Run This: Why We Love Rev Run

Happy birthday, Rev Run!

Run This: Why We Love Rev Run - Happy birthday, Rev Run! The rap pioneer, reality show star, reverend and devoted husband and father turns 48 today, Nov. 14. And though we don't have any wrapping paper or a cake with candles, we're still giving him a token of our appreciation in the pages ahead. Why? Because we love Rev. Run. Click on to let us count the ways.  (Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

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Run This: Why We Love Rev Run - Happy birthday, Rev Run! The rap pioneer, reality show star, reverend and devoted husband and father turns 48 today, Nov. 14. And though we don't have any wrapping paper or a cake with candles, we're still giving him a token of our appreciation in the pages ahead. Why? Because we love Rev. Run. Click on to let us count the ways.  (Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

The Rise of Hip Hop - Hip hop takes its first solid steps in the early 1980s, paving the way for the culture to spread across the globe and to become a multi-billion dollar industry that has more influence on the world at-large than any other cultural movement created by Blacks in modern history. (Photo: Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect)

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Run DMC Just Might Be the Best Rap Group of All Time - Classic after classic, from "Peter Piper" to "Sucker MCs" to "Run's House," Run DMC's legacy speaks for itself.  (Photo: Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect)

Run-DMC's Shell-Toe Adidas - A hip hop classic that made history: Adidas were the shoes of choice for old-school pioneers Run-DMC, and they spread the gospel with their classic "My Adidas," which helped make the brand a streetwear staple worldwide and landed the group one of hip hop's first endorsement deals.  (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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They're Definitely the Most Influential - OK, so maybe OutKast is better. But no rap group is as influential as Run DMC. With their banging production, hard-core rhyme styles, street fashion sense and, most of all, their glass-wall-shattering crossover success, they took rap from old school to new, and laid a blueprint that rappers are still following today.   (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

He Drops Jewels - Rev. Run inspires and enlightens with his daily Words of Wisdom, which inspire thousands via email and Twitter. Too bad he doesn't read them from a bathtub anymore, though.  (Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz)

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He Drops Jewels - Rev. Run inspires and enlightens with his daily Words of Wisdom, which inspire thousands via email and Twitter. Too bad he doesn't read them from a bathtub anymore, though.  (Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz)

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He's a Family Man - No one in hip hop has ever put as much emphasis on family as Rev. Run, with his MTV reality series Run's House and its spinoffs.(Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images)

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He's the Godfather of Mash-ups - Rev. Run helped break down boundaries with Run DMC's 1986 smash "Walk This Way," which featured Aerosmith and re-upped their hit of the same name. Nowadays genre-bending is nothing new, but back then it was a game changer. The song basically birthed the sub-genre of rap-rock, producing acts like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machine. (Photo: Arista Records)

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He's the Godfather of Mash-ups - Rev. Run helped break down boundaries with Run DMC's 1986 smash "Walk This Way," which featured Aerosmith and re-upped their hit of the same name. Nowadays genre-bending is nothing new, but back then it was a game changer. The song basically birthed the sub-genre of rap-rock, producing acts like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machine. (Photo: Arista Records)

He Pioneered Hip Hop Endorsement Deals - Run DMC landed rap's first endorsement deal when their manager, Russell Simmons, took Adidas executives to a show. They performed "My Adidas" in front of thousands of screaming fans, and the rest is history. Rick Ross, 50 Cent, Jay-Z and other endorsement-happy rappers are no doubt grateful (not to mention rich). (Photo: Drew Gurian/Invision/AP)

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He Pioneered Hip Hop Endorsement Deals - Run DMC landed rap's first endorsement deal when their manager, Russell Simmons, took Adidas executives to a show. They performed "My Adidas" in front of thousands of screaming fans, and the rest is history. Rick Ross, 50 Cent, Jay-Z and other endorsement-happy rappers are no doubt grateful (not to mention rich). (Photo: Drew Gurian/Invision/AP)

He's Passing the Torch - Rev. Run and Diggy have gotta be the best father-son rappers of all time. Diggy is just getting started, but his talent and potential are undeniable. Run's catalog, meanwhile, needs no introduction. (Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

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He's Passing the Torch - Rev. Run and Diggy have gotta be the best father-son rappers of all time. Diggy is just getting started, but his talent and potential are undeniable. Run's catalog, meanwhile, needs no introduction. (Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

Vanessa and Angela - Even with Diggy's steadily improving rhyme skills, we gotta go with Angela and Vanessa as our favorite young Simmonses. With their looks, their style and their hustle (they've already launched a sneaker line, a website and more), it's no wonder half of hip hop has a crush on them. Good job, Run! (Photo: Johnny Nunez/Wire Image)

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Vanessa and Angela - Even with Diggy's steadily improving rhyme skills, we gotta go with Angela and Vanessa as our favorite young Simmonses. With their looks, their style and their hustle (they've already launched a sneaker line, a website and more), it's no wonder half of hip hop has a crush on them. Good job, Run! (Photo: Johnny Nunez/Wire Image)

Rev. Run on raising boys and girls: - "For boys you want to teach them how to treat a lady, how to play football, how to handle themselves in the street. With a girl, it's another whole animal."(Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images)

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His Reality Show Was Really...Real - Unlike other reality shows, Run's House wasn't all shallow drama, bad behavior and negativity.

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He Keeps the Faith - Run, who's ordained as a Pentecostal minister and proudly wears the cloth in the public eye, made it cool to mix rap and spirituality. Amen. (Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

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He Keeps the Faith - Run, who's ordained as a Pentecostal minister and proudly wears the cloth in the public eye, made it cool to mix rap and spirituality. Amen. (Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

He's Still Doing It - Rap don't crack. Even though he's pushing 50, Rev. Run reunited with his old band-mate DMC to perform at Jay-Z's massive Made in America Festival this summer. It was their first performance since Jam Master Jay was murdered in 2002.  (Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

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He's Still Doing It - Rap don't crack. Even though he's pushing 50, Rev. Run reunited with his old band-mate DMC to perform at Jay-Z's massive Made in America Festival this summer. It was their first performance since Jam Master Jay was murdered in 2002.  (Photo: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)