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Run-DMC
Run-DMC
American hip hop group
1
Whodini
Whodini
American hip-hop group
2
The Fat Boys
The Fat Boys
American hip hop trio
3
Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri
American record producer, rapper, record executive and DJ from Georgia
4
Darryl McDaniels
Darryl McDaniels
American rapper
5
Spyder-D
Spyder-D
American rapper
6
LL Cool J
LL Cool J
American rapper, record producer, and actor
7
Kurtis Blow
Kurtis Blow
American rapper
8
Chyskillz
Chyskillz
American record producer, beatmaker, DJ, rapper
9
Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin
American music producer
10
Rakim
Rakim
American rapper and producer
11
Eric B. & Rakim
Eric B. & Rakim
American hip hop duo
12
Public Enemy
Public Enemy
American hip hop group
13
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
American hip-hop group
14
Diggy "Busy Boy" Simmons
Diggy "Busy Boy" Simmons
American rapper
15
DJ Hurricane
DJ Hurricane
American rapper and DJ
16
Joseph Simmons
Joseph Simmons
rapper, minister, and reality television star
17
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
American hip-hop group
18
B.o.B
B.o.B
American rapper, record producer, and conspiracy theorist
19
Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz
Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz
American Hip Hop group
20
Chuck D
Chuck D
American rapper and producer
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Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur
American rapper (1971–1996)
22
Kris Kross
Kris Kross
American hip hop duo
23
EPMD
EPMD
American hip-hop group
24
Luther Campbell
Luther Campbell
American rapper
25
Lil' Kim
Lil' Kim
American rapper, actress and model from New York
Larry Smith
American musician and record producer (1952-2014)

Larry Smith

Intro
American musician and record producer (1952-2014)
Genres
For the member of Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, see Larry Smith (musician)

Lawrence Smith (June 11, 1952 – December 19, 2014) was a pioneering American musician and hip hop record producer. He is best known for his co-productions (with Russell Simmons) of Run-DMC's Run-D.M.C. (1984) and King of Rock (1985) and his solo production of Whodini's Escape (1984) and Back in Black (1986).

It is a measure of Smith's creative range that he could work simultaneously with the decidedly dissimilar Run-D.M.C. and Whodini. The former was rock-oriented, the latter leaned toward R&B—or as the critic Tom Terrell suggested, "Smith envisioned Whodini as the luxe Cadillac Seville to Run-D.M.C.'s Electra 225 hooptie."

Smith's work has engendered not just critical esteem, but popular success. In the month ending February 23, 1985, both Run-D.M.C. and Escape were certified gold by the RIAA, as was the Fat Boys' eponymous debut album, on which Smith played bass and helped to compose the hit single "Jail House Rap." These were among the first hip hop albums to be certified for Gold-level sales by the Recording Industry Association of America.

In 1987 Whodini's John "Ecstacy" Fletcher described Smith as "the Quincy Jones of rap." In 2010 Run-DMC's Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels claimed, "Larry Smith's musical arsenal equals Dr. Dre's." In 2009, the producer DJ Premier placed Smith first on his list of Top-5 Dead or Alive Producers, ahead of Marley Marl, Kurtis Mantronik, James Brown, and Rick Rubin.