Happy 35th Anniversary to Run-DMC’s debut album Run-D.M.C., originally released March 27, 1984.

Run-DMC’s self-titled debut album was the first time that everything changed for hip-hop. Released 35 years ago, it was genre-redefining, even though hip-hop itself was really less than a decade old. Run-D.M.C. successfully set the template for what hip-hop’s album culture would become by delineating the song structure and length, while forever altering its sound.

Run-DMC is vital to the evolution of hip-hop today. Comprised of Joseph “Run” Simmons, Daryl “DMC” McDaniels, and Jason “”Jam Master Jay” Mizell, the trio is considered the first “new school” hip-hop group. If Kendrick Lamar and Drake are the children of 2Pac and Eminem, then they’re the grandchildren or even great-grandchildren of Run-DMC. Simmons, McDaniels and Mizell redefined what it meant to be a rap group in the early to mid ’80s, what rappers were supposed to look like, what rap music was supposed to sound like, and how rap music was recorded and released. In short, they created the language of hip-hop that many of us now take for granted.

The Hollis, Queens born trio had been involved in the growing rap scene during its nascent stages. Run is of course the younger brother of Russell Simmons, the notorious hip-hop mogul and architect of Def Jam Records, who was primarily known as a show promoter back in the early to mid ‘80s. Run had made his name DJing for Kurtis Blow, one of rap music’s first recognizable artists, and occasionally writing rhymes for him. He first met DMC out at shows, and the two later connected with Jay. After a few false starts with Run trying to record his own solo material, the trio formed a group and were christened “Run-DMC” by Russell.