Forty years after Run-D.M.C. released Raising Hell, the landmark album remains one of the defining moments in hip-hop history, helping push rap from an emerging movement into the centre of popular culture.
by Paul Cashmere
Forty years after Run-D.M.C. changed the trajectory of hip-hop with Raising Hell, the album remains one of the genre’s most significant milestones. Released on May 15, 1986 through Profile Records, the third album from the Queens trio became a commercial and cultural breakthrough, delivering hip-hop’s first Platinum and multi-Platinum release while reshaping expectations for what rap music could achieve in the mainstream.
When Raising Hell arrived in 1986, hip-hop was still fighting for legitimacy beyond its core audience. Rap records had achieved local and regional success, but few industry executives viewed the genre as capable of sustaining major album sales or crossing into broader popular markets. Run-D.M.C., consisting of Joseph “Run” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell, had already established themselves with early releases including Run-D.M.C. and King Of Rock. Raising Hell accelerated that momentum into something much larger.
The album’s commercial impact was immediate. Raising Hell climbed to No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and became the first hip-hop release to top Billboard’s R&B albums chart. Within two months it achieved Platinum certification, later reaching triple Platinum status. Selling more than three million copies, the record became evidence that rap albums could function as major commercial releases rather than niche singles-driven products.
Much of that success came from a run of songs that would become staples of both hip-hop and popular music history. “It’s Tricky”, “My Adidas”, “You Be Illin'” and particularly “Walk This Way” established Run-D.M.C. as one of the era’s defining acts.
The Aerosmith collaboration remains one of the album’s most discussed moments. Although Run-D.M.C. had already experimented with blending rap and rock through earlier songs such as “Rock Box” and “King Of Rock”, “Walk This Way” reached a different level of visibility. Reworking Aerosmith’s 1975 track with Steven Tyler and Joe Perry transformed the song into one of the first successful rap and rock collaborations to gain widespread chart traction.
The track became the first song by a hip-hop act to break into the Top Five of the Billboard Hot 100, helping introduce rap music to audiences who had previously remained outside the culture’s reach. It also helped revive Aerosmith’s career at a critical point, creating a relationship between rock and rap that would influence artists for decades.
Behind the scenes, Raising Hell was assembled quickly. Following extensive touring in late 1985, the group returned to New York and spent roughly three months working at Chung King Studios in Manhattan. Production duties were credited to Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin, although members of Run-D.M.C. later emphasised the collaborative nature of the process.
DMC would later explain that much of the album had effectively been built on the road before entering the studio. Songs had already been written, performed and refined during touring, allowing the recording process to move rapidly.
“We did that album in like three months,” DMC said. “Every rhyme was written on the road and had been practiced and polished. We knew what we wanted to do.”
The album’s broader significance extended beyond sales and chart positions. Raising Hell arrived during a period when hip-hop was evolving from a singles format into an album-focused genre. The project demonstrated that rap records could present a complete artistic statement rather than a collection of isolated tracks.
Recognition followed. In 1987, Run-D.M.C. became the first hip-hop act to receive a Grammy nomination. Raising Hell also won Best Rap Album at the Soul Train Music Awards and received Album Of The Year consideration. Decades later, its influence remained acknowledged when the Library of Congress added the album to the National Recording Registry in 2017, describing it as culturally and historically significant.
Critical opinion over time has remained largely consistent. The album has appeared repeatedly in major greatest-albums lists and retrospective rankings. Public Enemy frontman Chuck D has described Raising Hell as the greatest hip-hop album of all time, crediting it with helping define rap as an album-oriented medium and influencing his decision to join Def Jam.
Forty years on, Raising Hell occupies a place that extends beyond nostalgia. The album’s impact can still be heard in genre crossovers, mainstream rap releases and the industry’s treatment of hip-hop as a central commercial force. What began as a three-month studio project from Queens became one of the records that altered the direction of modern music.
Tracklisting
Side One
Peter Piper
It’s Tricky
My Adidas
Walk This Way (With Aerosmith)
Is It Live
Perfection
Side Two
Hit It Run
Raising Hell
You Be Illin’
Dumb Girl
Son Of Byford
Proud To Be Black
2005 Deluxe Edition CD Bonus Tracks
My Adidas (A Cappella)
Walk This Way (Demo)
Lord Of Lyrics
Raising Hell Radio Tour Spot
Live At The Apollo Raw Vocal Commercial
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