Set is limited to 2,000 copies worldwide

Thirty years ago on May 4, 1993, Run DMC made one of the greatest comebacks in hip hop history with the release of their sixth studio album Down With The King. This August, Get On Down presents the album as a limited edition double color vinyl for its 30th anniversary pressing, marking the first time it’s been available on vinyl since its original release. Limited to 2,000 copies, the vinyl includes a numbered OBI strip in a gatefold jacket limited. A limited edition colored seven-inch vinyl in a picture sleeve of “Down With The King” b/w “Come On Everybody” will also be available separately or as a bundle.

Coming off an amazing four-album run ending with the Platinum album Tougher Than Leather (which turned 35 on May 17th), Run DMC released their fifth studio album Back From Hell in 1990 to lackluster sales. Did Run-DMC fall off? Did the emergence of gangsta rap push them off to the side? For those old enough to remember, it was sad to see your hip hop heroes take a fall. Then in 1991, a 12-inch remix came out for the single “Back From Hell” featuring Chuck D and Ice Cube and fans took notice.

It would be two more years before anyone would hear from Run DMC again. In March of 1993, a new single and video “Down With The King” debuted on Yo! MTV Raps featuring the new hip hop gods Pete Rock and CL Smooth paying homage to The Kings calling back verses from Sucker MCs over a dope signature Pete Rock beat. Were they back? It seemed so, the video would be in constant rotation on Ralph McDaniels Video Music Box, YO!, BET’s Rap City and before the internet, you could find a TV station called The Juke Box Network by fine-tuning your antenna and dialing up a 976 or 1-900 number to play the video on demand. Fans watched it over and over to catch all the cameos, everyone from Eazy-E to the Native Tongues Family of De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest made an appearance in the video.

The anticipation was building, but would the album live up to the lead single that knocked it out of the park? On May 4, 1993, the album dropped on CD, cassette, and vinyl. Run DMC enlisted The Bomb Squad from Public Enemy, Q-Tip, EPMD, Jermaine Dupri, Kay Gee of Naughty By Nature, and Pete Rock to produce the album with a special appearance by Tom Morello rocking out his guitar emulating DJ scratches he made famous with Rage Against The Machine. Run DMC ditched their Adidas for Timberlands, DMC got rid of his signature glasses, Jam Master Jay rocked a ski hat, Run sported sunglasses, and all three were decked out head to toe in black. Their rhyming was as enthusiastic and powerful as they were on their debut album from 10 years prior. Run DMC, the self-proclaimed Kings of Rock and original Kings of Hip Hop were indeed back. The album debuted at No. 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts and No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and would go Gold selling over 500,000 copies within two months of its release.

A1. Down With The King feat Pete Rock & CL Smooth
A2. Come On Everybody feat Q-Tip
A3. Can I Get It, Yo feat EPMD
B1. Hit ‘Em Hard
B2. To The Maker
B3. 3 In The Head
B4. Ooh, Whatcha Gonna Do
C1. Big Willie feat Tom Morello
C2. Three Little Indians
C3. In The House
D1. Can I Get A Witness
D2. Get Open feat Onyx
D3. What’s Next feat Mad Cobra
D4. Wreck Shop
D5. For 10 Years