by music critics for dissolving social and racial boundaries within the music industry between rock music and mainstream hip hop at the time of the album's release. The music video for "Rock Box" became the first rap video played on MTV in the summer of 1984. The video was filmed in the famous New York punk club Danceteria. As Run-D.M.C.'s first major video release, the trio represented 1980's New York street fashion with their signature look of black Kangol hats, black Lee jeans, black t-shirts and leather jackets, white Adidas sneakers, gold chains, and, as always, D.M.C. is wearing his trademark glasses. Run-D.M.C. has been credited for evolving African-American fashion, breaking away from the highly glamorous looks of disco and early hip hop. In a 2019 episode of the AMC docuseries The Songs That Shook America, "Rock Box" was applauded for its blending of snare drum beats accompanied by the guitar riffs performed by American guitarist Eddie Martinez. "Rock Box" would also go on to inspire many of Run-D.M.C.'s future material in the rap-rock genre, including the title track of their second studio album King of Rock, the singles "Walk This Way" and "It's Tricky" from the group's third studio album Raising Hell, and the title track of their fourth studio album Tougher Than Leather.Appearance in films The song "It's Like That" was performed on stage in the 1985 Warner Bros. film Krush Groove, in which the Run-D.M.C.'s members starred in April 1985. Reception and influence Debby Miller of Rolling Stone complimented Run-D.M.C.'s boasts about "messages that self-improvement is the only ticket out" and viewed their style as a departure from most hip hop acts at the time; stating "they get into a vocal tug of war that's completely different from the straightforward delivery of The Furious Five's Melle Mel or the everybody-takes-a-verse approach of groups like Sequence. And the music ... that backs these tracks is surprisingly varied, for all its bare bones". In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau described it as "easily the canniest and most formally sustained rap album ever, a tour de force I trust will be studied by all manner of creative downtowners and racially enlightened Englishmen". Christgau commented on the group's "heavy staccato and proud disdain for melody", writing that "the style has been in the New York air long enough that you may understand it better than you