"O.K., so there's a new Run-DMC album. There's plenty to get excited about here, especially the prospect of the greatest comeback in hip-hop history. You really won't be able to resist an album with such an array of top producers. And after ten years, it's good to know that the crew still sports the same command of the microphone... It's easy to be cynical about Down With The King because of its "We Are The World" overtones: here is an album that has the best producers in the biz coming together to save the eroding career of rap's first superheroes. And this mish-mosh of styles threatens to overwhelm of the album. Although "Can I Get It, Yo," the EPMD cut, sounds incredibly dope, the Pete Rock cuts have the same horn stuff he's been doing to death, the Q-Tip track sounds like "Scenario" and the Naughty and Hank Shocklee tracks sound like, well, Naughty and Hank Shocklee tracks. Which is all cool, except this is supposed to be a Run-DMC record and not some kind of movie soundtrack. In some ways, this makes sense. Since they started it all, King could be their way of coming back to stake their claim on every new hip-hop outpost, like "we started everything, so we're gonna put brothas in their place by freaking that shit on our record." And, to their credit, Run and DMC (and Jay, when he hits the mic) still possess the skills to be memorable, placing the group firmly back in the game. And while the producers make the album solid - there are no clunkers here - these master musical chefs don't do the trick of bringing Run-DMC back. Run-DMC do that on their own." - The Source (June, 1993). Revisit Down With The King below...
Save a copy of the Down With The King LP review in The Source (6/93)...
