“The thing that I remember most about ‘Raising Hell’ is that it was so much great energy that it was made very easily,” said Joseph Simmons (aka Rev. Run).  “To think that something that just came out of my mouth and out of my creativity is being put on this level of honor just blows my mind.”

“Raising Hell” (album), Run-DMC (1986)
Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Joseph “Run” Simmons and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell, or Run-DMC, introduced hip-hop to mainstream audiences on this, their third and best album.  DMC has observed that the lyric from “My Adidas,” which affirms that “[w]e took the beat from the street and put it on TV,” describes what the album achieved as a whole.  The album’s mass appeal can partially be explained by their collaboration with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith on a remake of the rock band’s 1975 hit “Walk This Way.”  Co-producer and guitarist Rick Rubin added power chords and guitar riffs on the title track, lending the album a rock flavor in keeping with DMC’s mission to “take rock to the left.”  While this element of rock with a twist brought many new fans, songs like “Peter Piper” stayed true to the band’s earlier stripped down minimalism in which only beats, lyrics and samples were required.

source: Library of Congress