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Interview with Reverend Run
By: Patrick Steven Patterson
 It's high noon in my Nashville office
and while I'm awaiting a phone call from the legendary
Reverend Run, I hear church bells begin chiming the hour in
the neighborhood around me... Now, although I'm not one to
pay too much attention to religious dogma or symbolism, I
am a devout karma activist and this church bell thing just
feels right.
It happens all-too-often that I get wrapped up thinking I'm
the busiest guy on the planet - then I end up talking with
someone with a new record and a TV show, who's running a
clothing company and a family. This is Rev Run. Legendary
for his contributions during Hip Hop's infancy with
Run-D.M.C., it becomes visible early in our chat this man has
succeeded in his life, not only because of intellect, talent and
guile, but also because he is a one-man promotional
brigade.
Although it seemed that our conversation got off on the
wrong foot, I believe we could have talked for a month, and
not just about the 15 billion tangents the man went on during
our short time together. I've been enlightened. This is now
my church, and this is Reverend Run.
NowOnTour: I think that one of the most significant
qualities of the school of Hip-Hop that you and your
contemporaries created were Raps centering on the artists'
skills as an MC. These things are generally lacking in today's
commercial Rap. What are your thoughts on the way many
new stars seem to talk about their cars, money and jewelry?
Rev Run: I don't think about that. I know that Kanye West
just was up for 10 Grammy nods and put out "Jesus Walks"
and has a smash out now. Common is killin' it. I'm feelin' 50
Cent - a businessman.
Hip Hop is the thing, man. Hip Hop is so crazy that Will Smith
owns Hollywood. Hip Hop is so huge that Queen Latifah was
up for an Oscar. Hip Hop is so big that Ice Cube has
CubeVision.
What? Hip Hop is monstrous and beautiful and wonderful and
filled with greatness, and everybody wants to use it for their
commercials to promote their products...
No, that's amazing, and that's where it's come to
from where you started with it. It's an amazing evolution for
sure...
But think about Kanye West - he's not doing what you
said...
No, Kanye West is an exception, Common, for
sure, is an exception. These people are straight intelligent,
thinking-man's musicians...
Jay-Z was amazing to and so was DMX. DMX and Jay-Z were
artists to the fullest. Jay-Z made records that were so
phenomenal - [sings] "Jigga" - and all that. DMX came
through, too. The Hard Knock Life Tour... What? You need to
look at life through lens you want. I prefer to look at it
through a lens that told you that Kanye West was on the
cover of USA Today after the Grammys and
now he's on the cover of the New York Times.
Jay-Z's tour just went off tour and DMX was a
monster.
[There's] just so much great stuff I see it's hard to be
concerned about a porno movie when Shrek 2
comes out. There's too much to look at in this world that I
decide to give everything a fair shot. I call Rap a buffet. You
got Jello on it, you got chicken, you got lobster, you got
beets, you got turkey and you pick what you want in life. I
don't just say 'Rap is not what it used to be' ...there's so
much stuff that I can point out that's so phenomenal and
great that I don't have to even have to worry about
somebody that doesn't give a great effort.
But I love 50 Cent and G-Unit and the way he's doin'
business. He has Mobb Deep now on his label and he just
signed Mase. It's just hard for me to see negativity 'cause I
don't want to draw that to me, so I don't really get into the
uninspired records. There might be an uninspired record or
two out there, but it doesn't bother me.
I agree with you completely, and that's what I
listen to as well. When I pick music, I'm going to pick
something that going to inspire me to do something, or feel
something.
There's inspired things and uninspired things, in everything.
There's uninspired movies, there's uninspired television
shows, there's uninspired... gardeners - that don't cut your
grass right - and there's a guy who loves flowers. It's always
going to be filled with things that are good and things that
are bad. And even the 'Bling-Bling Era' - that was just
something that came through and, you know, kids wanted to
express that they have lots of money. And when we get tired
of it - we stop buying it - they'll stop talking about it for a
minute. That was a great little time of champagne being
thrown through the air and people talking about... you know
...and you got the girls, naked girls in the video.
What about that? What about the objectification of
women? It's always been around in every genre, especially
in videos...
What about African women that come out and dance and
they're jumping around, what about Hawaiian women who've
got their little grass on and they're shakin' their hips, too.
You go to Hawaii and you look at a luau and they're kinda
shaking their hips with the little grass on, and then you got,
you know, Zulus and... It's a little sexy thing going on... for
a minute... and when that plays out, they'll be back to Public
Enemy talking about Black Power, and we'll be fighting the
government again.
I guess I'm waiting for that.
Things happen, man, times happen. It's good for a minute
and then it just flows away and something else is taking over
the world. Everybody is taking off gold and people are
putting on little Black Power signs, leather things... and
nobody wants to wear jewelry anymore. Things happen.
That's how I look at it.
What's the next one, the next
movement?
What's happening now? Well, Reverend Run has a television
show with MTV called Run's House and he has a
very inspired album called Distortion and
people are probably not even prepared or braced for it...
