Run-DMC championed Hip-Hop culture and rap music in another crucial arena. MTV wouldn’t play videos by Black artists and after constant pressure from the urban music community they finally relented. The first two videos they played were Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and Run-DMC’s “Rock Box.” The record was tailor-made for not only the young music network but it’s viewers thanks to the slick production of Larry Smith, Run & D’s back and forth rhymes and Eddie Martinez‘ virtuoso guitar work. Everything about the “Rock Box” video just made viewers wonder why rap videos hadn’t been on MTV before. The video was instrumental in pushing the Run-DMC album to Gold sales. After that barrier was broken down, the floodgates had been opened and Hip-Hop culture invaded the mainstream. Even Sister Sledge performed Run-DMC’s “It’s Like That” during their appearance on “The Jeffersons” in 1984. After five years of the first rap records being pressed up, the genre had finally managed to go mainstream.
