Showcasing their evolving style, this innovative album boasted invited guests, including reggae star Mad Cobra and Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello. The album features guest appearances from rappers Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Q-Tip, EPMD and Onyx. Down with the King was generally received more favorably by fans and critics than the group's previous album, Back from Hell.
Thanks to the title track, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA after only two months, July 20, 1993. Down with the King peaked at number 7 on the US Billboard 200, and number 1 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart.
The album features three Billboard singles: "Down with the King", "Ooh, Whatcha Gonna Do" and "Can I Get It, Yo". The title track also hit the UK Singles Chart.[1]
The album was reissued by Arista Records in 1999 and 2003.
Background
With the release of the new album, Run-D.M.C. created a new look: All black Walker Wear outfits, black Timberlands and bald heads. DMC replaced traditional glasses with contact lenses and began to wear around his neck a large black wooden cross. Run started wearing sunglasses. Jay began to wear a designer ski hat by April Walker to cover his own bald head.[2]
The album was recorded and mixed at 9 studios in New York City and at 1 studio in Atlanta ("Can I Get A Witness").
The album received positive reviews. Jason Lymangrover from AllMusic said "The new sound is decidedly more fashionable, and their fedoras and Adidas are abandoned here for bald heads and baggy black hoodies to match their new gangsta musical direction; which takes an obvious cue from Onyx (signed to Jam Master Jay's label), whose "Slam" was a platinum hit earlier in 1993."[14]
Rolling Stone gave Down with the King three and a half stars out of five, saying "...straight-faced and ultraconfident, funky and forthright...[the album has] the same infectious enthusiasm and the same in-your-face attitude as Run-DMC's raw earlier classics..."[15]
Entertainment Weekly gave the album "B", saying "...they still manage to sound young, lean, and hungry after 10 years in the rap game...."[16]
On "In the House", Run and DMC rap references to their old hits, including "My Adidas", while the rock guitar-powered "Big Willie" makes one long for the power chords and tag-team shouts of 1985's classic cut "King of Rock". But looking forward and taking a cue from Naughty by Nature, Run often raps in a style and speed similar to that group's Treach, with DMC joining him to shout the choruses of "Come On Everybody" and "Can I Get It, Yo", something young hip-hoppers from Das EFX to Fu-Schnickens are doing. And the tempo and chorus of "3 in the Head" make it a dead ringer for the Cypress Hill song "Hand on the Pump". Be it mimicry or tribute to the current hip-hop styles, "Down With the King" boasts expert production, and its consistently up-tempo pace makes it the perfect soundtrack for summer parties".[17]
