MTV: How was the chemistry within Run-DMC while doing the album?

Run: To be honest, me and [Jam Master] Jay put together most of the album. D[MC] was on a couple of cuts, but at this point he comes, he does the shows, we do the classics together. But this album is mainly consisting of the production from Jay and me on the mic, and D did a little bit of it too. The chemistry is still there onstage if you come and see a Run-DMC show like you saw at the MTV [Video Music] Awards a couple of years ago, when we did it with Aerosmith and Kid Rock. We can still get down together with the classics, but a lot of this album will be me kicking the rhymes and Jay dropping the beats.

Jam Master Jay: It's because my man Run, he's still battling MCs, and D's just a little more laid-back. Run is doing the new flows, all the new flows, and D, you know ... we're still a crew.

MTV: What's been the holdup? We've been reporting on this album since we first got word that it's going to happen, and it's been a while.

Jay: We like [to] tour. We do about 150-200 shows a year, so we just really work, work, work. We were going to put out a new album a few years ago with Profile, then Profile got sold to Arista, then Arista was going to put it out when Clive Davis was the president. A single we wanted to put out we couldn't release, because [it] had other artists on [it] that had their albums out. Then Clive changed to [current Arista head] L.A. Reid, so right now, you're about to see Run-DMC come full effect.

MTV: How do you manage to stay relevant in a culture that's so based on what's going to happen next?

Run: I focus on what I want to be. I'm really involved in watching what's going on with Jay-Z and DMX. A lot of people that are purists wonder why I'd care about that. [It's] because I like the youthful movement. I like what went on with [Jay-Z's 1999] Hard Knock Life tour. I'm not stuck in a time rut in my mind, so I like to come with the fresh new flavors and get with the new producers. Jermaine Dupri got with us ... because I like that vibe, I like what's going on with that.

MTV: "Rock Show" displays that hybrid of rock/rap that you spearheaded. What was it like, working with [Third Eye Blind's] Stephan Jenkins? Why did you choose him?

Run: Stephan Jenkins is really energetic, very cool. That's not really his forte, making rock music he's more like pop, alternative stuff. But this is what he wanted to do, so we went to the studio, heard him out and just kicked the rhymes over a track that he put together, and then when we went to make a video for him, he came through with the same energy, the same excitement. It was electric being around him, because he's just a dude who really loves his work, and he works hard.

Jay: The way Stephan Jenkins said it to me was, "I want to make a song with you cause I want to make a song that sounds like something that I always wanted to do all my life." And when he sees Run-DMC, it's like a rock show to him. So that's how he felt about it, and it's one of the hottest joints.

MTV: What are your thoughts about Limp Bizkit or Korn, these other artists out there now who are doing these rock/rap songs?

Jay: We always knew rap was for everyone. Anyone could rap over all kinds of music. The same thing we did back in the day and the same thing Sugar Hill [Gang] did back in the day [are] two totally different situations. Sugar Hill rapped over Chic, and we took hard beats and rapped over them. We came into town when disco wasn't hot, really. Disco was kinda soft, and R&B had another kind of flavor. It wasn't the soulful R&B of the '70s and the '80s, so we didn't want to be like the soft R&B. We wanted to go hardcore, so we put the rock and roll on our rap, 'cause those kind of records were [in our] crates.

MTV: You've worked with an eclectic group of artists on the album: Jermaine Dupri, Nas, Sugar Ray, Kid Rock, Stephan Jenkins. Can you tell us about the making of some of these tracks?

Run: Some of the more fun times was [when Prodigy of] Mobb Deep [would] just pull up in his jeep, park it around the corner from Jay's studio on Jamaica Avenue, and come and kick the rhyme and leave. Those were the times where it was really informal. It was fun watching these guys that live in Queens, like Method Man. We sent my car out to get him at Staten Island and the next thing you know, Method Man's sitting in the studio with chicken wings in his lap, laughing and getting ready, writing the rhymes. Those were the times I remember, where it was dudes just coming, not discussing money, not discussing points, not discussing publishing.

MTV: What is it that you want to bring back to rap with this album?

Jay: I think hip-hop goes in cycles. When I listen to Funkmaster Flex playing the Limp Bizkit/Run-DMC record on the radio, it makes me think of the days when hip-hop was fun. We're bringing fun back to hip-hop, but at the same time Run is still spitting the venom. Hip-hop is growing, and what we're bringing the most is the longevity. A lot of groups play when they put a record out. We play all year round and we haven't put out a record in seven, eight years now.

Run: I'm deep into the competitiveness of it all. Somebody wants to know, "Why would you think you could go out there and spin next to Jay-Z?" There's something in me that just want[s] to go out there and battle whatever MC is out there. It's like playing basketball. I could be out of shape, but I could go out there and forget all of that. I want to go out there and spit my rhymes like what's going on now. I'm not one of those purists that say, "Why is Run standing next to Jermaine?" "Why would you connect with Limp Bizkit, Sugar Ray, [and] all this new stuff?" I love seeing what Limp Bizkit is doing. I love seeing what Kid Rock is doing. We can be praised for the old; I'll take whatever [legend] award they want to give out. But I want a Grammy for my new hit.