DMC

DMC is the performing name of Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels, a US hardcore MC known as one of the founding members of Run-D.M.C. He is associated with hip hop and rap, and the name D.M.C. is said to stand for “Devastating Mic Controller” or “Darryl Mac”, a childhood nickname. He is also identified with the label name DMC in some contexts.

Run-D.M.C. and early development

McDaniels is born in Harlem, Manhattan, New York, and later believes for much of his life that he is from Hollis, Queens. He starts to become interested in hip hop after hearing Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. In 1978 he teaches himself to DJ in his parents’ basement using turntables and a mixer given to him by his older brother, Alford. He first uses the stage name Grandmaster Get High, then later adopts Easy D, before shortening the name to DMC.

He begins performing with Joseph “Run” Simmons, a friend and co-founder of Run-D.M.C., after Jam Master Jay joins the group as the DJ. McDaniels shifts from DJing to rapping at Run’s suggestion and becomes one of the group’s lead vocalists alongside Simmons. Run-D.M.C. releases its self-titled debut album in 1984, and the group becomes known for inventive and original work that makes use of a range of styles.

Education, voice, and later career

McDaniels attends St. John’s University in New York City, which he mentions in Run-D.M.C.’s song “Sucker MC’s.” In the 1990s he experiences depression, heavy alcohol use, and creative differences within the group. He develops spasmodic dysphonia, a vocal disorder involving involuntary spasms of the larynx muscles, which affects his singing and recording. He also appears on only three songs on Crown Royal.

A radio play of Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” leads him to reassess his life and career, and he later says that McLachlan and the album Surfacing save his life. He then writes his autobiography, King of Rock: Respect, Responsibility, and My Life with Run-DMC, which is released in 2001. In 2006 VH1 premieres DMC: My Adoption Journey, a documentary about his search for his birth mother. The programme ends with a reunion with his birth mother, and he explains that this discovery deepens his sense of identity and history.

Solo work

McDaniels releases a solo album, Checks Thugs and Rock N Roll, in 2006. Its first single, “Just Like Me”, includes an interpolation of Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the Cradle” performed by Sarah McLachlan.

Musical influences and character

McDaniels cites The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Elton John and Harry Chapin among the artists he admires. He moves toward a slower and softer sound later in his career, in part because of his voice problems.