If you like/love/hate Run DMC you must listen to this.
If you like/love/hate Sarah Mclachlan you must listen to this.
If your life has been touched in any way by adoption, you definitely must listen to this.
Rap star Darryl ‘DMC’ McDaniels from the groundbreaking rap group Run DMC tells a fascinating, hilarious and touching story about pop-rock singer/songwriter Sarah Mclachlan saving him from suicide. With a few twists and turn that are really pretty amazing.
I remember as a kid seeing the ‘Walk this Way‘ video (which at once saved, revived, and catapulted Aerosmith‘s then stalled career) countless times on MTV and marveling at the walls coming down between rock and rap. One could argue Steven Tyler actually did the first rap on their 1975 hit. It was perfect timing and utter brilliance on Run DMC’s part to recognize that song and invite Aerosmith to the party. I always respected them for that. 
But I now have a whole new level of respect for Mr. McDaniels and his hilarious and brutally honest storytelling abilities.
I uploaded NPR’s ‘The Moth’ broadcast here just in case they take it down from their site. Worth the fifteen minutes of your life, believe me.
01 Darryl _DMC_ McDaniels_ Angel
Update: Here is somewhat of an abridged transcript if you have not the time for the listen. Much better to listen though, as he tells the story so well…
An incredible story, such an unlikely combination of genres. No record company mogul would ever pair them, but it is a story of truth and how music can go beyond all boundaries – and the unlikely common threads we humans share.
“Unlikely combination of genres” indeed.
Thank you *so* much for posting this radio segment– I heard it last year and I found it so touching. When I tried to find it on PRX or the Moth website, it didn’t seem to be available anymore. It helped me feel not so alone in my own periods of depression…
Hi Cari, You’re welcome. It is a great and inspiring listen indeed! Especially for anyone touched by adoption in some way.
I’m an avid MOTH listener and I heard this one without any background knowledge. I gasped when I had that moment of “oh I know,” then sobbed on the sidewalk.
Right on Harriet.
Keith,
I heard this on the radio via “The Moth” on KPFT on the way to the dog park with a Beagle leaning on the console, sunny, warm day and feeling miserable about how my life is going.
When was Darryl’s speech recorded? 2006? This is a question I find interesting because it’s seven years later and I just heard it. I don’t know how it could have caught be at a better time.
Not sure when it was recorded…
I actually heard this for the first time yesterday morning.
I too spent a year listening to Sarah’s Angel album almost exclusively after a rough divorce while wallowing in pity and guilt at my own poor choices. Years later I remarried, began fostering kids, and ended up adopting five Black and Hispanic children. Many thanks to Sarah for creating something so impactful, and to both Sarah and Darryl for creating something to help kids affected by the foster care system deal with the emotional turmoil created by neglect, abuse, unstable homes and adoption.
Darryl also talked about his depression on The SDR Show
Here is a link for those that are interested http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/f/4/b/f4b2e9af9038951a/SDR-6115-DMC-Legend.mp3?c_id=9413221&expiration=1452797869&hwt=046475a78655b7e000c6805d31bcd95a