Sadly, there is a generation of Hip-Hop fans that only know DMX for dissing Drake in an interview, and then Drake sampling “What’s Goin Down” for “U Wit Me?”
Believe it or not, DMX was once the biggest star in Hip-Hop. That popularity is credited largely to his debut 1998 album It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot. Yes. DMX was bigger than Jay Z who hadn’t released his Hard Knock Life album yet. He was bigger than Snoop Dogg in that he was still reeling from Death Row’s dismantling and trying to find himself again on Master P‘s No Limit Records. His rough baldhead exterior and ability to apply emotion in his raps reminded people of 2 Pac who passed away two years prior. His ability to make commerical hits but still keep the streets satisfied was a talent that hadn’t been seen since The Notorious B.I.G. who was killed a year prior. With Hip-Hop still licking it’s wounds from losing two of it’s biggest stars Dark Man X emerged as an artist that people from all coasts could love and celebrate.
DMX [and Def Jam] would capitalize on this popularity and strike lightning twice in one year when they released X’s sophomore album Blood Of My Blood, Flesh Of My Flesh. The album would make history giving DMX two #1 Billboard albums in one year. That feat wouldn’t be accomplished in Hip-Hop again until when Future did it when he released DS2 and EVOL within 12 months of each other.
While the singles from It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot still pop up on Pandora and Classic Hip-Hop radio, there are some gems on the album that may get forgotten if not looked for, here are some of the highlights.
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“Look Thru My Eyes”
“Look Thru My Eyes” was not released as a single but this is vintage DMX. From the minimalist beat to X talking to listeners by talking to himself, this is a song that anyone getting introduced to X’s music for the first time should listen to. He completely commits to his dog persona throughout the track both barking and whimpering.
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“Crime Story”
Storytelling was a necessary skill for any rapper that wanted to be considered the best at their craft. DMX made his case on “Crime Story” where he tells a tale of committing a robbery, getting paranoid that the cops are looking for him and eventually turning himself in at the precinct himself, kinda.
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“N*ggaz Done Started Something”
In 1998 Puff Daddy and Bad Boy had a kung-fu grip on the rap game by making pop-rap records. But, the artists responsible for the music actually got their start making music that was much harder and they salivated at the chance to show these skills on the final track on DMX’s debut. The Lox already had a reputation for the street raps, but heads were impressed to hear Ma$e get dirty. After learning that Puff tried to sign DMX to Bad Boy makes you wonder just how much of this we would have got had he joined the company.
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“Damien”
Talking to the devil is still taboo in rap music, but DMX through all convention out of the window and started what became a series of him conversing with the horned little devil on his shoulder. While he never really rebukes him on the song, he does realize that messing with him will only lead to trouble.
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“The Prayer”
Right now Chance The Rapper is being championed for making a “Gospel rap” album, but DMX tried the idea back in 18 years ago. On one the albums most soul-shaking songs DMX talks directly to God, in a way apologizing for all of the chaos he caused on the previous songs [and it real life], but thanking God for keeping him alive and blessing him anyway.
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“X-Is Coming”
Here X is in full dog form opening the track with a reworked version of the Nightmare On Elm Street theme music. From there he takes listeners on a journey straight out of horror movie.
In 1998, “gangsta” and “hardcore” rap was still breathing, even after the “Shiny Suit Era” that Puff Daddy helped create. So, rapping about some sick sh*t wasn’t completely out of the question. Which is proven by X’s second verse:
You got yourself in a predicament, that you can’t get out of
You already in some sh*t, but it’s about to get hotter
F*cking with a n*gga like you running your mouth
Will, have that same n*gga like you, gun in your mouth
But won’t be like the last time when you run in the house
Cause I ain’t knocking on the door
I’m coming in the house
And I’m gunning for your spouse, trying to send the bitch back to her maker
And if you got a daughter older then 15, I’ma rape her
Take her on the living room floor, right there in front of you
Then ask you seriously, whatchu wanna do?
Frustrating, isn’t it? When they kill me, but I’ma kill you
Now watch me f*ck just a little while longer, please, will you?
This is revenge, no time before you die
And despite how much I hate to see a grown man cry
I’ma make you suffer,see your ass in Hell,Motherf*cker, click, boom-boom
See your ass in hell
Yeah, X rapped about killing someones wife, raping their daughter and making them watch. In 2016 Action Bronson is getting banned from performing on college campuses for writing songs like “Consensual Rape.” There’s no way X’s word would make it past the lyrics police in this day and age.
