Sasha Frere-Jones was recently asked by The Guardian to make a list of perfect songs. I don’t agree with all of his choices — Taylor Swift? — but I can definitely get behind his nomination of “Sucker MCs” by Run-DMC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXVFNs0piP8
This track was the B-side to Run-DMC’s first single in 1983, and was produced by Larry Smith and Davy DMX of Orange Krush (thus the subtitle “Krush Groove 1.”) It’s beautiful in its simplicity: two guys rapping, an Oberheim DMX drum machine, some turntable scratching, and nothing else. It’s the most minimalist hip-hop song I know of, other than “Top Billin’” by Audio Two.
The most perfect part of this perfect song is the beginning of DMC’s verse:
I’m DMC in the place to be
I go to St John’s University
Everything there is to love about hip-hop can be found in these two lines. Before we even get to the words, let’s talk about their musical accompaniment: Jam Master Jay’s rhythmic turntable scratching, and nothing else. Hip-hop musicians use avant-garde techniques to create what Susan McClary calls “cycles of kinetic pleasure,” rather than a godawful racket. Good on them.
Anyway, the rhymes:
I’m DMC
“I have a nickname that’s related to my birth name (Darryl McDaniels), but that is harder, cooler, and more futuristic. It looks great in huge white block letters on a black background, and it has ’emcee’ right in there.”
in the place to be
“Where is that place? It’s wherever I am.” Places are cool if they have cool people in them.
I go to St John’s University
Which has instantly become cool just by virtue of being mentioned in this song. Hip-hop is about epic fantasies, but even more, it’s about elevating the facts of real life to epic status.