As Run DMC assumed roles as indisputable hip hop superstars during the mid-80's heyday of their career, they also ushered in a hard-boiled machismo that set the tone in hip hop for years to come. Joseph “Run Simmons, Darryl, “DMC” McDaniels, and the late Jam Master Jay became collectively known for their leather jacket aesthetic and their aggressive, crunchy guitar-propelled music that appealed to hip hop and hard rock fans alike.
However, in his new memoir, 10 Ways Not to Commit Suicide, DMC has revealed that veiled behind his hardened exterior hid the sizable tolls that the pressures of stardom inflicted upon his mental well being. He goes on to detail the fact that he often considered taking his own life after dealing with an immense level of depression wrought by several bouts with alcoholism and the loss of his voice due to a throat condition called spasmodic dysphonia.
“I was probably at my suicidal worst in 1997 during a two-week-long tour in Japan,” McDaniels writes in the memoir. “The only song that I listened to then was a soft-pop ballad by Sarah McLachlan called 'Angel.'”
“I thought long and hard about killing myself every day in Japan. I tricked myself into thinking that my family might be better off without me. I considered jumping out of a window. I thought about going to a hardware store to buy poison to ingest. I thought about putting a gun to my temple. Whenever I'd listen to 'Angel,' though, I always managed to make my way back from the brink.”
Although “Angel” certainly isn't a staple in hip hop circles, most fans will probably recognize it as the teary tune that played in the background of commercials for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals during the 90's. Today, DMC is healthy and sober, and he dedicates time to his charity, The Felix Organization, where he mentors youth raised within the foster care system.
By Ryan Donberg for RAPstation.com
