First Time Hearing RUN DMC - Walk This Way ft. Aerosmith (Reaction!) 

Don’t tell your aunties and uncles you don’t know about Run DMC, or they will never have you at the cookout again!! Reverend Run, Darryl DMC McDaniels, and Jam Master Jay (RIP) are LEGENDARY!

This was the very first rock/rap collab EVER. I remember when this came out... NO ONE was ready!! LOL.. Straight FIRE!!

This is a Aerosmith song from the 70's. They had been out of the limelight for a while and this is what brought them back to popularity.

Def Jam Records cofounder Rick Rubin, wanted to see Run-DMC reach the kind of suburban rock-obsessed teen he once had been. He suggested to the group's three members that they cover a 1975 Aerosmith hit that they'd been sampling. The new version of "Walk This Way" (Released July 4, 1986) became the first rap song to be played on mainstream rock radio. It also revived Aerosmith's career.

The video was groundbreaking because it broke down barriers between music genres. To demonstrate that, they literally break through a wall.

“The shoes!” RUN DMC wrote a whole song about those, too. “My Adidas” was a fun song, I loved it.

This song was originally an Aerosmith song. I believe it was producer Rick Ruben who came up with the collaboration of Aerosmith and Run DMC. It started a whole new crossover genre and jump started a new beginning for Aerosmith who were all finally clean & sober. Aerosmith is starting their farewell tour this year... 50 years!

You should also check out the original Walk This Way by Aerosmith. You might be surprised to hear that this version is almost exactly like the original...the beat, the lyrics, Steven Tyler's singing, the guitars, all the same. The difference is the added scratching & rapping by Run DMC of the original lyrics. The chorus sung by Tyler is more 80s, screaming style, in the original it's softer & like an echo. This collaboration was massive for both groups, we watched this on MTV hourly, lol.

This was the first time rock and rap collaborated

Cool reaction. History lesson: The collaboration between Run-DMC and Aerosmith on the song "Walk This Way" in 1986 was a groundbreaking fusion of rap and rock music. The remake of Aerosmith's older rock song with Run-DMC's hip-hop style helped bridge the gap between the two genres. The song's success revitalized Aerosmith's career and introduced Run-DMC to a wider audience. "Walk This Way" became a chart-topping hit, breaking barriers and bringing rap music into the mainstream. This collaboration remains a pivotal moment in music history.

So Aerosmith did this exact song with all the same words in the 70’s! Def Jam producer, Rick Rubin, came up with this wonderful collaboration concept!

Was never a fan of Rap , but then when this song came out back in the 80's , it opened me up to liking Rap , especially the Rap and Rock combo .

Aerosmith is one of the biggest rock bands ever and Run DMC was hip-hop. You had to wear your addidas with no shoestrings. That's Steven Tyler rock god.

Aerosmith (the boys from Boston) recorded this song in the 70's. It was pitched to Run DMC that they do this colab. They were less than enthused until they heard Stephen Tyler rapping, and realized they were being shown up by a white guy. They got serious after that, the song was a HUGE hit, and revived Aerosmith's tired career. At the time, I was a Run DMC fan, and didn't know about Aerosmith. Now they're one of my favorite bands. I grew up in the 80's just outside of Boston, so I'm totally biased. lol

I love these black commentators looking at this white boys music. I'm 61 and have been upset over the division over the past decade. My generation was about coming together. WTF happened!!! I'm pissed off! We were making progress in the 70s between black and white and walls were coming down. Guys like you give me hope. You're making a bridge between my culture and yours and I love you for it. Rock on man!

I'm Norwegian, and when I was a little girl my older brother introduced me to Run DMC. I got to borrow his cassette tape, and I played it over and over and over. It was my favorite band for years, and he never got his tape back. I didn't understand a word they were saying, but I loved the music!

Watching Run DMC, Aerosmith and Kid Rock perform this at the MTV music awards was life changing for me. It opened my perspective to so many genre and lifestyles. I wish to God that someone would upload a high quality video of that. One of the top 10 greatest moments in music history.

Rock and rap/hip hop breaking the walls. This was the first exposure to rap that a lot of kids in the mostly white suburbs at that time heard. And WE LOVED IT 🙌🏼 Aerosmith was a 70’s rock band that was fading and Run DMC was looking to make it big. They dusted off this Aerosmith song and made it modern for the 80’s. Genius collaboration

When this song dropped, nobody was ready for this collaboration. This track cemented Run DMC as a legendary rap group and revived Aerosmith's career. It had all of us buying Adidas shoes and gear. Man, I was 12 when this dropped. This changed everything. Monumental song. The impact on pop culture was HUGE.

