What this sign says to me is that you can be anything you want,” stated DMC.
“Because of hip hop, I became one of the greatest lyricists of all time. And I did it without using profanity or disrespecting our beautiful Black women. Hip hop is about us doing the best with what we have to make it better for all the people after us. We are who we are because of you people.”
“This is a proud day for my whole family,” Ms. Mizell told the crowd.
“I want to thank Council Member Comrie and the entire community for honoring my son and the entire group in this manner. I can remember like it was yesterday that the three of them were practicing their music in my living room in our house just a few blocks from here. And now future generations will see this street and be inspired by what they accomplished.”
Added Rev. Run, “This thing is bigger than me and D. This thing is about God giving us an opportunity to express ourselves through hip hop.”
Run DMC was an influential Hip-Hop group whose members were born and/or grew up in Hollis, Queens. Founded by Joseph “DJ Run” Simmons, Darryl “D.M.C” McDaniels, and the late Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell, Run DMC is considered to be one of the most important and influential artists in rap music history. Seven ground-breaking albums and countless hit singles resulted in the group paving the way for rap music to become the multi-billion dollar industry it is today. Additionally, Run DMC is given credit for immortalizing Hollis, Queens as one of the birth places of Hip-Hop.
Run (born Joseph Simmons, November 14, 1964) was the brother of Russell Simmons, who 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. Russell encouraged his brother Joey and his friend Darryl McDaniels (born May 31, 1964) to form a rap duo. The pair of friends did just that, adopting the names Run and D.M.C., respectively.
After they graduated from high school in 1982, the pair enlisted their friend Jason Mizell (born January 21, 1965) to scratch turntables; Mizell adopted the stage name Jam Master Jay.
In 1983, Run DMC released their first single, “It’s Like That/Sucker M.C.’s,” on Profile Records. It was the first “new school” hip-hop recording. “It’s Like That” became a Top 20 R&B hit, as did the group’s second single, “Hard Times/Jam Master Jay.” Two other hit R&B singles followed in early 1984 – “Rock Box” and “30 Days”.
By the time of their second album, 1985′s King of Rock, Run DMC had become the most popular and influential rappers in America. Besides releasing the King of Rock album and scoring the R&B hits “King of Rock”, “You Talk Too Much”, and “Can You Rock It Like This” in 1985, the group also appeared in the rap movie Krush Groove, which also featured Kurtis Blow, the Beastie Boys and the Fat Boys.
Run DMC‘s fusion of rock and rap broke into the mainstream with their third album, 1986′s “Raising Hell“. The album was preceded by the Top Ten R&B single “My Adidas”, which set the stage for the group’s biggest hit single, a cover of Aerosmith‘s “Walk This Way”.
Recorded with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, “Walk This Way” was the first hip-hop record to appeal to both rockers and rappers, as evidenced by its peak position of number four on the pop charts.
Historically, the group achieved a number of notable firsts in hip hop music and credited with being the act most responsible for pushing hip hop into mainstream popular music, initiating its musical and artistic evolution and enabling its growth as a global phenomenon.
Run DMC is the first rap act to have reached a number of major accomplishments:
* A #1 R&B charting rap album
* The first major rap act to appear on American Bandstand
* The first rap act to chart in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 more than once
* The first rap artist with a top 10 pop charting rap album
* The first rap artist with RIAA-certified gold, platinum, and multi-platinum albums
* The first rap act to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine
* The first rap act to receive a Grammy Award nomination
* The first rap act to make a video appearance on MTV
* Signed to an athletic product endorsement deal (Adidas)
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