Monday, October 5, 2020

The Official Music of the OSR is Run-DMC

Seriously. It is. 

Like Old-School D&D was a pioneer of gaming,  Run-DMC was a pioneer of old-school rap and hip hop.  Many hip-hop groups cite Run-DMC as their primary influence and for many of us Run-DMC was out first exposure to the wider world of rap and hip-hop.  Could there have been a Public Enemy without Run-DMC? Wu-Tang Clan? NWA? Snoop-Dogg? Outkast? Salt-n-Peppa, De La Soul? Cypress Hill? US3? Digable Planets? TLC? (damn, I still love TLC).

We owe it all to Run-DMC.



Silly?  Yeah, a little. But my love of Run-DMC is pure and true. And yeah I know all the words to these songs. 

But making a claim, any claim, about the OSR is pointless.  While there are trends, there are no main drivers here. No one setting policy or dictating terms save for collective memory of a time when you could turn on your radio and hear "It's Tricky."

Consequently, the claim that OSR is conservative only track because the OSR is as has been often pointed out, full of old fucks.

I am pretty far left and get more liberal and more left and more blue with each passing year. 

I shouldn't need to say this, but here it is.

Like THAC0 BLOG and The Elf Game, I don't just reject Nazis and White Supremacists, I utterly reject them and condemn them, and they are not welcome in any part of the games I play, write or enjoy.  They can take their orange shitgibbon Trump with them. 

Oh. 

And Black Lives Matter. 

And fuck Trump.

Don't like it? Get the fuck out of the OSR.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

That's beautiful, man!

Ryan Marsh said...

Hell Yes

Ryan Marsh said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ruprecht said...

Everyone I knew that played D&D back in the day listened to metal.

Khovin said...

I never listened to them back in the day, but I will give them a go. I think I spent most of my gaming experience listening to Dio and different members of the Jackson Family.

John Higgins said...

A much-appreciated and worthy sentiment.

But you can't mention the official OSR soundtrack without also nodding to Zeppelin. "Stairway" and especially "Ramble On" have to be in there somewhere.

Whoever mentioned Dio definitely had the right of it too. Dio and Kansans.

Venger Satanis said...

Are you saying I'm a nazi because I'm more conservative than liberal and support President Trump?

Timothy S. Brannan said...

Nope. I never said you were a Nazi either. Nor, to my knowledge have you ever identified yourself as one. Or as a white supremacist either. In fact, most of what I know of your politics are you are right of center, and if you can make a political post to get some clicks and eyeballs, then you will do that. Your political party is the "Venger Sattanis Party."

I did say "I don't just reject Nazis and White Supremacists, I utterly reject them and condemn them, and they are not welcome in any part of the games I play, write or enjoy."
Something Trump, when pressed, didn't have the courage to say.

Venger Satanis said...

First, Trump did condemn them, totally, I might add, and multiple times.

Second, I'm glad you don't consider myself or a large swathe of the OSR actual nazis. There are other bloggers and "OSR" people on twitter who are conflating the two. That's why I asked for clarification.

Third, will I run for the highest office in the land? Maybe in 2024, yeah...

Timothy S. Brannan said...

Well. You would not be the strangest candidate coming out of Wisconsin.