King of Rock

Recorded in 1984 at Greene Street Recording and produced again by Russell Simmons and Larry Smith. It was the first rap album released on CD and the third to be certified Platinum, after a Gold certification on 3 June 1985 and Platinum on 18 February 1987. It peaked at 52 on the Billboard 200 and 12 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. Its four singles were King of Rock, You Talk Too Much, Jam-Master Jammin' and Can You Rock It Like This, the last written by a 16-year-old LL Cool J. Roots, Rap, Reggae features Yellowman and was one of the first rap and dancehall hybrids.

The title came from Corey Robbins, a co-owner of Profile, who said it was outrageous that rappers would call themselves kings of rock. DMC later said the rock-rap sound was Larry Smith's vision and that he and Run had been against the guitar. A demo from the sessions, Slow and Low, was recorded by the Beastie Boys for Licensed to Ill (1986), and the group's own version came out on the 2005 deluxe edition. In the title song's video Calvert DeForest played a security guard. Christgau gave the album B plus and singled out You're Blind. Pitchfork heard a huge, stomping AC/DC riff under the title track.