This collaboration also helped with Aerosmith's comeback. Aerosmith were in bad shape from drugs, etc. This collaboration in 1986 brought Aerosmith back into the picture and to a new generation, including myself, thru MTV. Then a year later in 1987, Aerosmith released their comeback album Permanent Vacation, which put them back on top.
MTV was a groundbreaking "app" back in the day. Kiddos did not have noses in phones/tablets 24/7. It was super fucking exciting to plan your night around "Headbangers Ball" , or, record it on vhs for later perusal. I was so spoiled back then with technology.
If I remember the story right on this (and it's directly from DMC), Jam Master Jay had come into the studio with this sample, but they all found it hard to put together lyrics for it on their own. Their producer (Rick Rubin) looked at them and asked if they knew what this was, which they all replied no. This was Aerosmith's original song from Toys in the Attic in 1976, which Rubin pulled it out and played it for them. Then he told the group that they should forget coming up with something and just remake this song, since it did have a rapper's flow to it. Then he got the idea of how cool it would be to bring in Aerosmith and make it a full on collab. Aerosmith came in, and realized that they had to up their game because Run DMC's energy was off the charts, and they were in the dumps from drugs. This brought Aerosmith back, and you see the result, as it brought rock to black people, and rap to white people which eliminated that huge taboo back then.
This is my first memory of a genre mash up. This is how I discovered Run DMC and I went out and bought my first rap album. I was already an Aerosmith fan. I became a rap fan because of this song. And then NWA stole my heart. And I still listen to metal and rap to this day. And I'm a 50 year old white woman. 😉
Saw an interview with Tyler talking about how nervous they were to do this. Obviously they made the right decision. I remember seeing this video for the first time it was mind blowing at the time. ❤️
This song was groundbreaking when it came out! Mixing rock and rap had never been done before! It was great too because Steven Tyler is one of the most laid back, nicest, coolest celebrities ever! He’s nice to every fan, never turns down autographs or selfies with fans so I can imagine that he loved the opportunity to do a collab like this!
Well Run DMC already mixed the two with original rock riffs in Rock Box and King Of Rock. But this was def the first collab between two established acts from each genre.
The imagery of Aerosmith breaking through the wall and then of Run DMC literally ripping through the barrier, is all symbolic of this collaboration bringing down the boundaries between hip-hop and rock. You should check out some of the stuff that DMC did with Generation Kill a few years back
Morning! Omg!! I remember watching this on MTV! This song helped break barriers! Such a Kool video! Loved watching y'all react to the music video! Great choice guys!🤓❤️
The story is that DJs (using records spinning on turn tables) had been using the instrumental parts of Walk This Way to create extended beats to rap over, and that inspired the idea of this collaboration.
This song is classic, legendary, say what you want. Amazing to this day. Blending hip hop with rock. Genius. And to have Run DMC & Aerosmith collab!? Absolute genius. Grew up with this, but never gets old
I remember this coming out and it was totally revolutionary. Fusing hip hop and rock hadn't even been thought about before this collaboration of two GREAT artists. Nobody would have ever thought it could work, but it worked like pure magic. Still a great track to this day.
I was a teenager when this came out and there was more crossover in those fan bases than you might think. As a white Scottish metalhead kid I certainly was not the target market for hip hop but I loved it from the start and so did most of my metalhead friends. This, Beastie Boys and Anthrax and Public Enemy were the best examples.
Iconic Song. Definitive a landmark in music history. I realy recommend listening to MDB DIRTY WHITE SNEEKERS. You definitiv will not regrett it. Much love from Germany. ✌🏼🇩🇪
The " Walk This Way " lyric came from Aersonsmith having difficulty finding lyrics for a particular chorus. while recording " Toys In The Attic " They went to see " Young Frankenstein " ( Mel Brooks Ckassic) and Igor when said " Walk This Way". Tyler said " That's it"!!
I was about 14 when this came out. I bought both albums (Permanent Vacation and Raising Hell) and loved both of them. As I got older my tastes in music changed further but what I like about growing up in the 80s was that we were listening to so many different kinds of music. If it was good then we just cranked it up. I miss the times when bands weren't forced into defined genres.
Absolutely love this song!! Little fun fact run dmc could only afford steven tyler(singer) and joe perry(guitarist) from the band so the other musicians in the vid r randos
i listened to this song over and over after school every day for like a year. I had the video recorded on VHS it was awesome. I wanted to buy Adidas shoes.
🎶🎸🎧🎸🎶 This was a turning point for Aerosmith, too. Steven was finally sober, so this was their comeback. Thanks for the old school jam to start the day. P.L.U.R.R. from ATX!
Morning guys. Yeah this song I remember from growing up in the 80s. It was such a huge tune because of the melding of rock and rap. Lots of acts followed and we’re inspired by this collaboration. But this is the original. Anthrax also did bring the noise with Public Enemy soon after. Keep it up guys! Volbeat-Shotgun Blues, you won’t be disappointed!
