Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, hip-hop pioneer, talks about coming back from the brink
In his powerful new memoir, the founding member of Run-DMC describes the series of blows that demolished his life – and how a Sarah McLachlan song gave him the strength to go on
As the “Devastating Mic Controller,” Darryl “DMC” McDaniels revolutionised rap with Joseph “Run” Simmons and Jason (Jam Master Jay) Mizell in Run-DMC, famous for such hits as King of Rock and their cover of Aerosmith’s Walk This Way.
But Run-DMC’s success masked tensions within the group and in McDaniels’ life. That struggle is at the heart of the 52-year-old’s new memoir, Ten Ways Not to Commit Suicide.
It’s got to be shattering for people to think about what you went through to get here. That you were suicidal.
The thing with the book is, all of this happened to me while everybody else’s life was still going on. And nobody took time out to say, “What’s up with D?” Run went to make his album because I lost my voice. Jay is doing his label. In the midst of that, I’m so far down in my own s*** that I’m realising, all these motherf***ers don’t care about me. I’m thinking, without a voice I’m worthless. My whole Run-DMC existence, that’s all I knew.
If only it was just your voice. You went through a lot more.
I lost my voice, found out that I was adopted, Jay got shot [and killed in 2002] and then my father died. So I didn’t know what was going on.