CeFaan Kim
NY1.com
A legendary hip-hop trio which emerged from the streets of Queens was honored Sunday. NY1's CeFaan Kim was in Hollis where a street was renamed for Run-DMC.
Hollis Avenue and 205th Street will now be known as Run-DMC/JMJ Way. The legendary hip-hop trio is the first rap group to have a city street renamed in their honor, in the neighborhood where they were born and raised.
"Hip-hop is about us doing the best with what we have to make it better for all the people after us," said Darryl "DMC" McDaniels of Run-D.M.C.
"This thing is bigger than me and D. This thing is about God giving up an opportunity to express ourselves through hip-hop," said Run-DMC's Joseph "Reverend Run" Simmons.
Run-DMC is considered to be one of the most influential artists in rap music history. Wildly popular in the 1980s, the group is credited with introducing hip-hop into the mainstream.
"Before them, it wasn't an international phenomenon like it was," explained radio DJ Ed Lover. "It was local, it was national, but they made it international."
The street renaming was especially important to the loved ones of the late Jason "Jam Master J" Mizell, the third member of the group. His shocking 2002 murder remains unsolved. His family has been trying to get the street renamed for seven years.
"To me, he was my dad. To the world, he was Jam Master J," said Mizell's son, Jason Mizell Jr. "I'm just real proud."
The street renaming caps off a busy year for Run-DMC. Earlier this year, they became only the second hip hop group to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The first was Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
Members of the group say the legacy of Run-DMC, and of the late Jam Master J will be remembered forever.
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