Our Pick
Posted on @rawstates
Hollis, where Run-DMC and LL Cool J grew up
1983
Hollis, Queens, New York
CaptJayRuffins · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Hollis is a quiet grid of single family houses that produced an unreasonable share of American rap. Run-DMC formed here in 1983 around Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels and Jason Mizell, and they were the group that dragged rock guitars, Adidas and the suburbs into hip hop. James Todd Smith, who took the name LL Cool J, grew up on 203rd Street a few blocks away. Part of Hollis Avenue was renamed Run-DMC JMJ Way in 2009, after Mizell was murdered in a Jamaica studio in 2002.
That was 1 of the hidden places.
Location: approximate area
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