Distortion by Rev Run
Distortion by Rev Run featuring Rev Run on the album cover
A Rev Run solo show won’t be a string of solo hits. The man born Joseph Simmons hasn't really had any of those since the 2002 dissolution of the hip-hop trio he founded with Darryl McDaniels, Run-DMC, when their DJ, Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell, was murdered.
That isn't to say what little he has recorded isn't passionately delivered in the in the kind of curse-free, old-school cadences by which Run-DMC achieved groundbreaking success for their artform from the mid-1980's to the middle of the '90s. And it shouldn't surprise attendees of his Big Backyard headlining slot were he to pull out one or two of those tracks; they are quite good. Instead, somewhat akin to one of Ringo Starr's gigs with his All-Starr Band, seeing Rev Run in 2026 would take in whatever a legend wants to offer.
Unlike Ringo, Run hasn't made himself a prolific touring artist. His Summerfest date is one of two scheduled for this year. Nor is there any evidence that the Rev will surround himself with other well-known talents, as Starr has done with his All-Starrs. The most recent Run solo date the to be found on the web is his brief spot during a 2021 Las Vegas Raiders football game; not unlike the late Biz Markie, Run encourages the crowd to sing along to random rock records his DJ plated and rapped a few bars of Run-DMC hits in medley form.
Should Run don his clerical garb—his current stage name and apparel resultant from his early ‘00s ordination via New York City's Zoe Ministries Church—that should be a resplendently satiny sight in itself. From there, however, it's probably anyone's guess as to what will transpire under Rev Run's Big Backyard hip-hop ministry. At least a legend will be presiding.
