VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Run DMC’s Darryl McDaniels On His Love For Comics

If legendary Run DMC rapper Darryl McDaniels weren’t a rapper, he’d be a teacher.

He came to this conclusion based on his love of imagination and education, two traits born out of his obsession with comic books as a young child.

uInterview founder Erik Meers recently caught up with McDaniels at an event at SXSW in Austin, Texas, to discuss how comic books shaped his life.

“Before Rock n’ Roll, before 70s rock radio, before hip-hop came over the bridge from the Bronx, all I did as a little kid was read, collect and draw comic books and the reason why is I went to Catholic school my whole life. I wore glasses, I was a straight-A kid always on the honor roll. I was this geeky, nerdy kid and the only time I saw smart, educated, awkward, clumsy people that were super bad was in the comic books,” the legendary rapper said. “I related to Clark Kent, I related to Tony Stark, I related to Reed Richards, I related to Peter Parker who was from Queens like me, but he was Spiderman. Comics were my first love. Comics were the first thing that I connected to in this universe. That being said, when hip-hop came along, it allowed me to actually become a superhero on the microphone.”

Now, McDaniels has published some comics of his own, “not as another way to make money, not as ‘Oh this celebrity DMC is doing comic books,’ not as a business, but as a tribute and a celebration to my first inspiration.”

Buy McDaniels’ DMC Comics on Amazon today.