In an interview with Spin, DMC broke down his reasoning – namely, that it's universal.
"I think “It’s Tricky” is the greatest hip-hop song ever. Why? Because it is the only song that I could do in front of a kindergarten classroom and still be incredible," he contended. "I could do it for hip-hoppers, and it would still be incredible. I could do it at a metal show. Still be incredible. I could do it at a rock show. I could do it at a funk show. I could do it at a pop show. We made it in ’86. A hundred years from now when I do it — because I’m really a superhero and I’ve been around on the Earth for 3 million years — people are going to love it."
He went on to say that no matter where he goes, that's the song people recognize.
"I go and speak to third graders. I go to speak to kindergarteners. They don’t know Run-DMC “My Adidas” or “Walk This Way,” but when they find out that I’m one of the guys that made the “Tricky” song that’s in the Sonic The Hedgehog movie or, for the Millennials, I’m the guy that made the “Tricky” song that’s in White Chicks or, for the majority of the world, I’m DMC, the “It’s Tricky” TikTok man, they can’t believe it," he said. "For the rest of eternity and my existence in this world, “Tricky” will always be relevant. Nobody in hip-hop can tell Run-DMC we ain’t relevant. When we wrote it, we purposefully wrote it so it can be done anywhere at any time."
