Run DMC's Darryl McDaniels Visits William Floyd High School

MASTIC BEACH, NY — Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy Award winner Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of the '80s hip-hop group Run DMC told a group of William Floyd High School students that he credited his success to determination, motivation, and confidence in a special audience with them on Thursday, according to school officials.

McDaniels was introduced by fine arts chairperson Theresa Bianco and made his entrance into the auditorium to a rousing rendition of Run DMC’s 1986 collaboration with Aerosmith on “Walk This Way" performed by the high school's drumline. He then shared his experiences with growing up in New York City, comparing his experiences as being similar to what students experience today, "with the only difference being technology," school officials said.

McDaniels said he was “armed with information and imagination” and he made his first record out of high school, becoming a member of one of the most influential acts in the history of hip-hop, according to a news release from the district.

“I’m excited about the potential in this audience,” McDaniels said. “You all have beautiful music inside of you.”

McDaniels, who graduated from high school in 1982, formed Run DMC with Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell and the trio later signed with Profile Records, releasing their first album, Run DMC. Their music video “Rock Box” became the first rap music video played on MTV in 1984, and then in 1985, the group released the album "King of Rock."

Run DMC was the second rap group to appear on American Bandstand, as well as the first rap group to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone and to perform on Saturday Night Live.

The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 and later became the first rap group to win the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. McDaniels published a memoir, "Ten Ways to Not Commit Suicide" and an autobiography, "King of Rock: Respect, Responsibility, and My Life" with Run DMC.

McDaniels, a lifelong Marvel comics fan and admirer of its founder, Stan Lee, created his own publishing company called Darryl Makes Comics, which is set in hip-hop’s revolutionary era of the '80s. The first publication features DMC as a superhero fighting for justice in an alternative universe.

McDaniels, who was adopted and placed in foster care as a baby, later co-founded The Felix Organization, a non-profit focused on helping children in the foster care system.