's career as their first single,[1] and it is widely regarded as ushering in a new school of hip hop artists with a street image and an abrasive, minimalist sound that marked them out from their predecessors.

"[6][7] In a 47-point timeline of hip hop and its antecedents spanning 64 years, Shapiro lists this release as his 43rd point.

[7] Reviewing Toop's book in the LA Weekly, Oliver Wang of Soul Sides concurs, hailing Run-D.M.C.

's", there was a loud, Oberheim DMX drum machine, a few scratches and nothing else, while the rhymes harangued weak rappers, which the song refers to by name, and contrasted them to the group's success.

's" relied completely on synthetic sounds via an Oberheim DMX drum machine programmed by both Nathaniel S. Hardy Jr. and Terrance Balfour, ignoring samples entirely.

According to the liner notes for Together Forever: Greatest Hits 1983–1991, producer Russell Simmons said "I don't care what you say just mention Orange Krush [co-producer Larry Smith's band] and where you go to school", which they did in the lyrics.

's "who can't get down", making this the claimed first dis rap on record according to the Together Forever liner notes.

DMC, boasted of his Hollis, Queens heritage, making him a groundbreaker as a non-Bronx rapper.