European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 18, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Larry Mcshane associated press he resume is impressive rolling Stone cover participation in the Sun City and a very special Christmas Benefit records an upcoming amnesty International tour anti drug concerts frequent Community activism. So who Are we talking about sting Bruce Springsteen nah. Try run dec three homeboys from Hollis new York. I m just Happy to do everything they bring said Jam master Jay the do for the reigning Kings of rap in discussing their frequent Charity efforts. I probably Don t even hear about half the stuff we re asked to do but we do whatever we  strange words from a band that was the subject of screaming headlines last summer invariably and incorrectly predicting gang violence on their tour with the Beattie boys. Publicity got so bad that at one Point National Lampoon provided tips on How to survive a run dec  we had press hanging on poles cameras in the crowd in every City on the tour and every night they went Home disappointed nothing bad happened said Jay whose band recently released its fourth album tougher than leather. I Don t think we can put that stuff behind us for five years. It Sells Man. Nothing positive Sells. The history of the press is negative things he continued. They re All in a race to get the negative  but Jay whose real name is Jason Mizell and partners Joseph Simmons run and Darryl Mcdaniels dec insist they Are a positive act. Toward that end they have established scholarships for kids from their Hollis neighbourhood. This summer the band will have voter registration Booths at every show on their National tour. Last year when we were visiting beaten kids High school kids telling kids to stay off crack we d ask How Many y All vote and nobody s voting nobody knew nothing and the main thing is nobody s registered said Jay who run dec the reigning Kings of rap new York rappers run dec give rap music a Good name. Supported Jesse Jackson s bid for the democratic presidential nomination. Mention of Tipper Gore wife of sen. Albert Gore d-tenn., and her parents music resource Center prompts a Quick and cold response. Tipper Gore s the Type who won t say anything about the positive just the negative looking for controversy Mizell said. If i could sit Down and talk to tip i could set her  on tougher than leather there Are some lyrics which could raise Tipper s eyebrows mostly though the band s first record since 1986 s Platinum smash raising hell is aimed at reclaiming turf from up and coming rappers such As la Cool j and Kool Moe Dee. My feeling is i m very Happy about everybody s Success but i know who we Are and what we did Mizell said. We did t make up rap but we made up being hard. They other rappers just Don t know How to do some of the things we do. And the things we do that they know How to do we stomp their stuff. It s a business thing with us we re  Mizell lists Public enemy As his favorite rappers they will be touring with run dec and Jazzy Jeff & the fresh Prince this summer. The tour will take run dec around the Globe and will include appearances on this summer s amnesty International Benefit tour Mizell said. The new record features More turntable work by Mizell than raising hell he scratches More and manages to interject snatches of the monkeys the temptations and James Brown. It s new times time for a different record time for a better record said Mizell in explaining his enlarged role on the album. I listened to the last record and i did t do enough scratching on it. So this time i Cut it up real  Mizell is certain of one thing the group can and will maintain its standing at the top of the rapping Mountain. Nobody can do what i do. I got the Best pcs a positive message he summed up. It keeps coming we keep creating getting better and  it s official rap is in the mainstream by Peter Watrous new York times r a the music that began in the nation Slack Urban ghettos has entered the mainstream commercial music world in Earnest. Tougher than leather run dec s new album reached the top 10 on billboard Magazine s album Chart earlier this month. The album s Success serves As evidence of How a distinct new Black youth culture is influencing Young americans regardless of color. Rap now has a much broader audience said Steve Plotnicki vice president of profile records. The music has crossed Over to new radio formats for which run dec is responsible. White kids Are buying More and More of it. There is wider acceptance at retail it s now retailed As Well As any artists you can think of whether it s Bruce Springsteen or Prince or Madonna. Before raising hell there were some holdouts in terms of Large National accounts who did t want to Load up a Kmart with run dec. Now they re All going full blast. We be heard that some accounts have taken about As Many As they did of the Michael Jackson  raising hell run dec s previous record sold 3 million copies. When it was initially released 500,000 copies were sent to the record stores. By Way of comparison with an album by a mainstream performer Whitney Houston s second release Whitney which Rode the coattails of Whitney Houston one of the most successful debut records in history shipped at a Little Over a million copies. Until recently Many radio stations refused to play rap and Many record stores did not Stock it. Rap was considered music by and for an audience of Young Urban Blacks and thus of limited Appeal. But fuelled by such groups As run dec and by who Dini and Dana Dane it has been growing in popularity in All areas of the United states and with All manner of audiences. Rap even has its own White groups like the Beattie boys. And the music has attracted Hollywood s interest run dec s second movie tougher than leather was released to support its album. The Rock tracks on the album will attract a lot of the White audience predicted Joe Simmons the run in run dec. Rap is getting bigger everywhere. Our live shows Are More racially mixed some of them Are half and half some Are All White. It makes me feel Good to be accepted by everybody not just Blacks. It s great to go to Japan and realize that everybody listens to the  run . Daryll Mcdaniel Sand their disk jockey Jam master Jay Jason Mizellar All 23 years old and monday july 18, 1988 from Hollis new York. We represent More than just Hollis said Simmons. The music is from the Street in general. We have a certain dress code and attitude a Street attitude a socially conscious attitude a Way of looking at what s going on that s  tougher than leather is the group s fourth album. As in the rest of rap the tempos on the record Are faster than they might have been two years ago. The group is trying More sampling and scratching snippets of other records thrown in to color and texture the sound of a song. Simmons and Mcdaniels rap in unison and Trade smoking Lead vocals. There Are three Rockfish songs no endorsements raising hell had one song called my Adidas and More use of live musicians. One tune is a version of the monkeys Mary Mary another is a nod to Dana Dane. All the tracks make the record a landscape of textures where pre recorded bits of speech and Bass lines Horn and guitar figures intertwine with the group s rapping rhythms it s like a High Speed trip through an aural version of times Square. The record s about variety said Mcdaniels. We wanted to prove that All rap does t sound alike. We have everything from live piano to Rock guitar to new Orleans ragtime horns. And it s intense hard Core rap everybody was saying we d go soft so we came at them with the hardest thing  the stars and stripes Page 17