Raising Hell

Raising Hell
Studio album by Run–D.M.C.
Released	July 18, 1986
Recorded	1985-1986
Genre	Hip hop, rap rock
Length	39:46
Label	Profile/Arista Records
Producer	Russell Simmons, Rick Rubin
Run–D.M.C. chronology
King of Rock (1985) Raising Hell (1986) Tougher Than Leather (1988)

	"Walk This Way" Run-D.M.C.'s "Walk This Way" from Raising Hell
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Raising Hell is the third album by hip-hop group Run–D.M.C.. The breakthrough album trumped standing perceptions of commercial viability for hip-hop groups, achieving triple-platinum status and receiving critical attention from quarters that had previously ignored hip hop as a fad.^[1]

Background

Raising Hell features the well-known cover "Walk This Way" featuring Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith. While the song was not the group's first fusion of rock and hip hop (the group's earlier single "Rock Box" was), it was the first such fusion to make a significant impact on the charts, becoming the first rap song to crack the top 5 of The Billboard Hot 100. Raising Hell peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's R&B/Hip Hop Album chart as the first hip hop/rap album to do so, and at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.^[2]

The song "It's Tricky" would later be featured as the theme song of the game SSX Tricky, and later redone by the band Bloodhound Gang. Kanye West sampled a vocal sample of Dumb Girl into an '08 song called Jockin Jay-Z. West came up with the idea of revamping Run's line, I seen you "jockin' J.C." into "jockin Jay-Z." The song was used as a promo single for Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 album.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Pitchfork Media	(7.7/10)[3]
Allmusic	[4]
The Daily Vault	(A)[5]
Entertainment Weekly	(A)[6]
sputnikmusic	[7]
Robert Christgau	A−[8]
The Source
Rhapsody	(Favourable)[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]

It ranked fourth on Chris Rock's list of the Top 25 Hip-Hop Albums of all time, and the comedian called it "the first great rap album ever".^[11]

In 1998, the album appeared in The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums.

Q magazine (12/99, p. 162) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...the apex of pre-Public Enemy, beatbox-based hip hop, a monument of massive, crisp beats plus the genre-bending 'Walk This Way'."

Vibe (12/99, p. 162) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century.^[12]

Uncut (11/03, p. 130) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[An album] that forced the music biz to take rap seriously."

Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p. 126) - "[T]he pioneering trio took hip-hop into the upper reaches of the pop charts, introducing mainstream to a new urban thunder: rap rock." (It is the earliest hip-hop album to get a 5-star review from Rolling Stone).

AllMusic - 5 stars out of 5 - "...the music was fully realized and thoroughly invigorating, rocking harder and better than any of its rock or rap peers in 1986..."

In 2003, the album was ranked number 120 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.^[13]

In 2006, the album was chosen by TIME as one of the 100 greatest albums.^[14] Time named it #41 of the 100 best albums of the past fifty years and stated that the album was "rap's first masterpiece".^[15]

In 2012, Slant Magazine listed the album at #65 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980's".^[16]

In 1987, Soul Train Music Award for Best Rap - Single for "Walk This Way" (jointly awarded to both Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith)

Peter Piper was sampled by Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.^[17]

Track listing

1. "Peter Piper" – 3:25
   • Samples "Take Me to Mardi Gras" by Bob James
2. "It's Tricky" – 3:03
   • Samples "My Sharona" by The Knack
3. "My Adidas" (McDaniels/Rubin) – 2:47
4. "Walk This Way" – 5:11
   • Features new vocal and guitar parts by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith based on their original 1975 recording, as well as a sample of the original drum intro which is used as the song's breakdown.
5. "Is It Live" – 3:06
6. "Perfection" – 2:52
7. "Hit It Run" – 3:10
   • Samples "Rocket in the Pocket" by Cerrone
8. "Raising Hell" – 5:31
9. "You Be Illin'" – 3:26
10. "Dumb Girl" – 3:31
11. "Son Of Byford" – :27
12. "Proud To Be Black" – 3:14

Deluxe Edition bonus tracks

1. "My Adidas" (a cappella) – 2:32
2. "Walk This Way" (demo) – 5:26
3. "Lord Of Lyrics" (demo) – 4:30
4. "Raising Hell Radio Tour Spot" – 0:53
5. "Live At The Apollo Raw Vocal Commercial" – 3:28

Charting singles

Billboard Music Charts (North America)

Vinyl sleeves and labeling

• There are at least two color schemes for this LP. One is a purple front photo with lime green writing and a red back photo with teal writing. Another is a green front photo with rose letters and a teal back photo and orange letters.

• There are some pressings that are mislabeled on both sides as side 2, though the grooves in the vinyl are etched correctly.

References