Hip-hope

Rev Run collects his inspirational phrases in new book

By DAMON C. WILLIAMS

THE MURDER of a dear friend and colleague might make any man turn to his faith.

When Jam Master Jay, the disc jockey for seminal hip-hop trio Run D.M.C., was gunned down just over three years ago, his partner - and ordained minister - Joseph "Rev Run" Simmons found himself embracing his faith even more as he grieved.

"I was all into God and everything" at the time of the murder, Simmons, 41, recently told the Daily News. "I was in it so deep, I recognized that this is just one of our bodies. I was able to take it better than most people, and I was at peace with Jam Master Jay."

That serene, faith-based outlook is evident on MTV's hit reality show, "Run's House," which starts its second season May 18. The show captures Simmons at home with his family and in various social situations. Usually, there's a moral to go along with the story that comes in the form of Simmons' closing "words of wisdom."

Now Simmons has gathered these inspirational phrases into a book, "Words of Wisdom: Daily Affirmations Of Faith" (Amistad/HarperCollins, $19.95), that's due in stores this month. Each page contains a short passage or two - positive building blocks for readers' lives.

"The greater the rejection, the greater the blessing. Don't worry about being different," says one aphorism from the minister who grew up Pentecostal but now belongs to the Zoe Ministries congregation. "Everything big that I've ever done was laughed at. Initially, mixing rock with rap, mixing a Rev collar with hat... dare to be different!"

"Run's House" makes it clear that the Rev has plenty of opportunities to take his own advice, too. It does a good job summing up the personalities and conflicts of the Simmons clan, which includes his wife, Justine, and five children. Even though the cameras aren't running 24 hours a day, the footage they do capture is plenty compelling.

"They turn the cameras on and off, following a situation," Simmons explained. "They'll ask me what else is developing; everything I am doing, we capture it on camera.

"Everything I am about to do, I have to save it for the show. I lead my life, but do it on camera."

Simmons is conscious of appearances and the messages transmitted through his and other reality shows. He believes the hip-hop community should look at him "like the father-figure type."

"They have seen me go from the 'hood to the suburbs, and they say, 'Wow, what a dad,'... this is where hip-hop would go," or should, as its audience and culture matures, Simmons said. "They say that 'He still got flavor, still got style, nice to his wife, still drive a nice car, and kept true to what he is.' "

One recent episode dealt with a lavish party that his daughter, Angela, wants to throw. She wants the party tricked out, with Funkmaster Flex as the DJ and a glass dance floor covering the Simmons family pool.

Throughout the show, Simmons is seen adding up the costs to put on such an affair. He talks to his daughter about having a more fiscally responsible event, and she reluctantly agrees.

Afterward, he gives her a new cherry-red Mercedes-Benz coupe for being a good sport and inviting her siblings to the party. "God gives to the giver and takes from the taker," Simmons tells his daughter.

The show closes - this is perhaps the best part - with Simmons meditating in his spacious bathtub, preparing the daily two-way pager messages he sends friends and colleagues such as hip-hop mogul P. Diddy, tennis players Serena and Venus Williams, and real estate magnate Donald Trump. That practice predated the show, and helped inspire the book.

And it should come as no surprise that the Rev didn't waste an opportunity to advise Daily News, either:

"We all have a certain amount of confidence in what we can do and what we have become," Simmons told this reporter. "With God in my midst, I can do anything. Have expectations of good things to come to you. I say prayers and know that God will always bring good things to me."