Rick Rubin always loved Run DMC. In 1986, he landed his “dream” job

In 1986, producer Rick Rubin fulfilled his ambition to work with his favourite group, Run DMC, when he and Russell Simmons produced the trio’s third album, *Raising Hell*. The album helped establish the group’s place in hip-hop history, and its collaboration with Aerosmith on ‘Walk This Way’ helped bring rap and rock to a wider audience.

Rubin had met Simmons through New York’s hip-hop scene and built Def Jam with him, working with artists including Run DMC, Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys. ‘Walk This Way’ was added after the album was otherwise finished: Rubin felt something was missing and chose a familiar Aerosmith song that could work like a rap track. The article presents the decision as an example of Rubin’s instinctive approach, focused on taste and culture rather than technical knowledge.