The year is 1978. All over America kids are watching Dance Fever, Michael Jackson is poised to become the next major pop star, and in Hollis, Queens, 14-year-old Darryl McDaniels--who will one day go by the name D.M.C.--busts his first rhyme. Darryl's friend Joseph Simmons--now known as Reverend Run--thinks Darryl's rhyme is pretty good, and he becomes inspired. Soon the two join forces with a DJ--Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell--and form Run-D.M.C. Managed by Run's brother, the trio become the defiant creators of the world's most celebrated and enduring hip-hop albums--and in the process, drag rap music from urban streets into the corporate boardroom, profoundly changing everything about popular culture and American race relations. Journalist Ro delivers a meticulously researched behind-the-music tale of family, friendship, betrayal, murder, and the building of the culture and industry known as hip-hop.--From publisher description.