DARRYL ‘DMC’ McDANIELS
TO RELEASE NEW SINGLE ‘FLAMES’
ADDRESSING ISSUE OF GUN VIOLENCE AND POLICE SHOOTINGS
INFLUENTIAL HIP HOP ICON JOINED ON IMPASSIONED SONG
BY DISTURBED BASSIST/PRODUCER JOHN MOYER AND
ROCK VOCALIST MYLES KENNEDY
POTENT LYRIC VIDEO FOR ‘FLAMES’ TO DEBUT ON CNN.com “Get Political”
(New York City, NY May 14, 2016) Legendary rap icon, 2009 Rock-N-Roll Hall Of Famer and recent 2016 Grammy Lifetime Achievement recipient Darryl ‘DMC’ McDaniels has often said his groundbreaking reign with RUN-DMC broke the rap/rock barrier in hopes of broadening ‘the possibilities of universal communication’; A respected cultural icon among hip hop and rock’s new vanguard, (as well as a longtime advocate for social change and meaningful community outreach), the inspiring rapper is once again deepening the national conversation.
DMC has joined forces with Disturbed bassist John Moyer and rock front man Myles Kennedy to release a probing new single “Flames,” which addresses the issue between the black community, gun violence and police shootings. The new lyric video along with in depth DMC interview will première on CNN.com’s
“Get Political” on Monday, May 16th. http://cnn.it/1XeDoKb
But as the potent lyric video released with the single also boldly illustrates, DMC also takes on the issue of black on black crime head-on in the new song. “For me, the totality of all these issues comes down to two words: unnecessary bullets,” says DMC. “We stress that in the first line of the song. ‘Unnecessary bullets, unnecessary bullets. Get your finger off the trigger there is no need to pull it.’ The most powerful statement of this record, whether we’re talking about police shooting young men in the community, or people in the community shooting each other, the profound statement of this record is all the bullets were unnecessary. Every situation that became front page news as far as the police are concerned, the factor of pulling guns out of the holsters, could have been prevented if the cops don’t pull those guns. A bad decision is only a shot away. Same thing goes for the hood, a young man killing another young man in our community by pulling a trigger. This record isn’t about taking sides. It’s about us looking to change that mindset that begins and ends with guns blazing. What we’re trying to say with ‘Flames’ is turn that rage into something that ignites a dialogue. That’s why I do not call this a protest song. We’ve had the protests – this is an ‘awareness’ record; time to sit around a table and hear everybody’s point of view.”
The theme of inclusiveness was a cornerstone of the song from the start, with bassist for the nu metal band Disturbed sending DMC a music track after a phone conversation between the two spawned the idea of joining forces to make a musical difference. Moyer produced “Flames,” with renowned rock vocalist Myles Kennedy lending his voice, as well. John Gomez, Artist Manager with UEG and longtime friend of Moyer’s introduced the two and arranged the collaboration between Moyer, Myles and DMC”.
“John (Moyer) wanted to do a record that wasn’t just anti-police,” says DMC, “but would shed light on broader issues, too. I had been waiting to write something like that so he sent me the track, and I began writing within twenty minutes. I spit some verses to him over the phone the next day, and by the next week I flew to Austin to record the song. John is a great bassist and I think that adds to his talent and vision as a producer.”
“I had wanted to make a record with a message that mattered and that covered the multiple sides of the violence issues that are dividing us,” adds Moyer, “and once I met DMC it just came together.”
DMC says he was also inspired by the song’s scalding rock threads, the sessions even reminding him of some of his first experiences with RUN-DMC and their original producer Larry Smith, who passed away in 2014. “This was well before our association with Rick Rubin. Larry was a great bassist also, and people forget how vital he was to RUN-DMC. He was always able to bring out the best in me and John does that here. It was Larry’s idea to do a ‘Rock Box,’ and ‘King Of Rock’ way before we ever did a ‘Walk This Way.’ The difference with ‘Flames,’ even though I’m rapping, is that this is a rock track I’m ‘rocking’ on while rapping.”
DMC is also wise to the notion that melding rock and rap is easier than uniting factions so divisively split by the issue of police-involved shootings of young African Americans which many attribute to racialized policing. “I know it’s complicated,” he says. “And I’ve been asked what I call the ‘Black Lives Matter’ question. This song doesn’t disrespect that viewpoint, it doesn’t disrespect the police, either. I like to say you get things done when ‘real recognizes real.’ That’s what we’ve got to do here. A community cannot be completely against the people who are there to protect you. I’m talking brothers, sisters, friends, who are policemen, participants in the community, who have a stake in resolving these issues too. And I understand people’s rage when nothing gets resolved and the same incidents happen over and over. What “Flames” proposes is to turn this frustration into a dialogue. It’s time to pull everyone from their corners and get down to solutions. It’s about getting in a room and putting all viewpoints on display, checking off every issue, police-involved fatalities and black-on-black shootings, hearing all the perspectives and saying ‘OK, is there anymore – let’s get started.’ What I’m fed up with, and I know others are too, is the cycle repeating and no one accomplishing anything.”
The song is also the first offering from an upcoming album by DMC that further explores his rock leanings. “I’ve always admired rockers like John Lennon, Neil Young, John Fogerty, so many others who used that powerful voice they had for change,” he says. “Even back in the day when RUN-DMC was active you had in-your-face artists like Public Enemy and X Clan addressing real issues that affected people in the community every day. We did it with ‘It’s Like That.’ I like the bluntness of it. “Flames” has that. Not so much controversial but telling the truth.”
DMC says his own legacy of keeping it real has even extended to his comic book empire, filling a creative void just like he did as an inspiring hip hop pioneer with his one-of-a-kind superhero arsenal, which most recently included the launch of DMC #2! He expanded the Darryl Makes Comics universe with the imprint’s second full length graphic novel, an irreverent, positively-penned street-powered super hero that in a unique way, shares some of the DNA of “Flames.” “In the comic book, the DMC character is the only super hero that’s for all people and he doesn’t want anything for it because he knows he was given this gift for that very reason. So I’m not even taking sides as a super hero,” he laughs. “It’s about saying what’s right, what’s true, and doing what’s right. When hip hop first came out it shocked the world for one reason: It was the truth.”
For more information please contact: Tracey Miller /TMA, 609-383-2323/ tracey@tmapublicity.com