21. Run-D.M.C., King of Rock
In 1985, Run-D.M.C. was the toast of the town. Two emcees from Hollis Queens took the title of Kings of Rock from every other act in popular music. They had the audacity to not just claim the chief monarch of all the “sucka emcees” in the culture flexing hard on the wheels of steel … Nah … they declared that they were over rock music. Basically giving the middle finger to Dire Straits, Phil Collins, Tears for Fears, Sting, Bryan Adams, Foreigner, and any other act that thought they were holding it down in the mid-eighties. To drive the point home, their album cover featured the two rappers peeking over the bottom with their names repeated over and over and over again like the Gucci jacquard.
For two years, King of Rock kept locking up the radio, MTV, and record store sales, making it not just a bold statement from the Profile duo but for them a triumph over the sophomore jinx.