"What's happening... Whoa, I didn't know this was
coming!"
Well, they know about it now. We're gonna help
you out.
Did you hear the whole album?
No, just the single from your Web site. They didn't
get me any music.
Well, the single is just a sign to where the album will take
you. The single is, like you're driving, say, to Ohio or
something, and you see a sign that says '40 miles.' The
single is pointing you to what the album will sound like. It's
very "Run-ish"... Sounds very Tougher Than
Leather, very Raising Hell, very
Rick-Rubin-Beastie-Boy-Run-D.M.C.-ish.
There's a definite Rubin/Beastie Boys vibe on the
single, for sure.
You know, I helped produce the Beastie Boys' first album,
Licensed To Ill, so it has that whole... time
period. But the Beastie Boys [were] kind of
protoges of Run-D.M.C. back then when we
went on tour... and kind of came out of our camp. So it has
that feeling.
You worked almost exclusively on this album with
DJ Whiteboy, a relative unknown...
Well, Whiteboy, he was picked up because I didn't want to
get any new, great, outstanding producers with a bunch of
egos so I was able to produce my own record - with him -
assisting me and helping me to sort out my ideas. And then I
found out at the end that he had a great chemistry with me
and in that chemistry we created a record that has no
stand-ins and all that stuff. It's just me and him.
So there are no guests on the album or anything
like that?
No guests, no extra producers, just straight Run killin' it over
big beats and scratches and little guitar licks.
I know you sampled Lynyrd Skynyrd on a tribute to
Jay...
Yeah, that's a great one too... I sampled that and I felt
like...I was inspired to write about Jay and if felt good and it
was
the right timing for me so I busted that record out, made it,
and it felt wonderful.
Is that a Joan Jett riff I hear on "Mind On The
Road"?
Yeah, a little piece of it, not the main piece, but it's a part of
it, yes.
You recorded the new record in a businesslike
manner - clocking in, clocking out - it seems. Is that a new
direction or similar to how you've recorded in the
past?
No, it's just me having a family. I love getting up, getting it
done, getting home, helping the kids with their homework.
Just me being me. I love working from morning until late
afternoon... going towards evening. [Then] get home to
hang out with my family, which I love just as much. I just try
to split my day into a joyful day. That was very good for me
- to rock the mic during the day, tuck the kids during the
night.
Is that something you'd recommend to young
musicians?
No, it's just something that I do. It's just me. Like, I'm in the
pool just now doing the interview with you.
With the kids?
Yeah, my son is actually running around - he starts [school]
tomorrow.
[Aside] "Russy, say 'Hi!'"
[From the background, a child's voice] 'Hi!'
There's obviously a great amount of spirituality in
your life now, how has that translated into the lyrics and
messages on the record?
Well, my spirituality's actually in my show, my television
show, Run's House. It's a show that going to
inspire. People wonder, 'Well, if you're Reverend Run,
where's your church?' My church will be opened up October
14th on MTV and that spiritual message... shows me raising
my family.
There was a man who [said], "I can't hear nothing you say
because your life is speaking so loud." So, I'm going to let
people see my life and I won't have to preach as loud, and
people will probably end up enjoying what I'm doing with my
family, with my brother who is Russel Simmons - he lives
around the corner - and you'll see me working with him
doing Phat Farm clothing and sneakers... I'm the CEO of Run
Athletics which is the maker of Phat Farm footwear and is
the maker of Arthur Ashe sneakers.
The show opens up with a 'Word of Wisdom' where I write
out a word of wisdom in the morning to people like Kid Rock,
Serena Williams, LL Cool J, Puff Daddy. They show me
getting in the tub in the morning writing it and then the show
kind of intertwines during the day. You'll notice that my day
is kind of connected to this 'Word of Wisdom' and at the end
of the show, I'm dong a 'Word of Wisdom' ending the show
in the tub again in the morning and it will kind of sum up the
show. So it's going to be some real fabulous, incredible
change for MTV, and it's replacing The
Osbournes on October 14th.
Congratulations on that and the
church.
Well, it's going to be pretty deep... it's not a church, but yet
it'll inspire, it'll teach.
I saw your brother [Russel Simmons] on one of the
late night shows and he's plugged into about 18 billion things
and loves every minute of it. You've got kind of a hard
working family, huh?
Yeah, we love doing it. We know that we're here to serve,
and since we're here to serve, that's what we're going to
do.
Who are the indie or unsigned MCs that I don't
know about that I should be listening to right
now?
A guy named Short Dog's on Russell's label, a guy named
Dro - these are some of the artists that are pretty inspired -
and they're pretty good. We'll see them come out on RSMG,
Russel Simmons Music Group.
Just another finger, just another toe on the whole
body of the company...
Yeah, we're all things entertainment... all things ... they
correspond with each other. They're all inspired of the same
things... Youth Culture, entertainment and stuff. And I
preach also, a little bit, so... It all has to do with inspiring
people, putting a smile on your face.
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