Hell yes this song helped make hip hop more accessible to different demographics! Aerosmith released Walk This Way in 1975. Run DMC released their version of this song feat. Aerosmith in 1986. MTV was HUGE at that time and many teenagers were watching it all the time! This song and video introduced thousands of middle class white kids, who only listened to Rock music, to Hip Hop/Rap for the very first time. I was one of those kids! I’ve loved the song ever since. I don’t know much about Run DMC, but I do know they were pioneers in music history period. 🤘🏼🔥
Aerosmith and Run DMC did a great collab on this song. Steven Tyler was pretty clever in the way he wrote the original song lyrics, so this song is easily misinterpreted, but it's definitely about a boy and girl and some fun experiences.
Run DMC is all time classic. Them and the Beastie Boys were the first 2 bands my bro and I fell in love with in the 80s. Now lets do Collapse boys. No more waiting. Por favor...😊
It made everyone realize that both camps really had the same agenda. It brought so many people together. I remember the first time I heard this and I just freaking loved it! Stil do. Great reaction!!
Smokey, my man, this video is a stellar production, IN ANY TIME EVER. It brought Rock and Rap together in a way no one had thought of before. And it made both groups bigger than they were. Rick Rubin deserves A TON of credit for pulling it off. I first saw Aerosmith in 1975, right after Toys In The Attic was released, and of course they played "Walk This Way" at the show, it was the first single off the album they played on the radio. At the time I lived near Boston, so we got the stuff first. Tyler's delivery was so unique, at the time, it caught everyone's ears. Some liked it some didn't. I did. Saw Aerosmith about ten more times, always a great show. Anything from their first four albums is worth a listen. For Run-DMC, I'd go with "The Kings Of Rock".
This was one of the first collaborations between hip hop and rock. It drew massive attention to how much potential there is between hip hop and rock/ metal. Korn youll notice has HUGE hip hop influence. When this was made it broke the mould and it introduced something new. And yeah man, Steven Tyler has a strong jaw on him to say the least haha :')
As someone who used to work for a studio recording group, (they rented studio recording space), there were studios that close. They were super soundproofed, you couldn't hear what was being recorded in the next studio, but they were that close.
You guys are exactly right. This song propelled hip hop into the mainstream and in turn, the Beastie Boys brought hip hop to the suburbs. This was a revolutionary period for hip hop and I was blessed to live through it at ten years old with my first generation Walkman 😂
Yes hes a polarizing figure now, but what woke me up musically as a kid was kid rock going on stage with rundmc and aerosmith vma 1999 and did a part of this song.
Hi bro's, i'm love this song very very much and its one of my of all times ! This two bands are very great togther, its absolut fits ! Greatings and love from germany ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
There's a video/live performance out there, that has Aerosmith, Run DMC AND Kid Rock performing the song. I believe it was when Run DMC got inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
This was also a golden era for music videos. I always loved the humour of the story in this video, how they go from noisy neighbors to grooving together on the stage. 😄
I was in 4th grade when this came out....it was the only thing heard playing for a loooong time LOL...definitely opened up a whole new category with the mix of music genres
It's pretty cool to see how well Rap/Hip-hop can blend and work with hard rock/metal. Watching a lot of rappers really getting into metal and commenting on some of the aspects of the genre and sometimes comparing the two genre's has actually made me appreciate metal even more--and to have a better respect of rap music. One great fusion of rap and metal has to be Ice T's band Body Count. Have you guys done any of their songs? So many great ones to choose from. Cop Killer is a classic and No Lives Matter is pretty dope. Their cover of Slayer's Raining Blood (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LPHJLB1ZeAc.html) will blow your mind.
Well it appears that yall have figured out that the best music was in the 60's, 70's & 80's I'm happy i was there for all of it !!!! Yall keep Rockin!!!!!!!!
This is the song that began rap being played on MTV. There were only two or three black artists even being played on there. They were the hosts of Yo MTV Raps! It introduced ALOT of people to the genre.
Aerosmith had been on a downward spiral for the latter half of the 70s, struggling with addictions and a shrinking rock and roll market. Run DMC reinvigorated Aerosmith and put them back on the map despite the rock band's belief that nothing would come of their collaboration.
I'm pretty sure that Russell Simmons helped Run DMC get signed to Profile prior to hooking up with Rick Rubins to form Def Jam. And there were originally four elements to hip hop: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti. Beatboxing was later added as a fifth element, and then people just wanted to add every last aspect of hip hop as an element...
I also think the reason why this works so well is if you listen to a lot of Aerosmith songs the cadence and Steven Tyler's singing is kind of like rap they rhyme and more spoken and sung and a little bit of flow in the way he delivers it definitely a prototype to Future rap rock same as Red Hot chili peppers it's all about the cadence another rock band you wouldn't expect to have that AC/DC you listen to back in Black definitely got some some lyrical flow to that
I was in 10th grade when this song came out. Trust me, RUN DMC was the FIRST rap group to cross over into complete mainstream! All small white country towns found RUN DMC with this song!
