DMC of Run DMC launches comic book exhibition in east London art gallery

The hip hop icon tells David Ellis how comics helped inspire the group's biggest hits
King of Rock: DMC

One of hip hop’s most beloved rappers, Darryl ‘DMC’ McDaniels, is following in the footsteps of rockers Ronnie Wood and Bob Dylan by entering the world of art.

The MC is exclusively showcasing an extensive array of comic book artwork this month in Stoke Newington’s Hang-Up gallery, from Sunday June 11 until June 25.

Though best known for his seminal work as a founder of Run DMC, whose hits include Walk This Way, My Adidas and It’s Tricky, DMC told the Standard that comics have played a pivotal role in his life, and music.

The rapper said: “Early on, all my creativity was coming from comic books. Listen to King of Rock: ‘Now we crash through walls, cut through floors/Bust through ceilings and knock down doors' – my rap thing was being that superhero. My thing was pretending ‘I’m the most powerful entity in the hip hop universe’. I was just playing super hero with that. It was all make believe to me.

“Run goes: ‘I’m DJ Run, I can scratch’ but for me, it wasn’t ‘I'm DMC, I can rap’ it was, ‘I’m DMC, I can draw’.”

The Art of DMC, in pictures

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McDaniels said the creative outlet of comics helped him get over traumas in his life, including the shooting and killing of his bandmate Jam Master Jay. After struggles with depression and chronic alcoholism tempered his professional output, the Hard Times singer said the Darryl Makes Comics project had given him new purpose.

“I’m trying to make comic books cool. My energy comes from comic books. The art, the creativity… the beauty in it… people who thought this was corny, now see it’s art that can be put in a gallery. Now all the people who teased me, now they know it’s art, they want to come in. It’s refining people’s perceptions of what art is.

"My partner Riggs Morales said, ‘D, you can do with this everything and more that you’ve been doing with your music; inspire, educate, motivate and teach.’ And I’d never thought about it like that before.”

The Art of DMC is on from June 11 – 25. DMC will officially launch the gallery with an intimate gig on June 10, fresh from headlining the Isle of Wight festival. For more information, visit hanguppictures.com

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