Whenever it is announced that a rap artist is performing with a symphony orchestra – whether its Wu Tang, Nas or St. Louis’ own Nelly – a line from Notorious B.I.G.’s breakthrough hit “Juicy” comes to mind.
“Remember Rappin’ Duke, ‘duh-ha, duh-ha,’” the rapper said over the Mtume sample that shares the name with the hip hop track. “You never thought that hip hop would take it this far.” In the thirty years since he delivered the classic line, hip hop has gone farther than Biggie could have probably imagined.
B.I.G.’s prophetic words will be reinforced next week when hip hop trailblazers DMC and the Sugar Hill Gang take the stage with The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra next Thursday (May 8) for A Celebration of Hip Hop. Darryl “DMC” McDaniels – half of the iconic rap duo Run-D.M.C. – always knew what his chosen genre was capable of.
“I have a saying, ‘Fifty years of hip hop and we are just getting started,’” DMC said. “Think about all the people who said hip hop will never work. It’s not real – it’s not even a genre. They said in the beginning that hip hop wouldn’t be around. It’s alive and it’s flourishing more than 50 years later.”
He believes that those who know hip hop should not be the least bit surprised about the intersection of rap and classical music that will happen with the Legends of Hip Hop performance with The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
He considers the opportunity to do so a full circle representation of the power of music.
“And that’s for those that created it, those that recorded it, those that share it, those who listen to it and to those who are able to perform it,” DMC said. You are getting a symphonic orchestra while these guys sing, rap and recite their rhymes the same way that they did 50 years ago in the streets of New York City before we even had permission to go in a recording studio.”
He’s eager to “hook up with the St. Louis Symphony” because he feels that the arts succeed where politics and religion fail as far as being a unifying force.
From the moment Run-D.M.C. used their Adidas to kick the door in on the mainstream music industry, they have personified using music as a platform for building bridges. They declared themselves “The King of Rock” through the title of their sophomore album. Their pop music collaboration with rock group Aerosmith for “Walk This Way,” helped catapult their third album “Raising Hell” to the distinction as the first multi-platinum selling hip hop record.
“I can rap over rock. I can rap over the blues. I can rap over funk. I can rap over jazz. We sampled everything,” DMC said. “The beauty about me being able to come and perform with a symphony, and I’ve seen others do it, is that we can get on that stage and perform songs we wrote, arranged and composed with a symphony – a whole orchestra.”
Joining him on the stage will be a St. Louis hip hop legend who is known the world over for filling the shoes of the late, great Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell as DMC’s DJ after Mizell’s life was tragically cut short in 2002.
The anticipation of Charles “DJ Charlie Chan Soprano” Beason hitting the stage at Stifel with him next week compelled DMC to kick a freestyle.
“Charlie Chan, he talks with his hands,” DMC said. “I could do it with just me and him but we’ve got a symphonic band.”
Chan – who was mentored by Mizell – was DMC’s only choice for a DJ when he decided to hit the tour circuit as a solo act who performed from the Run-D.M.C. catalog.
“I said, ‘Yo, Chan, you wanna run around the world with me,’” DMC said. “He grew up listening to what I created. Now we can present it together.”
Chan feels blessed to have the opportunity to represent for St. Louis hip hop on such a grand scale.
“I take my city with me everywhere I go,” Chan said.
And everywhere he goes, his reputation precedes him, according to DMC – who says his skill set and his desire to be the total package set him apart from other DJs.
Chan is also proud that his native region has a critical role in hip hop’s origin story.
“People will get to talking about ‘New York is where it started,’” Chan said. “I hit them with, ‘Where was he first place it hit commercial radio airwaves?’”
When WESL 1490 AM programming director “Gentleman” Jim Gates gave Edie B the greenlight to play “Rapper’s Delight,” by The Sugar Hill Gang in 1979, they changed the course of radio. Ironically, it is a song that most likely will be a part of the set list for SLSO collaboration.
“It’s a perfect marriage,” Chan said of the upcoming show. “It’s something you’ve heard as far as the songs. But something you never thought about as far as these songs being played with a symphony – and when you get there, it’s definitely going to blow your mind.”
A Celebration of Hip Hop with DMC, the Sugar Hill Gang and The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 8 at Stifel Theatre, 1400 Market Street. For tickets or more information, visit www.slso.org.
Living It content is produced with funding by the ARPA for the Arts grants program in partnership with the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis and the Community Development Administration.