Run DMC were innovators for the shell toe Adidas

Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) is one of the best frontmen in the business!! Funniest thing is the song was written by Aerosmith!!!! You really should react to more Aerosmith!!🎵🎼🎶🥁🎤🎙🎸🎹🔥🤘🤘😊

The BEST performance of this song was at the 9/9/99 VMA's. Everyone had forgotten about this song by then, but it was brought back, and hit the crowd like a sledge hammer!

This was the first rock and rap collaboration. It open the door for everybody else to do it later in the 90s.

A lot of bands turned them down but Aerosmith being Steven Tyler said hell yeah let's do it

RUN DMC was one of my fav rap group back in the day! Aerosmith is also my fav rock band

When this came out, Aerosmith had been one of the top classic rock groups of all time, but older now and in a lull. Run DMC was hittin it in the rap world, but just in the rap world. They put these two together, and BAM, Aerosmith launched themselves on a whole new generation and became bigger than they ever were, and Run DMC broke out of the rap world to a huge new audience that never knew them, and became huge, bigger than they ever were up to that point. This music video burst onto the scene and just blew everyone away. On tv's everywhere, the radio everwhere, on stage at the grammys, the oscars, it was a collaboration no one ever did before, and it just blew things up! Timeless stuff, man! Great stuff! Keep em comin, Shon! Great program!

The Greatest musical collaboration ever !

I’m a 63 year old and this is still one of my favorite songs!

This was epic on another level! The busting through the wall speaks loudly to me!

Oh man, you are a riot! Thoroughly enjoyed watching your reaction. So cool to see you young people dig us older folks generations music!!

This song blended the gap of generations & genres at the time... flat out. Rap was still relatively new at this point in time & this song opened alot of doors for other rap artists and it brought Aerosmith into the 80's as well. I remember when I first saw this... I'm pretty sure I was 16 and I remember I was just in awe at the collaboration and how they blended sounds and lyrics so flawlessly- they truly flipped the music world on it's head with this... they did an outstanding job.

How do anyone not know this.. such a classic.. Run DMC and Aerosmith... come on. this is awsome.

63 year old child of 70'S rock. Love what you said about the circle of music. Everything comes around. You talked about how hip hop was going to change and needed to. As a big fan of these rock reactions from people who grew up on hip hop - the change I'm most excited about --- is what the next evolution of Black rock and rol! is going to be. I'm a newish subscriber, but i've seen a zillion reactions to earlier music - and just wanted to say that I appreciate how thoughtful your comments are. A.

Run DMC and Aerosmith both needed a hit at the time! Aerosmith actually released this song several years earlier without RUN DMC And it was obviously a hit but they kinda disappeared for a little while and got clean and the genius Rick Rubin came up with the idea of this collaboration which massively boosted RUN DMC's careers and their record sales and at the same time reminded us all how great Aerosmith is.I believe this was 1986 and in 1987 Aerosmith released permanent Vacation which had at least 3 or 4 #1 hits on it and the rest was history. RIP Darren McDaniel from RUN DMC who was gunned down and murdered right at the studio. I hope they caught the POS and made sure he's either spending the rest of his life in prison or on death row!!! And I'm not talking about Death row records. God Bless his soul because the group retired immediately! And And hats off to the group for calling it quits. You see a lot of other groups replace a fallen member! Respect to the one and only RUN DMC and Aerosmith for helping them get the air time on the radio that they so deserved!!!

Look, I'm 51 and while part of me can't believe there's anybody who hasn't heard of either Run DMC or Aerosmith, I'm also kind of jealous that you can experience this with entirely new eyes. The catalogs of both groups are DEEP and amazing. And as is mentioned below, this was massive for both groups. Aerosmith was reintroduced to a new generation in the 80s and Run DMC was just getting their feet under them and had a tremendous career.

Run DMC is one of the pioneers of rap. Their "Raising Hell" album had all the hits, man. Check it out.

One of my favorite collabs in this vibe is "Bring The Noise" by Public Enemy and Anthrax

Aerosmith and Run DMC were pioneers with rock & rap crossover, but far from the only ones. In the nineties, black music and rock started blending even further, for a good example check out Living Colour - Cult of Personality.

Great song, brilliant fusion of both styles and a clever collaboration between rock and rap. And the video is superb! Legendary...

It’s actually Aerosmith ft. Run DMC, this is Aerosmith’s song.

