Get To Know H.E.R.

Ah, here we are finally. Took a little longer than I thought it would take, but we’re finally on the third album of 1986. And what an album it is! Raising Hell, by Run DMC is considered by practically everyone to be their best album and is in tons of greatest so and so lists in various magazines. Chris Rock even goes so far as to call it the first great rap album. In many ways, it was the first album to really put rap on a national level of fame. Of course, as we now know in today’s crunk crap era, fame doesn’t necessarily equal quality, so let’s start our critical review.

1. Peter Piper - The album starts right off with the rhyming, even before the beat comes in. The lyricism on this album is actually pretty dope, considering that it was before Rakim and the so called revolution happened.

2. It’s Tricky - EVERYONE knows this song. Sounds just a bit corny in this day and age, but damn me if this song isnt fun.

3. My Adidas - The ever so famous ode to the essential B-boy gear of choice. The beat is minimalist as hell, but that’s fine with me. I prefer a simple beat like this any day to that shitty A Milli.

4. Walk This Way (ft Aerosmith) - The song that catapulted them to stardom, Walk This Way, was the first rap song to ever reach the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100. Back in these days, popular rap actually had artistic value.

5. It Is Live - Amazing percussion creates a musical soundscape for Rev Run and DMC to trade rhymes over in this track.

6. Perfection - As far as percussion based beats go, I largely prefer the last track to this one. Honestly, this track gets to be pretty boring.

7. Hit It Run - The beatboxing on the track sounds pretty, well, horrible but the rest of the track is pretty amazing. I’m gonna say that the beatbox portion wasn’ t meant to be taken seriously at all. Yeah..

8. Raising Hell - A great mix of rock and rap. Run DMC may not have been the first to mix the two genres, but they were definitely one of the greatest.

9. You Be Illin - Jam Master Jay cuts the track beautifully and Run DMC comes off sounding like an extremely subdued version of the Beastie Boys. Not surprising I guess since both this and Licensed to Ill were produced in large by Rick Rubin.

10. Dumb Girl - I find the hook on this song to be hilarious, but other than that I’m not the biggest fan of it.

11. Son of Byford - More of an interlude than anything. Features yet more meh beatboxing but since this is an interlude I guess I don’t care too much.

12. Proud To Be Black - The token afrocentric track. It’s really a great track. If Public Enemy weren’t so bent on revolution, this might be what they would sound like.

Final Score: 9.0

22 years after its release, the album does sound a little outdated in some parts. But who cares really? Outdated or not, it’s still dope as fuck. The album is consistently good all throughout, but that also ends up being the reason it only gets a 9.0 from me. There’s no track that shocks you and grabs you and makes you want to go back just to listen to it a gajillion more times. In other words, while the album is consistent, there’s really no punch in the face moments of excellence. Still, like I said, it’s dope and definitely deserves to be listened to. And with that said, 1986 is over. You know what that means. Next stop, 1987 and the Golden Age!