The 1986 Run-D.M.C. Gamble That Smashed the Wall Between Hip-Hop and Rock
In 1986, hip-hop was growing fast, but much of mainstream American rock radio still treated it like music from another world.
Then Run-D.M.C. walked into the studio with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith.
What followed wasn't simply another cover.
Their new version of “Walk This Way” became one of the records that changed the relationship between rock and hip-hop.
The Song Had Already Been an Aerosmith Hit
“Walk This Way” wasn't new.
Steven Tyler and Joe Perry had written the song for Aerosmith, which released it on the 1975 album Toys in the Attic.
Aerosmith's original eventually became a major American hit, reaching the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10.
More than a decade later, however, producer Rick Rubin heard another possibility inside it.
The opening drum break had already attracted hip-hop DJs.
Rubin believed Run-D.M.C. could transform the rock song into something entirely different.
Run-D.M.C. Weren't Initially Convinced
The idea was far from an obvious choice for the group.
Run-D.M.C.—Joseph “Run” Simmons, Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell—had built their identity around stripped-down beats, turntables and hard-edged rhymes.
Covering a 1970s rock song risked feeling completely outside their world.
Rick Rubin pushed the idea.
And instead of merely sampling Aerosmith, the project eventually brought Steven Tyler and Joe Perry into the recording.
That decision turned an experiment into a genuine collision of two musical cultures.
The Video Made the Metaphor Impossible to Miss
The music video turned the collaboration into a visual statement.
Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith initially perform on opposite sides of a wall.
The rock band is on one side.
The rappers are on the other.
Then Steven Tyler literally smashes through the wall.
It was hardly subtle—and that was exactly why it worked.
Rock and hip-hop were no longer being presented as separate worlds.
The barrier was physically destroyed on screen.
1986: The Experiment Exploded
Run-D.M.C.'s version was released in 1986 on the album Raising Hell.
It became a huge crossover success.
“Walk This Way” reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Run-D.M.C. a breakthrough on mainstream American pop radio.
The song also helped Raising Hell become a landmark commercial success for hip-hop.
For millions of listeners who had paid little attention to rap, Run-D.M.C. suddenly became impossible to ignore.
MTV Was Crucial
The collaboration also broke through visually.
During an era when hip-hop artists faced major obstacles obtaining mainstream television exposure, the “Walk This Way” video received heavy MTV attention.
That exposure placed Run-D.M.C. directly in front of the network's enormous rock-oriented audience.
The effect extended far beyond one single.
Hip-hop had demonstrated that it could compete inside the center of American youth culture rather than remaining confined to specialist radio, clubs or regional scenes.
It Also Helped Aerosmith
There was another remarkable consequence.
By the mid-1980s, Aerosmith was no longer enjoying the enormous commercial momentum of its 1970s peak.
The collaboration introduced Steven Tyler and Joe Perry to a younger generation and became an important step in the band's resurgence.
Soon afterward, Aerosmith launched one of rock's most successful comeback periods.
The partnership therefore worked in both directions.
Run-D.M.C. gained unprecedented mainstream rock exposure.
Aerosmith received a powerful introduction to the MTV generation.
Two Genres Discovered They Could Share the Same Record
Rock and rap had interacted before 1986, so “Walk This Way” didn't invent the idea of mixing the genres.
Its importance came from scale.
This was a major rap group and a famous rock band sharing one recording and one video—and succeeding spectacularly in the mainstream.
Afterward, the commercial possibilities became much harder for the music industry to dismiss.
Rap-rock collaborations, sampling of classic rock and genre-crossing projects became increasingly familiar in the decades that followed.
Run-D.M.C. Had Changed More Than Their Own Career
Run-D.M.C. were already pioneers.
Their stripped-down production, Adidas sneakers, black hats and street clothing rejected the flamboyant costumes associated with some earlier rap performers.
They presented hip-hop with an image that felt direct and authentic to a new generation.
But 1986 pushed their influence much further.
Raising Hell became one of the records that demonstrated hip-hop's enormous commercial potential.
Run-D.M.C. were no longer simply stars within rap.
They were major figures in American popular culture.
The Wall Never Really Went Back Up
Looking back, the most memorable image may still be Steven Tyler smashing through that studio wall.
It perfectly captured what the record accomplished.
Two musical audiences that the industry often treated as separate suddenly encountered each other inside the same hit.
Aerosmith brought a riff from the 1970s.
Run-D.M.C. brought the force of 1980s hip-hop.
Rick Rubin recognized that the collision could work.
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And in 1986, “Walk This Way” helped make the boundary between rock and rap considerably harder to see.
Listen to “Walk This Way”
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