he interview with Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, a third of the pioneering 1980s rap group Run-D.M.C., begins with one question: "Why are the J.A.M. Awards important?" And it ends with one answer - a rambling, half-hour, stream-of-consciousness monologue that bounces from the Cold Crush Brothers and Kool Moe Dee to the negative images of rappers in the media to the overabundance of guns and drugs in hip-hop imagery.

"A lot of people really don't care if hip-hop ends tomorrow, if hip-hop dies. But I do," says DMC, who performs Thursday night as part of the Justice, Arts and Music (J.A.M.) Awards show, an offshoot of his late partner Jam Master Jay's foundation to boost arts resources in schools. "Chuck D. [of Public Enemy] told me what was so good about hip-hop is the power of communication - there's always a mike, there's always a camera, there's always an interview. Rap is even taking over Hollywood right now. For me, that whole conversation was my purpose.

"We're forgetting about this vehicle that should be passed down from generation to generation," continues DMC, by phone from his home in Wayne, N.J. "The J.A.M. Awards aren't about to celebrate who made the most money - it's about the education possibility of hip-hop."

The main thrust of the awards show, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, is to honor three members of the hip-hop community who've contributed the most to social justice, the arts and music - Chuck D, Will Smith, Spike Lee, Wyclef Jean and Kanye West are among the nominees. But fans will come out for the star-studded lineup - a mix of old-school and contemporary rappers, including Snoop Dogg, De La Soul, Marley Marl, Q-Tip and Raekwon. And DMC invests the show with even deeper meaning, using it as a platform to criticize rappers obsessed with the thug life, among other things.

"Actually, [the show] is like a big barbecue or get-together," DMC said. "All those people, I see every day, anyway."

Run-D.M.C. didn't invent hip-hop, but the trio, formed in Hollis, Queens, was the first to have smash hits, land on MTV and introduce the style to a massive worldwide audience. The group continued, off and on, going in a largely Christian direction by the early 1990s. But in 2002, an unknown gunman killed the well-liked turntablist Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell in a Queens recording studio. The murder remains unsolved.

Mizell's widow, Terri Corley-Mizell, formed the JMJ Foundation to focus on her husband's legacy - before Jam Master Jay became a rapper, he played drums, violin, piano and other instruments at Andrew Jackson High School in Hollis. She absorbs every bit of news about the police investigation but says she hears nothing new.

"We don't know," she says, referring to her two sons with Jam Master Jay, 16-year-old Terry Jason and 12-year-old Jesse. "I leave it up to God. I have a lot of faith. When the case is supposed to be solved, it will be."

WHEN & WHERE: The J.A.M. Awards: A Tribute to Jam Master Jay, Thursday night at 8 at the Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 W. 34th St. Manhattan. Scheduled to perform: Snoop Dogg, Marley Marl, Mobb Deep, De La Soul, Dead Prez, Raekwon, Q-Tip and many others. Tickets are $40-$60. For tickets and information, go to ticketmaster.com.