From Publishers Weekly
Run-D.M.C. is synonymous with hip-hop, and, appropriately, Ro's look at the pioneering, influential band's history plays like a history of the genre. Drawing on interviews with many of rap's biggest names, Ro (Have Gun Will Travel) charts the rise and fall of Run (Joe Simmons, younger brother of impresario and Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons), D.M.C (Darryl McDaniels) and Jam Master Jay (Jason Mizell). Hailing from middle-class Hollis, Queens, Run-D.M.C were the first to blend rock and rap, a formula that took them to the top of the pop music charts in the mid-1980s and early '90s. The book's supporting cast includes L.L. Cool J (who had an intense rivalry with Run), the Beastie Boys, Def Jam co-founder and producer Rick Rubin, and Aerosmith, who embraced Run-D.M.C and their 1986 remake of the chart-topping single "Walk This Way." Success, however, was fleeting, owing to bad record deals, lawsuits, alcoholism, meandering film projects and a rape charge pinned on Run (he later found God, to the skepticism of some close friends). Tragedy reigns, however, as the story opens and closes with the unsolved murder of Jam Master Jay in his Queens studio in 2002.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Pressestimmen
“Will enthrall both pop sociologists and armchair thrill seekers.” (Entertainment Weekly )
“A spicy, provocative, beautifully written take on one of hip-hop’s most storied groups. ” (--Michael Eric Dyson, author of Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur )
“Mesmerizing and provocative account of the lives of Run-D.M.C and Jam Master Jay...” (--Raquel Z. Rivera, author of New York Ricans and the Hip Hop Zone )
“In Raising Hell, one of hip-hop’s most important stories meets one of its most compelling storytellers.” (--Bakari Kitwana, author of Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop: Wankstas, Wiggers, Wannabes and the New Reality of Race in America )
“If Bob Woodward had street cred and could write about hip hop, his name would be Ronin Ro!” (--Dr. Todd Boyd, aka The Notorious Ph.D., is the author of Young Black Rich and Famous and The New H.N.I.C. He is Professor of Critical Studies in the USC School of Cinema-Television--Dr. Todd Boyd, aka The Notorious Ph.D., is the author of Young Black )
“A definitive book.” (New York Times on Have Gun Will Travel )
“Will enthrall both pop sociologists and armchair thrill seekers.” (Entertainment Weekly on Have Gun Will Travel )
“The read of the year.” (Chicago Tribune on Have Gun Will Travel )
“[Ro] pulls no punches in a work of nonfiction that reads like a novel.” (Miami Herald on Have Gun Will Travel )
“As gory as a car wreck that we are unable to turn away from.” (Washington Post on Have Gun Will Travel )
“Brilliant reporting...Hip-hop fans of all ages will delight in this gripping tale of sex, drugs, and rock n’rap.” (Smooth Magazine )
“A revelatory (and titillating) page-turner for fans and the uninitiated alike.” (San Francisco Chronicle )
“A spicy, provocative, beautifully written take on one of hip-hop’s most storied groups. ” (--Michael Eric Dyson, author of Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur )
“Mesmerizing and provocative account of the lives of Run-D.M.C and Jam Master Jay...” (--Raquel Z. Rivera, author of New York Ricans and the Hip Hop Zone )
“In Raising Hell, one of hip-hop’s most important stories meets one of its most compelling storytellers.” (--Bakari Kitwana, author of Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop: Wankstas, Wiggers, Wannabes and the New Reality of Race in America )
“If Bob Woodward had street cred and could write about hip hop, his name would be Ronin Ro!” (--Dr. Todd Boyd, aka The Notorious Ph.D., is the author of Young Black Rich and Famous and The New H.N.I.C. He is Professor of Critical Studies in the USC School of Cinema-Television--Dr. Todd Boyd, aka The Notorious Ph.D., is the author of Young Black )
“A definitive book.” (New York Times on Have Gun Will Travel )
“Will enthrall both pop sociologists and armchair thrill seekers.” (Entertainment Weekly on Have Gun Will Travel )
“The read of the year.” (Chicago Tribune on Have Gun Will Travel )
“[Ro] pulls no punches in a work of nonfiction that reads like a novel.” (Miami Herald on Have Gun Will Travel )
“As gory as a car wreck that we are unable to turn away from.” (Washington Post on Have Gun Will Travel )
“Brilliant reporting...Hip-hop fans of all ages will delight in this gripping tale of sex, drugs, and rock n’rap.” (Smooth Magazine )
“A revelatory (and titillating) page-turner for fans and the uninitiated alike.” (San Francisco Chronicle )
