Wednesday, 22 February 2012 04:46

Run stops by Carolina to spread #wordsofwisdom

Written by  Paulina Olivares
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Run stops by Carolina to spread #wordsofwisdom
It’s tricky to think of fresh ways to introduce international hip-hop legend and reformed man of God, Rev Run. Carolina Productions brought the Grammy-winning Run’s House star to campus last Thursday for a packed conversation, mediated by African American studies professor Kimberly Simmons.

Run-D.M.C., comprised of Joseph “Run” Simmons, Darryl “D.M.C” McDaniels and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell, was the first hip-hop group to achieve mainstream success, laying the groundwork for the new wave of hip-hop that emerged in the early '90s and bringing street style like chains, sneakers and ball caps to white boys all over America. In more recent years, Rev Run has helped his brother, Russell Simmons, promote his Phat Farm sneaker collection—a permanent fixture in middle school hallways—and expanded his ministry through the successful MTV showRun’s House.
G&B sat down for a brief interview with the reverend before the presentation. “Walk this way,” they told us, so we excitedly made our way into a brightly lit conference room. Run had comfortably sunk into a green armchair and languidly lifted his forearm for a handshake. His expression was more of boredom than excitement, his handshake more like the reluctant grasp of someone who just coughed into his hand than that of a reassuring minister. We approached his cool demeanor with collegiate enthusiasm and delved straight into it.

Q: Welcome to Columbia! What’s it like to be at USC?

A: The energy of college is like none other. Everyone gets excited when a celebrity or someone like that comes to speak. The sports teams. There's nothing like a college town and the restaurants that everyone meets at. It's youthful. There's nothing like going to a college. I get received well, too.

Q: What's on your bucket list?

A: Probably to sail around the world with my family. To experience the high seas and towns. I'd love to do that for a couple of months, take them to different places in Europe.

Q: What kind of boat?

A: One that can fit my family.

Q: What advice would you give to students dealing with heartbreak, exam failures or other hard times?

A: My last tweet was a retweet of LL Cool J, talking about Joseph Campbell: “There's nothing like a challenge in life to pull forth powers out of you that you didn't know you had.” That encouraged me to believe that when someone is struggling, they can pull something out of themselves that they wouldn’t have known without the struggle. That was very encouraging for me to share with my three million plus followers on Twitter.

Q: Was there a particularly challenging time in your life that helped you get to this point today?

A: All the time. The last three years, I've had lots of responsibilities so I feel like I’ve been in a major struggle.

Q: Do you have any tips for the young guys out there trying to get some swag?

A: Follow my son, Diggy. He knows it all. He’s the swagmeister. He dresses to the nines. We were barely able to tell him what diapers to wear.


And that was that. What was supposed to be a five- to seven-minute interview turned out to be no more than three. Sadly, we didn’t get to ask the deep, existential questions we’d prepared for the vocal reverend but declared the interview a success. Still on a celebrity contact high, we made our way to the ballroom to witness more wisdom. What followed teetered between an inspiring religious speech and a hypocritical train wreck. Judge for yourself in part two of this story, The Bathtub Chronicles of Reverend Run. (set to release on Thursday, 2/23/12)
Last modified on Monday, 12 March 2012 23:10
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