The Red and Black

Issue date: 8/27/08 Section: Variety

Media Credit: BLAKE LIPTHRATT Former Run-DMC rapper Darryl "DMC" McDaniels speaks to students in the Tate Theatre on Tuesday night. Although the rapper presented many comical antics, his main goal was to persuade students to keep hip-hop alive. [Click to enlarge]

Listen to audio from the presentation.

His speech was his recital. He thinks it's very vital. And more than 100 University students came out to see it.

Tuesday night, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels made his first speech of a seven-stop college tour to talk about the evolution of hip-hop in society. His message was one of reflection, hope and persuasion for this generation of hip-hop listeners.

"All these cats out there making records who claim they're so great, and how much money they've got, and how many women they've got and who's a drug dealer and who shot who, that's all cool," McDaniels said. "But that's only three percent of what hip-hop was about."

McDaniels talked about his upbringing, his early friendship with Rev. Run and the beginning of Run-DMC, but he mainly used his tour as an opportunity to emphasize the reasoning behind hip-hop and what elements of his beliefs still exist in rap and hip-hop music today.

"The Beastie Boys wasn't a white rap group trying to be black, they were a white rap group, rapping about what they rap about," McDaniels said.

He recalled a time when the Beastie Boys opened for Run-DMC on a Southeastern tour.

"Those black people from the South that were worse than the Apollo crowd liked the Beastie Boys because they were being themselves," he said.

The evening was filled with comedic memories of the industry, including "Puffy wearing shiny suits," and spontaneous rapping. He joked about the 1990s when rapping about materialism became popular, McDaniels conveyed confidence in the effects of Run-DMC and presented a duty for the generation in front of him.

"I hope what you're getting from Run-DMC is the responsibility of the power of hip-hop."

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