Run-DMC (Pt. 2): Loyalty, Betrayal, and Who Shot Jay

DISGRACELAND

Jake Brennan

True Crime, Music, Society & Culture

4.6 • 13.1K Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay helped take hip-hop global, but behind the decks was a man under pressure – fiercely loyal yet financially strapped, and secretly entangled in a dangerous world he couldn’t spin his way out of. So when the music industry turned cold and the bills stacked up, Jay made choices that brought the streets back to his doorstep. This is the true story behind his murder: a tangled web of old friends, bad drug deals, silence, and betrayal. And it’s part of hip-hop history that no one wanted to talk about – until now. Run DMC played a pivotal role in hip hop history, but are they the most influential hip hop group of all time? What do you think? Tell Jake at 617-906-6638, [email protected], or on socials @disgracelandpod. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at ⁠⁠⁠www.disgracelandpod.com⁠⁠⁠. To listen to Disgraceland ad free and get access to a monthly exclusive episode, weekly bonus content and more, become a Disgraceland All Access member at ⁠⁠⁠disgracelandpod.com/membership⁠⁠⁠. Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - ⁠⁠⁠GET THE NEWSLETTER⁠⁠⁠ Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠ (formerly Twitter) ⁠⁠⁠Facebook Fan Group⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠TikTok To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Double Elvis
0:05.6	So what are you watching at the moment?
0:08.9	Squid game, Dad.
0:10.1	Let's watch it together this weekend.
0:12.0	That'd be nice.
0:13.2	What's it on again?
0:14.0	Netflix.
0:14.7	You've got E.TV, so you just switch it on.
0:16.8	What season are we up to?
0:18.2	Um, four?
0:19.1	That's stranger things, Mum.
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1:07.8	Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis.
1:11.3	Hey guys, so back in 2020, we released an episode on Run DMC, all about how the iconic
1:16.9	trio took rap music to New Heights in the 1980s and introduced suburban and mainstream
1:22.1	America to a genre that had up to that point been made by and for New Yorkers.
1:27.6	We ended that episode with a brief reference to the murder of Run DMC's Jam Master
	...

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