Jam Master Jay was so impressed when he heard Public Enemy for the first time that he compared frontman Chuck D to God, according to Rev Run.
In celebration of Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary, Pitchfork spoke to 17 artists about their all-time favorite rap songs. The Run-D.M.C. co-founder recalled the first time that he and the group’s late DJ heard PE on wax.
“I was going on tour with the Beastie Boys, and Chuck D and Hank Shocklee came to meet us at JFK Airport,” Run told the outlet. “Chuck said, ‘Y’all gotta hear this,’ and they gave Russell Simmons and Lyor Cohen a cassette tape of a new record they had just made.
“This song was so captivating and addictive that Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys would rush to the dressing room after the show and listen to it on my JVC boombox. It wasn’t just a statement about political and social issues—it was a statement about how no motherfuckers could make hip-hop this incredible.”
He continued: “When Jam Master Jay first heard Chuck on ‘Public Enemy #1,’ he said to Rick and Russell: ‘God has come down from heaven to rock the mic.’ This was God putting his foot in every MC’s ass. It was voice, delivery, rhyme, style.
“What’s beautiful is that Chuck said he created the cadence off of Rakim, the God MC. Sonically, it was the most powerful, ear-catching, aggressive, complete production of a Hip Hop record. It was mature and youthful. It was who we were before we started making records.”
Meanwhile, a third man was recently charged in the 2002 death of Jam Master Jay.
According to The New York Times, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York indicted 49-year-old Jay Bryant from Queens on May 30, charging him with murder while engaged in narcotics trafficking and other drug-trafficking offenses.
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César de Castro, a lawyer for Bryant — who is already awaiting trial on a separate drug-related indictment — indicated that his client would plead not guilty.
“Securing an indictment in a secret grand jury, applying an extremely low burden of proof, is one thing,” de Castro said. “Proving it at trial is another matter.”
Two other men, Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington, were previously charged in August 2020 over the killing of Jam Master Jay (real name Jason Mizell), who was shot dead in his Queens recording studio on October 30, 2002.
The trio are alleged to have entered the studio and fled after the fatal shooting, with Jordan firing two shots at the Run-DMC DJ at close range, including one to the head that killed him. Another person was struck in the leg.
