Run-DMC‘s classic hit “My Adidas” apparently traces back to Def Jam Recordings co-founder Russell Simmons being extremely high on Phencyclidine, commonly known as “angel dust.”
Last week, Darryl Matthews McDaniels aka. DMC shared a clip from a conversation he had with Will Smith earlier this year for the Class of ’88 Podcast. In it, he shared the origin story of the 1986 cut.
“It started ’cause Russell was smoking dust. He was going, ‘Wait, wait, wait, wait — you got to make a record about your sneakers,’” he said, before recalling how the entrepreneur recited the cadence of what would go on to become the track’s explosive opening line. “He would raise his foot real high and stomp.”
Watch both rap veterans discuss the song and its inspiration below:
In the lead-up to the release of Kings From Queens: The Run-DMC Story, a three-part documentary that premiered in February, the 59-year-old MC sat down with HipHopDX to discuss his group’s rise to fame during an era when superstars didn’t look or sound like him or his group.
Over the chat, he reflected on the trio landing the first-ever brand deal in rap history (with Adidas), while discussing the current state of fashion in the industry.
“People got to understand we wasn’t selling a product; we was selling a spirit,” he began. “Yes, the wealth fucked it up […] When you look at kids from this generation, they holding their watch up and pointing at it; they holding their chain up; they holding their money up like that; they pointing at the car, they taking a picture by the car.
“Killer Mike said, ‘We were so proud, we had cars, gold and jewelry, but we pointed at ourselves’ — we were the wealth.”
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The rap pioneer continued: “We wore what everybody else in the places we came from was wearing, so it created a sense of value universally.
“Now, because we came as we were in those $40 sneakers and the sneakers started selling off the hook, the other high-end companies stole our look, style and presence, and the only thing that they’re selling right now is product, but they’re not selling spirit.
“So now, these kids will lie, cheat, steal just to look like something that’s really not worth anything. Run-DMC’s relationship with Adidas is way bigger than Run-DMC and Adidas.”
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