The rhythmic scratching of a turntable might have been absent, but the energy inside Paper Plane Coffee Co. was undeniably hip hop Christmas this week. Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, the legendary co-founder of the seminal rap group Run-DMC and a true pioneer of the genre, touched down in Montclair for a special event that proved his mission of inspiration is far from over.
A Local Legend in the Neighborhood
While many icons of his stature remain distant, McDaniels is anything byt. During our conversation, he revealed that he is in Montclair “religiously,” despite living in Boonton. “I come to Montclair daily,” McDaniels told The Montclair Pod. “I work at Sound on Sound Studios, which is right down the block… I go to Whole Foods… We shop here, we eat here.”
He even gave a spirited shout-out to a local favorite, Tacoria. “I love getting the bowl with just the meat and the rice and the black beans and cheese. Phenomenal.” This local connection served as the perfect backdrop for his latest creative venture: a collaboration that is as much about community as it is about caffeine.
More Than Just a Name on a Bag
The event served as the official launch of a unique partnership between McDaniels and Paper Plane founder Jonathan Echeverry. For DMC, this wasn’t just another celebrity brand deal. He was deeply impressed by Echeverry’s commitment to the craft of coffee.
“Jonathan, he went out his way to accommodate me ’cause he didn’t just want to do ‘Oh DMC got his name on coffee,'” McDaniels explained. “He did a DMC blend, which is Dominican, Mexican, and Colombian coffee blend and it’s phenomenal.”
McDaniels drew a parallel between the coffee blend and his own musical history, noting that Echeverry’s passion for the beans mirrored the passion he, Jam Master Jay and Rev Run had for their records. “But he’s thinking deeper and he’s passionate. He said, if you’re gonna do a coffee with DMC, we are gonna do a collaboration.”
From the Stage to the Page
The heart of the afternoon was a live reading of McDaniels’ second children’s book, Darryl’s Christmas in Hollis. The book follows his debut, Darryl’s Dream, which dealt with self-confidence and overcoming the hurdles of being a “geeky, nerdy kid” who read comic books and got straight A’s.
McDaniels admitted that he initially resisted becoming an author. “I didn’t wanna do books at first, wasn’t my idea,” he confessed. It was only after a third year of speaking at an elementary school in Brooklyn that educators convinced him. They told him, “Darryl, you can do with a book the same thing you’ve done with your music all these years… Inspire, motivate, and educate while you are entertained.”
The new book uses the backdrop of his famous holiday anthem to tell a story about a young Darryl who breaks his glasses and receives “cultural frames” from his optometrist. When he looks in the mirror, those magical glasses transport him into the lives of his neighbors, allowing him to experience Hanukkah, Diwali, Kwanzaa, and Las Posadas.
“That mirror had taught him an incredible lesson,” McDaniels read to the captivated crowd. “Every cultural tradition it had shown him was rooted in the same values his own family, family celebrated at, at Christmas time. Love, family, and of course, delicious food.”
The Philosophy of the “Three Cs”
Beyond the story, McDaniels delivered a powerful talk on life and activism. He spoke about the “Three Cs” that he believes can save the world: Conversation, Cooperation, and Collaboration.
- Conversation: “It starts with this, what we did here today, conversation. Who are you? Where I’m from? That’s how we started in hip hop.”
- Cooperation: “The world starts with con conversation… and then it starts with cooperation. We all can cooperate. This place is a perfect example of cooperation. Different people from all walks of life, all nations and race, creeds and color. We all gotta come here to get some coffee.”
- Collaboration: “Now that we know who you are, what you’re from, and we are different and all that. Collaboration and start working together.”
He argued that these elements lead to the ultimate goal: Transformation. “When we cooperate and collaborate and conversate, we transform,” he said. “I don’t care what it is. Once we start talking… that problem goes away in a blink of eye.”
The event also focused on immediate local impact, raising over $1,000 for MEND (Meeting Essential Needs with Dignity), a hunger-relief network. “Nobody in this world should ever say that they’re bored,” McDaniels challenged the audience. “There’s a library, there’s a kid, there’s a group home. There’s a homeless shelter, there’s a food pantry… you can always do something to make somebody more fortunate than they already are.”
