It's Like That

By March of 1983, rap music was in need of something new. Although it was a mere eight months after the release of "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5, and less than a year after Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force's smash hit "Planet Rock," the relatively new genre of music needed to be refreshed.

Run-D.M.C. provided that refreshment when their debut single "It's Like That"/"Sucker MCs" was released on Profile Records. What was remarkable about the single was the fact that there were no instruments other than an Oberheim DMX drum machine in the songs. The previous three years of rap records had been recorded by full bands, namely Sugar Hill and Enjoy Records house bands, who replayed familiar disco, funk and breakbeats complete with horns, guitars, pianos and kazoos.

Lyrically, "It's Like That" was an examination of urban America and the world, picking up where Kurtis Blow's "Hard Times" (which Run-D.M.C. would remake in 1983) and "The Message" left off. Sonically, "Its Like That" only contained an occasional horn hit and a few background sound effects. The rhymes were slowed down to half time to accommodate the uptempo beat, much like "Planet Rock" did a year before.

Sucker MCs

"Sucker MC's" is the song that is credited with ushering in the drum machine era that lasted from '83 until '86. Not since Spoonie Gee's 1980 hit "Love Rap" had a rap record contained only drums with no other instruments. Also known as Krush Groove 1, "Sucker MC's" was producer and musician Larry Smith replaying Trevor Gale's drum pattern from "Action" by Orange Krush (Kurtis Blow's backing band which included Smith, Gale and Davy DMX). Profile Records co-founder Cory Robbins explained his early relationship with Run's older brother Russell Simmons to The Foundation. "We had a tiny office and anybody could walk in," he remembered. "Russell Simmons used to come in and play me tapes and some were pretty good, then one day he said check this one out and it was the demo of 'It's Like That'. It was homemade in Larry Smith's basement, and on the cassette was written Run De MC."

In an exclusive interview with ROCK THE BELLS, D.M.C. explained that Run's MC name was Run The MC. "That was Run's whole record," he said. "Russell didn't want me in the studio, and he only let me rhyme on 'It's Like That' because I wrote it in the studio with Run. Run really fought for me, but Run was a solo artist called Run The MC. Fortunately, my name is D.M.C., so Run The MC became Run-D.M.C.

The stripped-down sound of "Sucker MCs" was actually more like what MCs rhymed over in the park jams and clubs of New York before rap records were a reality. Their style of dress was the way that B-Boys and early rap crews dressed off stage, but Run-D.M.C.'s cadence and attitude were something new, and "Sucker MC's" was a literal passing of the baton, signaling that things would never be the same.