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Mar 2020
47m 55s

New York Stories with Joe Pascal

Bbc World Service
About this episode

He’s the DMC in the legendary Run-DMC, a titan of the music industry. The group became known as the movie stars of rap. Busta Rhymes said of them “They didn’t just change music, they changed everything.” Presenter Joe Pascal meets the Devastating Mic Controller himself - Darryl 'DMC' McDaniels. He grew up in Hollis Queens and was at the forefront of revolutionary change in the New York music scene with the explosion of hip hop. He was there, watching, from the early days, with the DJs and MCs at the neighbourhood block parties. And then, alongside Run and Jam Master Jay, they became a music phenomenon – with their new kind of rap bringing hip hop to the masses. They had their own look, their own style. DMC talks us through those early years and his later battles with alcoholism and depression. What gave him solace in that time was a song, a pop ballad that he listened to for an entire year. He would take it everywhere he went and play it, every day, morning to night. DMC’s other passion is comic books, they fuelled his imagination and education and ultimately gave him the superpower he needed to get up on stage.

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