If any one song summarizes why Run-DMC will be taking their rightful place as inductees in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, “Rock Box” is it. Even if you take away Eddie Martinez’s squealing guitar histrionics, “Rock Box” just oozes rock & roll attitude-moreso than any other hip-hop record that had been made up to that point, and more than many records that have been made since!!
In today’s super-consumerist musical world, where everyone and their momma has a clothing line or an endorsement deal, it’s refreshing to hear “Calvin Klein’s no friend of mine/Don’t want nobody’s name on my behind”-yet another example of how much hip-hop has changed over the years.
Also worthy of props? “Rock Box” was the first hip-hop video ever played on MTV, one of many firsts Run, D and Jay racked up during that period in the Eighties when they were pretty much the face of hip-hop to most of America. The song itself still kicks ass HARD. Take a listen and judge for yourself.
