Aerosmith manager Tim Collins answered his phone one day in early 1986, he was, at first, confused. The voice on the other end belonged to Rick Rubin, the 22-year-old hip-hop producer and entrepreneur behind Gef Jam. He wanted to talk to Collins about the idea of remaking his charges’ 1975 single Walk This Way with RUN DMC, a rap group on his roster. Before Rubin could go into any further detail, Collins cut him off to request a little clarification: “What’s rap?” Continue reading