Ten Ways Not to Commit Suicide: A Memoir

In this surprising and moving memoir, the legendary rapper and cofounder of Run-DMC speaks out as never before about his battles with depression and overcoming thoughts of suicide.

As one of the founding members of the celebrated and influential rap group Run-DMC, Darryl DMC McDaniels seemed to have it all: talent, money, fame, prestige. Yet while his music was hitting number one on the Billboard charts, a feat most musicians only dream of, McDaniels’s achievements were shrouded by his private struggles with alcohol and an anxiety fueled by the need to please others. 

As Run-DMC’s success grew, overwhelming McDaniels all the more, his relationship with alcohol shifted: from being a crutch that helped him perform to a means of escape from a life that had become unbearable. McDaniels was forced to make an abrupt lifestyle change when he was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and his doctor told him flatly, “You drink, you die.” It was at this crossroad that the famed rapper finally chose life. In his quest to recover, he found what he’d been desperate for—a love, for his future wife, and, at long last, for himself.

Throughout this riveting account, McDaniels speaks openly about his emotional and psychological struggles: feelings of isolation, loneliness, and of not being true to oneself. In recounting his own story, he shares essential information on how to seek help and find meaning during life’s challenging times. An absorbing look at how inner suffering can plague even the most successful of individuals, Ten Ways Not to Commit Suicide offers inspiration and insight and a path toward the contentment McDaniels himself fought so hard to obtain.

Praise & Reviews:

First, DMC transformed music with arch rhymes and hard, skyscraper-sized beats. Now, in "Ten Ways Not to Commit Suicide," he promises to change the way we look at our lives and mental health with gentle, plainly-spoken language and an utter commitment to honesty. In both instances, his gift to us are his words: Often funny, sometimes bitter, typically sharp, always penetrating. But in "Ten Ways Not to Commit Suicide," the driving rhythm we hear is the sound of his heart. A must-read. --Harry Allen, Hip-Hop Activist & Media Assassin"

DMC s must-read memoir ventures into uncharted territory for all musicians, period-not just hip-hop artists. His honesty about his feelings easily makes this book an achievement that ranks alongside his Hall of Fame rhymes. --Chuck D, Public Enemy"

I have longed admired DMC. He, his group Run-DMC, are as much of my soul as my own blood relatives. They changed hip-hop, pop culture, young people worldwide-and they made poor kids like me believe in ourselves. But with this memoir DMC has done something far greater: he has stripped away the fame and success and money and legendary status and presents himself as human, raw, naked. Mental health, depression, suicide are not things many are comfortable discussing publicly or privately. But we can t heal if we can t talk. And talk DMC does, uncomfortably, transparently, about his own life, in a way that is not only salvation for him, but a model for us all to follow. --Kevin Powell, author of "The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy's Journey into Manhood""