© 2026

For assistance accessing the Online Public File for KAXE or KBXE, please contact: Steve Neu, IT Engineer, at 800-662-5799.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Attention listeners: Our Brainerd 89.9 transmitter is not working. Please stream our station at kaxe.org until further notice!

Rapper Darryl McDaniels of Run-D.M.C.

Darryl McDaniels, aka "D.M.C."
Frank Micelotta
/
Getty Images
Darryl McDaniels, aka "D.M.C."

Darryl McDaniels is the "D.M.C" of the seminal rap group Run-D.M.C, which brought new fashion, dances and language to popular culture.

Their self-titled first album — the first rap record to go gold — was the first of a string of gold, platinum and multi-platinum releases.

Run-D.M.C. lost member Jam Master Jay in 2002, when he was shot and killed in a recording studio in Queens. The other surviving member of Run-D.M.C. is Reverend "Run" Simmons, brother of rap impresario Russell Simmons.

The group officially retired after the death of Jam Master Jay. (This interview originally aired May 19, 1997.)

Copyright 2022 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

Tags
Creative Commons License
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.