SONG & HIT DETAILS
Artist Name: RUN-DMC VS JASON NEVINS
Song Author: Darryl McDaniels, Joseph Simmons, Russell Simmons
Year Recorded: 1998
SONG PROFILE
“It’s like That”
Released March 1983 (Original version)
July 29, 1997 (Remix version)
Format Cassette single
Recorded 1983
“It’s like That” is a hip hop track performed by Run-D.M.C. It first appeared in 1983 on a cassette backed with the track “Sucker M.C.’s”.
The release marked the start of Run-D.M.C.’s career and is widely regarded as ushering in a new school of hip hop artists with a street image and an abrasive, minimalist sound that marked them out from their predecessors.
Both tracks were collected on the trio’s eponymous debut album in 1984.
“It’s like that” is about life in the area where the group lives (unemployment, prices, death, etc).
In 2008, it was ranked number 40 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.
Jason Nevins RemixIn 1997, a remixed version by DJ Jason Nevins was released in Europe, which topped the charts in many countries including the United Kingdom, where it stayed at the summit of the chart for six weeks and became the third biggest-selling single of 1998. Elsewhere, it also topped the chart in Australia, proving to be their only Top 5 hit there. The music video for the remix featured a male and a female breakdance crew battling each other in a breakdance battle in which the females ultimately win. Vanness Wu was also one of the boys in this music video.
This remix is notorious for breaking the Spice Girls’ run of consecutive No. 1 hits in their native United Kingdom, keeping their song “Stop” from claiming the top spot.