They Wanted to Be Called the “Dynamic Two” or the “Treacherous Two”
Run and DMC recruited an already successful local DJ to spin the turntables for their new act. But in those days, Jason Mizzel, aka Jam Master Jay, was known as Jazzy Jase. Run’s brother, Russel, became their manager, and, thus, Run-D.M.C. was born. (Russell Simmons, as you may already know, was the pioneering hip hop promoter and founder of Def Jam Records.)
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In the beginning, the trio wanted to be known as the Treacherous Two. Apparently, they didn’t like the name Run-D.M.C. “We wanted to be the Dynamic Two or the Treacherous Two – when we heard that s**t we was like, ‘We’re gonna be ruined!’,” DMC recalled.