Tougher Than Leather - Run-D.M.C.
Tougher Than Leather

Tougher Than Leather, the fourth album by the American hip hop group Run-D.M.C., was released on May 15th, 1988. Although the album didn’t succeed in gaining as much worldwide recognition as their previous album, Raising Hell, it still attained Platinum status from the RIAA and had 2 hit singles, “Run’s House” and “Mary, Mary”. Even though at it’s release Tougher Than Leather was met with an overall lukewarm reception, it is now considered an underrated classic by many. The group took note of what other rap groups were doing in the rap game at that point in time (specifically Public Enemy’s It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, Eric B and Rakim’s Paid In Full, and Boogie Down Productions By All Means Necessary*), and incorporated it into their style. They had Jam Master Jay use more samples in their songs, and techniques such as alliteration, internal rhyme, and polysyllabic rhyming. The group also integrated some storytelling techniques into their sound, most definitely recognizable in “Ragtime”. However, they didn’t abandon of fusing Rock N' Roll Guitar Riffs with Rap, as seen in “Miss Elaine”, “Soul To Rock And Roll”, and “Mary, Mary”. They also dabbled in the funk genre of music, most prominently displayed on “Papa Crazy” (Inspired by “Papa Was A Rolling Stone by the Temptations).
Distribution of songs on Tougher Than Leather by producer
Songs