DMC, the king, is no different than us
Darryl McDaniels talks about the Sarah McLachlan song that kept him alive
Twelve years after kicking addiction issues fuelled by deep depression, Darryl McDaniels of pioneering rap group Run-DMC says he’s feeling “really incredible.” And he credits Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan’s music with saving his life.
On Tuesday, McDaniels released his new memoir, Ten Ways Not to Commit Suicide. He’s also working on a full-length heavy-metal album, as well as a collaboration album with acts including Canada’s Sum 41.
Like his book, the heavy-metal album due out in September “is a noholds-barred” account of the emotions of alcoholism and depression, he said in a phone interview.
“Suicidal folk, depressed people, they think they’re alone, but they don’t realize there’s a million other people just like us,” said the Queens, N.Y., native known as the Devastating Mic Controller (DMC).
“If I can put out the message that I’m DMC, the mightiest thing to ever happen to music — I am the king of rock, there is none higher, sucka MCs will call me sire to burn my kingdom, you must use fire, I won’t stop rockin’ till I retire — and I’m no different than you,” he continued, citing the lyrics to the group’s hit “King of Rock.”
“I get depressed . . . I had a substance-abuse problem. I’ve felt suicidal. And if I can represent and be an example to offer you some possibilities, examples and options, maybe you can be just like me too and not stay depressed.”
As McDaniels writes in his memoir, alcohol was his confidence-booster onstage and off in the ’80s and ’90s, as Run-DMC climbed the charts with the songs like “It’s Like That,” “Sucker M.C.’s” and “Rock Box.”
He also suffered from depression and was at his suicidal worst in 1997, when he wanted to kill himself every day while on tour in Japan.
McLachlan’s hit “Angel” was the only thing that “buoyed” him during that time.
“It was hearing her song on the radio, that hit something and said, ‘D, life could really eff up, but if this song exists in this form, it’s good to be alive,’ ” he said.
“So I just listened to that song every day for, like, a whole year.”
McDaniels, 52, met McLachlan in person at a Clive Davis Grammy party later that year. He told her: “You’re a god to me. Your music keeps me alive every day.”
“She was, like, ‘Wow, thank you for telling me that because that’s what music is supposed to do,’ ” he recalled. “So her song saved my life.”
Several years later, they recorded McDaniels’ song “Just Like Me” together at McLachlan’s home studio in Vancouver. During the session, McDaniels told McLachlan that he had just been rocked to the core with news that he was adopted.
“Before I was leaving, she stops me and says, ‘Now Darryl, there’s something I’ve got to tell you,’ and I go, ‘What?’ She goes, ‘Um, I’m adopted too,’ ” he said.
“I did not know that. Everybody who was with me just got the chills . . . Just that contact right there meant a lot to me.”
McDaniels’ book also touches on issues he faced with Run-DMC member Joseph Simmons, a.k.a. Rev. Run, and producer Russell Simmons. He said he hasn’t been close to them since the group’s DJ, Jam Master Jay, was shot dead in 2002.
While he reunites with Run for the occasional performance, he’s more focused on his own musical projects.