Eminem Inducts Run-DMC Into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame; Compares Them To The Beatles

One of Hip Hop’s greatest performers and most influential groups in hip-hop history, Run DMC, were inducted into the 2009 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame by Run DMC inspired hip hop artist, rapper Eminem on April 4th, Saturday which aired on television’s FUSE.

Run DMC, which consists of rappers Joseph “Reverend Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, and the late DJ Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell (1965–2002), is the second only hip-hop act to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, preceded only by another one of Hip Hop’s greatest and co-founders, 2007 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductees Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five consisting of Joseph “Grandmaster Flash” Saddler, Keith “Cowboy” Wiggins, Nathaniel “Kidd Creole” Glover, Melvin “Grandmaster Melle Mel” Glover, Guy Todd “Rahiem” Williams and Eddie “Scorpio” Morris.

“Two turntables and a microphone, that’s all it took to change the world,” Eminem started out after making his way on stage to the microphone wearing the signature Run DMC labeled hip hop gear. “Three kings from Queens made rap music in the b-boy stance a global phenomenon,” added the famed MC from Detroit, Eminem also known as Slim Shady.

Then Eminem went on to ‘roll call’ the members as their famed titled of “Kings of Rock,” stating “Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell dubbed themselves the Kings of Rock, better known as Run DMC.”

After revealing that he “was only 11 year old” when he first heard the “hard beats and bold rhymes” and “big drums and strong raps” that changed his life, Eminem then gave honor to the group in a poetic way.

“Something fresh, something tough. Something dangerous. Something beautiful and something unique. Two turntables and a microphone,” Eminem added as if spitting lyrics of a verse to a song entitled Two Turntables and a Microphone.

After naming a couple of Run DMC’s signature tracks and styles like “It’s Like,” “Sucker MC’s,” “Adidas,” and “leather jackets,” Eminem spoke of how the group broke down hip hop boundaries giving the groups 1980′s song and video “King of Rock” as an example — mainly how the video showed the group “crashing” into a Rock and Roll Museum and being told they didn’t belong in such a museum. Eminem stated Run DMC was the “first rock stars of rap.”

“And 25 years later, man, here we are. They didn’t take no for an answer, much the same way as they didn’t give up when much of the world refused to recognize rap as real music. They were the first rock stars of rap. They were the first movie stars of rap. They were the first rap group played on MTV….” stated Eminem

“They were the baddest of the bad, the coolest of the cool. Two turntables and a microphone,” add Eminem sticking with his chorus/hook in his speech.

Eminem states that Run DMC made him realize “that you could write your own rules” and this is something that inspired him and “still inspires” him and “every other rap artist, constantly,” according to Eminem.

“None of us would be here without them,” added Eminem.

The crowd joined Eminem’s almost lyrical phrase, by this point, finishing the rapper’s words ending with, “Two turntables and a microphone.”

“I remember being in ninth grade when Raising Hell came out. Two years later, I still remember being in ninth grade when ‘Tougher Than Leather’ came out,” Eminem jokingly said at the cheering and laughing reactions of the intrigued Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame audience. “I had skipped school, if you can believe that, to go buy Tougher Than Leather on cassette the day it came out. As soon as I heard ‘Run’s House,’ man, it was pretty much a rap for me. Marshall Mathers became Eminem,” he revealed again to the much delight and cheers of the audience.

“It was the first time Run-DMC had changed my life, but it wouldn’t be the last. Two turntables and a microphone,” again Eminem ended with the help of the audience.

Eminem then revealed what some know and many may not know and that’s the late Jam Master Jay’s mentored rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. “If it weren’t for Run-DMC particularly Jam Master Jay, the world wouldn’t know about a scrappy young hustler named Curtis Jackson. Jay mentored and molded Curtis into the superstar named 50 Cent. Jay shaped the way 50 wrote, the way he rapped and the way he thought. Again, Run-DMC changed my life. Without them, I wouldn’t have met one of my closest friends,” Eminem expressed regarding his protégé and friend 50 Cent, whose early career was obviously overseen by Jam Master Jay.

Again, before coming to the end of his speech, Eminem ‘roll called’ Run DMC’s early styles such as their “sneakers” and favorite works such as “It’s Tricky,” “My Adidas,” “Hard Times,” Peter Piper,” amongst others.

Finally, comparing Run DMC to one of the greatest rock n roll groups of all time, The Beatles who consisted of Rock n Roll Hall of Fame’s multiple inductees John Lennon (inducted 1988 [Beatles] and 1994 [Solo]), Paul McCartney (inducted 1988 [Beatles] and 1999 [Solo], George Harrison (inducted 1988 [Beatles] and 2004 [Solo]), and drummer Richard ‘Ringo Starr’ Starkey (inducted 1988 [Beatles]) who reshaped the genre in the 1960′s, Eminem stated, “There’s three of them, and if you grew up on hip-hop like I did, they are the Beatles.”

Later Eminem, who called it “one of the biggest honors” of his career, introduced Run DMC onto the stage to be inducted into the 2009 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

Pushing a spirited oath or ‘pack’ to not perform live again together since the still-unsolved shooting death/murder in 2002 of the late DJ Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell, Run-DMC chose only to speak at the ceremony. “They tell me I could get Grandmaster Flash [to fill in]. But I can get any DJ in the world if I want. It wouldn’t be right. I can’t replace my drummer,” rapper DMC mentioned to MTV News days prior to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony.

Watch as Eminem Inducts RUN DMC into the ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME

Watch RUN DMC’s ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME Acceptance Speech

FUSE 2 Minute Special On Run DMC Being Inducted Into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame