After signing with Profile Records, Run-DMC released their debut single "It's Like That/Sucker MCs" in late 1983. The single was well received, peaking at No. 15 on the R&B charts. The trio performed the single on the New York Hot Tracks video show in 1983.

Jam Master Jay, the DJ of the groundbreaking hip hop group Run-DMC, was fatally shot in 2002 in a case that was unsolved for nearly two decades. The music world mourned when Jam Master Jay, the pioneering DJ of the hip hop trio Run-DMC, was fatally shot in a recording studio in New York City in 2002.

On October 30, 2002, Jam Master Jay was shot and killed in a recording studio in Queens, New York. His death was a devastating blow to the group, as he was not only their DJ but also their friend and mentor. In the wake of his death, Run-DMC decided to disband, and they have not performed together since.

Run DMC: "Don't try to diss me" Slang, being subversive to its very core, doesn't have much time for rules but like all language it has to accept one - words are always older than you think.