One of the best videos we had back in the day. Run dmc was one of the best rap groups. I miss that kind of rapping. Fun and full of life.

😎 *One of the best music collaborations in music history* 😎

One of the most important musical collaborations in pop culture history. Glory days of MTV.

Yes this was from the 80s. Best Rock/ hip hop collaboration ever. When this came out it blew everyone’s mind

Welcome to the 80’s this song basically summed the whole vibe up going into the 90’s. Talent!

This was def the sugar honey iced tea in my day ;-) Thoroughly enjoyed ur reaction ❤

I was in Jr high when this song came out. This song was HUGE.. This collaboration was monumental. I have this song on my Playlist today. When I'm driving in my car and it comes on..I crank this shit up!!!!!

I love your enthusiasm for new to you great music. I’ve only recently found you so I’m going through your catalog here. I love your energy. Thanks for what you do. May your views and likes always be equal.

This was miles ahead of its time

Welcome to the World of collabs. There are so much to discover..... And for me... LOVES all of it

Man I still wear those shoes and am on my third pair in the last two tears! LOL CLASSIC BABY!... 54 yrs old! LOL! Loved them ever since. LOL LOve both bands. RUN DMC introduced me to rap. Loved them much. RESPECTS to Jam Master J. RIP

Aerosmith released Walk This Way 1975 and collaborated with DMC on 2009

Aerosmith's song,great mix of different types of music! Glad to be in my early 30's at this time!

*take the chocolate right off me* ❤ When I went to high school, the original version of this song would be played at dances lol

This actually revived Aerosmith’s career. I always listened to all kinds of music so I was familiar with both groups. This colab introduced Rap fans to heavy metal/rock n roll if they weren’t already. Run DMC I would consider the second wave or generation of Rap, the very beginning of the second generation. What was popular back then was so diverse. I look back now and think how fortunate we were to have such a great variety of music.

The birth of crossover ...

I was 15 when this dropped...it was SUCH a big deal...innovators bridging the worlds of rap and rock...after this I was all in on hip hop...the NEXT big colab was Public Enemy and Anthrax "Bring the Noise"... it is AWESOME.

Man... I was 9 years old when this was released and I have always loved the mashup of styles. I always love it when artists get together and try something new.

Another fabulous colab is Jay Z and Linkin Park … They did an entire album together

pioneers

Oh yeah I remember this one from the 80's. Aerosmith is a wellknown band, at least back in the days, and the leadsinger (Steven Tyler) is the father of Liv Taylor, the actress.

Aerosmith had a hit with their version of "Walk This Way" back in the mid-1970's, and they were one of the biggest bands in the land back then. But they had "issues", and went into a decline in the late 70's and early 80's. Producer Rick Rubin is the catalyst for this collaboration, and deserves much credit for reviving Aerosmith's career. Run-DMC were one of the first big Rap Groups out of NYC, Hollis, Queens to be exact, and had a hit with "Kings Of Rock" before "Walk This Way" came along. This song helped both groups reach a wider audience, and propelled their careers straight up the charts. .

Man Shon, this was my jam back in the day.. mid 80's. You got me all in my feelings reminiscing ❤❤thank you man

I love how much you are enjoying your musical journey

This groundbreaking collab was just what we all needed...it gave Aerosmith a second wind, it gave us the future of what music could be (Beastie boys-Living color), and it brought Run DMC to the rockers opening up the genre of rap to a whole new group.

Take the chocolate off me 😂😂😂😂😂that was class , I nearly spat my tea out hearing that 😂😅😅😅

They gonna take the chocolate right off me!🤣The reason that guy in the middle is fitting in,is because this is an original rick and roll banger from the 70's by the legendary Aerosmith, of which Steven Tyler is the lead singer! He is one cool cat! Master of bluesy style rock! When this collab came out,it sparked something new for us all! Of course,RunDMC did yheir thing with style,making this collab a win- win! Btw,thise snekers had many names,two that I know of were shell tops or biscuit toes! We used to wear them with fat shostrings. Yes,still around today, by Adidas.😁🎙🎶

Im gonna be long dead and young guys like this will still be listening to the music i grew up with while still in high school!. Im 65 !

I love Aerosmith and love "Walk This Way", so I was a bit unsure when this came out with Run DMC because I am not a big rap fan. But I truly do like this collaboration. It taught me that I really might learn to enjoy rap. I wish other groups would do this kind of collaboration. I am old, and I see the clothes we wore in the 70s and 80s everywhere.

historical ground breaking collaboration. super important moment in music. boosted both act's careers. introduced rap to white audiences and rock to black audiences when there was a lot of segregation on commercial radio, which was aside from MTV where most people got their new music from.

