Down with the King was the second and final single from Run-D.M.C.

Run-D.M.C.

Run–D.M.C. was an American hip hop group from Hollis, in the Queens borough of New York City. Founded by Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, and Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell, the group is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential acts in the history of hip hop culture.Run–D.M.C...

's sixth studio album Down with the King

Down with the King (album)

Down with the King the sixth album by hip hop group Run–D.M.C.. This album was generally received more favorably by fans and critics than the group's previous album, Back From Hell.-Track listing:# "Down With The King"...

. It featured Pete Rock & CL Smooth

Pete Rock & CL Smooth

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth are a hip-hop duo from Mount Vernon, New York. They made their debut with their 1991 EP, All Souled Out and followed with 1992's Mecca and the Soul Brother LP.-The Golden Age :...

 with Pete Rock

Pete Rock

Peter Phillips , better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth...

 producing the song.

After three unsuccessful singles from the groups previous album, "Down with the King" became Run-D.M.C.'s second biggest hit after "Walk This Way

Walk This Way

"Walk This Way" is a song by American hard rock group Aerosmith. Written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the song was originally released as the second single from the 1975 album Toys in the Attic. It peaked at Number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1977, part of a string of successful hit...

", peaking at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 and becoming their only single to reach the top spot on Hot Rap Singles chart.

The music video, which was directed by Marcus Raboy

Marcus Raboy

Marcus Raboy is an American film and music video director.Since the early 1990s, Raboy has amassed a large number music video credits directing music videos for Mary J...

, received heavy airplay and featured cameos from Eazy-E

Eazy-E

Eric Lynn Wright , better known by his stage name Eazy-E, was an American rapper who performed solo and in the hip hop group N.W.A. Wright was born to Richard and Kathie Wright in Compton, California...

, Redman, Kris Kross

Kris Kross

Kris Kross was an American rap duo of the 1990s comprising Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly and Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith. The duo are best known for their hit 1992 song "Jump", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks and was certified double platinum as a single...

, Jermaine Dupri

Jermaine Dupri

Jermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...

, Onyx, Salt-n-Pepa

Salt-N-Pepa

Salt-N-Pepa is an American hip hop trio from Queens and Brooklyn, New York, that was formed in 1985. The group, consisting of Cheryl "Salt" Renee James, Sandra "Pepa" Denton, and Deidra "DJ Spinderella" Roper, was one of the first all-female rap crews....

, KRS-One

KRS-One

Lawrence Krisna Parker , better known by his stage names KRS-One , and Teacha, is an American rapper...

, EPMD

EPMD

EPMD is an American hip hop group from Brentwood, New York. The group's name is a concatenation of the members' name "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referencing its members, emcees Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith...

, A Tribe Called Quest

A Tribe Called Quest

A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985, and is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip , rapper Phife Dawg , and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 2006...

, Kid Capri

Kid Capri

David Anthony Love, Jr , also known by his stage name Kid Capri, is an American musician.He was born in the Bronx, New York City, New York, USA....

, Das EFX

Das EFX

Das EFX is an American hip hop duo. It consists of emcees Skoob and Dray...

, P.M. Dawn and Naughty by Nature

Naughty by Nature

Naughty by Nature are a Grammy Award-winning American hip hop trio from East Orange, New Jersey that at the time of its formation in 1989 consisted of Treach, Vin Rock, and the DJ Kay Gee...

. The song contains samples of Galt MacDermot

Galt MacDermot

Galt MacDermot is a Canadian composer, pianist and writer of musical theatre. He won a Grammy Award for the song African Waltz in 1960. His most successful musicals have been Hair and Two Gentlemen of Verona...

's "Where Do I Go" from the original Broadway cast recording

Hair (Original Broadway Cast Recording)

Hair is a 1968 cast recording of the musical Hair on the RCA label. Sarah Erlewine, for Allmusic, wrote: "The music is heartening and invigorating, including the classics "Aquarius," "Good Morning Starshine," "Let the Sunshine In," "Frank Mills" , and "Easy to Be Hard." The joy that has been...

 of the rock musical Hair

Hair (musical)

Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...

and the group's 1988 single Run's House

Run's House (song)

"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 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...

. "Down with the King" was certified Gold by the RIAA

Recording Industry Association of America

The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

on May 11, 1993.

Charts

Chart (1993)	Peak position
Billboard Hot 100	21
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	9
Billboard Hot Rap Singles	1
Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales	12
Billboard Rhythmic Top 40	33