"Run's House" is a single released by Run–D.M.C. from their fourth studio album '' Tougher Than Leather''. It was released in 1988 through

Profile Records Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records. History In 1980, Cory Robbins, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label ...

and was produced and written by the group and Davy D. "Run's House" was the highest-charting single from the album, making it to number ten on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart. The track was later used as the theme song for Run's show '' Run's House'' and was sampled by the group for their hit single, " Down with the King". The premise of the song is that no matter who is performing at a concert or wherever they go, Run-DMC owns the "house" and always heads the bill. Run makes references to the trio's influence on hip-hop with the lines "They said rap was crap/But never had this band" and "'Til the ruler came, with a cooler name/Made ya dance and prance and draw the fans insane." A music video for "Run's House" was filmed in New York City, showcasing the group performing in spots such as the Apollo Theater to a sea of fans.

Track listing

12"

A-Side #Run's House - 3:43 #Beats to the Rhyme - 2:43 B-Side #Run's House (Instrumental) - 3:49 #Beats to the Rhyme (Instrumental) - 2:43

CD-single

# Run's House (Vocal) 3:44 # Beats To The Rhyme (Vocal) 2:41 # It's Tricky (Club Mix) 7:19 (Remix by

Shep Pettibone Robert "Shep" Pettibone (born 10 July 1959) is an American record producer, remixer, songwriter and club DJ, one of the most prolific of the 1980s. Career Shep Pettibone surfaced after his work with Arthur Baker on Afrika Bambaataa & the Jazz ...

) # Run's House (Instrumental) 3:46

7"

A-Side #"Run's House" - 3:27; There is a variant of the 7" that cuts the song at 3:21 B-Side #Beats to the Rhyme" - 2:43

Samples

"Run's House" was sampled by

Royce da 5'9" Ryan Daniel Montgomery (born July 5, 1977), known professionally as Royce da 5'9" (or simply Royce 5'9"), is an American rapper. Best known for his association with fellow Detroit rapper Eminem, they became acquainted in 1997 and formed the hi ...

in his song " I'm the King" The song's intro is used as instrumental for the "BET Cyphers" that are performed by different artist with different lyrics every year since 2006 on the

BET Awards The BET Awards are an American award show that was established in 2001 by the BET, Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate Black person, Black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which ...

. The song has been sampled by Monica in her song " Gone Be Fine" featuring

OutKast Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest an ...

from her 1998 album '' The Boy is Mine''.

In popular culture

The hook of the song ("Whose house?/Run's House") is quoted by Loki (

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon ( ; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received va ...

) in the

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. He came to prominence with the low-budget buddy comedy film ''Clerks (film), Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co-produced, and acted i ...

film ''

Dogma Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, or Islam ...

''. The song is also featured in Smith's film ''

Chasing Amy ''Chasing Amy'' is a 1997 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams and Jason Lee. The third film in Smith's View Askewniverse series, the film is about a male comic a ...

''. The hook has also been adapted into the catchphrase of American professional wrestler Swerve Strickland, who presents a

call and response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

to the crowd: When he asks "Whose house?", the audience responds with "Swerve's house". The Los Angeles Rams also use a variation of the same phrase for their home games, the PA announcer will yell "Whose House?" and the fans will respond "Rams House!"

References

{{Authority control 1988 singles Run-DMC songs Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin 1988 songs Songs written by Darryl McDaniels Songs written by Joseph Simmons Profile Records singles