It's kind of funny that you would maybe think that these lyrics are rap lyrics written by run DMC. But it is literally the lyrics that Stephen Tyler wrote for the song when Aerosmith recorded it originally.

Loved your reaction! This was great!

“Take the chocolate right off me” 😂😂 coffee came out of my nose on that one . No one expected this to land when it did but when it landed it landed everywhere and hard . Love your vibe 👏👍

Run DMC actually had a song called "My Adidas".

Rappers were already using "Toys in the attic" for a while, but rick rubin was the genius who got them to collab. This was the first rap record I ever bought

This one started the rock/rap movement iconic for sure

That song is iconic I remember when it came out I didn't know what to do. I followed early hip hop The fat boys, run DMC, slick Rick LL Cool j but also rock and punk. My brain kind of melted at that point.

I love your exuberance! I came to this from the rock side, but it reminds me of the first time I saw this :)

This was back in my day everyone loved it i dont care for rap but i love Aerosmith but i loved this i was born in 70s this was 80s

Walk this way was a HUGE HIT for Aerosmith then they recorded it with Run DMC and it became a huge hit again. You should see Steven Tyler performing this in concert. It's amazing.

Run DMC are legends.. early 80’s!! All the way.. Run DMC made Adidas shell toe famous wayyy back in the day. I have 4 pair . beastie Boys inducted these guys into the rock n roll hall of fame . First rappers to be inducted . Legendary

Run DMC did such a great job keeping the feel of the original 1970's Aerosmith classic.with this cover. Hearing them together like this was so cool. I remember when this first came out. If you want to see another great mash up, just a few years later the thrash metal band Anthrax teamed up with Public Enemy to cover the Public Enemy song Bring the Noise.

Aerosmith hit from 70s. Really rebooted their careers💯🔥❤️. Run DMC is bitchin 😻

You better go back and listen to Run DMC. Awesome group.

Best collab to ever happen!

Next step collab from here is Bring The Noise. Public Enemy with Anthrax. Hits hard!

Rock and rap came together. RUN DMC was one of the first hip hop groups and one of the best. They took a rock song and made it there own. Unfortunately, you probably will never see this happen again

That guy in the middle, he was pretty famous. Oh, and he had a daughter. Ever seen Liv Tyler? This was an epic crossover.

Dude, RUN DMC was doing Aerosmiths song... Got Aerosmith back on their feet after a breakup.

This song broke the barrier so to speak. Awesome

This is an Aerosmith song that was good long before Run DNC did this colaboration. Aerosmith is an awesome band that has been around since the early 70's.

Run DMC were huge in the 80s. Here is how this collab happened. Aerosmith was huge in the 70s but had gotten so strung out on drugs they couldn't even remember their own songs. After getting clean they were having trouble even getting anyone to listen to any new music they did. One day, Run DMC was in the studio waiting their turn to record, and one of them was listening to Aerosmith. Their producer also happened to be the producer for Aerosmith and suggested a collaboration of this Aerosmith song. Both sides had to be talked into it, but eventually it happened. It turned alot of blacks onto rock music, alot of whites, like me, onto rap, and Steven Tyler, the lead singer of Aerosmith says even today, Run DMC is his favorite Hip Hop group because of this song saving his bands career

This blew my mind when I seen it. back in the late 80s.

Oh Lord, when you said you didn’t know who RunDMC or Aerosmith were, I got excited to see your reaction. This is my generation’s music and this collab is 🔥 Glad you enjoyed it!!

I remember we all cheered for this colab❤

Love Areosmith,seen them live.steven Tyler's voice is amazing

This took the party to a whole new level when it came out.

I'm a 54 year old white guy from Australia. I hated rap when it first came out. I saw this when it premiered on MTV. I knew Aerosmith so I gave it a chance. My reaction was similar to yours. Still not a fan of rap as a genre, but I do have favourite rap songs & a couple of rap artists as my favourite artists. All because of Run DMC & this song

Dude, you gotta get on this. It was 1975!! The year I graduated HIGH SCHOOL. I love that. The guy in the middle is Stephen Tyler. If you saw Lord of the Rings, his daughter played Arwen. Aerosmith is a fantastic band, go listen to more. He's now in his 70's and still rockin.

Collaborations were in vogue in the late 80's along with this song from memory there was Chubby Checker and The Fat Boys, Eddie Money & Ronnie Spector, The Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield and maybe others that I forgot about. But those example given were between 1986 to 1988.