So much of DMX’s career was about channeling pain, his voice used an instrument to mine sorrow and analyze hurt rather than celebrate his rise to rap’s A-list. “Slippin'” ( Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, 1998) But it was what he did in the background, unleashing growls and his now-legendary “what!” ad-libs, that made the mid-tempo track immortal. “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” ( It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, 1998)ĭMX wasn’t initially sold on the steady, fat Swizz Beatz rhythm and black-key lines of what would become “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem.” But the simplicity of the beat cleared the way for the gravel-throated rapper to get his Ruff Ryder troops in line with a “Stop! Drop!” X matched the steady tone in his verses, keeping the rhymes (“All I know is pain, all I feel is rain”) as straightforward as the sentiments (“F–k it, dawg, I’m hungry”). With this It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot classic, it’s not about light or dark winning: It’s about exploring the duel.
With the barking dog snippets and that haunted house organ running throughout, DMX managed to sneak a hardcore hip-hop Jekyll-and-Hyde tale onto the Hot 100 with “Stop Being Greedy.” DMX oscillates between delivering lines like “I don’t like drama, so I stay to myself” in a measured tone and growling threats like “I’ma bash his head wide open / Beggin’ me to stop, but at least he died hopin'” in that trademark rasp.
“Stop Being Greedy” ( It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, 1998) X’s gritty street singles were what made him a sensation, but his ability to connect on this more tender level was what made him a superstar. “How’s It Goin’ Down” ( It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, 1998)įor an entire generation of hip-hop fans, nothing will be as instantly transportive to the summer of 1998 than the fat bass and smooth electric keys hitting on the intro to “How’s It Goin’ Down.” The song isn’t exactly as sentimental as its groove would perhaps imply, but the tumultuous relationship at its core still can’t help sound sweetly romantic over that production, and DMX’s gruffly crooned chorus (“What type of games is bein’ played/ How’s it goin’ down?/ It’s on ’til it’s gone, then I gots to know now”) was still the stuff of countless young dramas. “There’s at least a thousand of us like me mobbing the street,” he forecasts on the song five straight platinum albums later it was pretty clear he was underselling. Not many MCs could’ve corralled that beat, but DMX was born for it, growling and slithering and (of course) barking his way through three verses and an unforgettable hook like the game’s apex predator. In a GQ oral history of DMX’s It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot debut, producer Dame Grease boasted that he helmed both the final song of the “shiny suit era” (with The LOX’s “If You Think I’m Jiggy”) and the first song of the “bring it back to the streets era” with “Get at Me Dog.” That was the kind of hard reset that “Dog” marked in late-’90s hip-hop - a relentless breakthrough single with an absolutely irrepressible livewire energy, thanks to an inspired BT Express sample that actually sounded more electric when slowed down by Dame Grease. “Get At Me Dog” ( It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, 1998) From juggling topics such as money-hungry women on “What These B-ches Want” to battling his demons on “Slippin’,” X never shortchanged the listeners from his thrilling experiences. While X’s aggression lured fans in, it was his versatility that kept them enthralled. While DMX originally teased a feature with late New York drill pioneer Pop Smoke, Swizz said Pop’s verse ended up being used elswhere Swizz said he tapped Moneybagg Yo for a new verse, and that was the only part of the album DMX did not hear before his death.DMX, Iconic Ruff Ryders Rapper, Dies at 50 “And he was like, ‘I don’t have to do so many verses.’ So he was being slick too,” the rapper-producer joked. “He never really rocked with features like that, and he was just like, ‘I wanna change that up,’” Swizz remembered in a May 24 listening session with press. Nearly every track on Exodus has a feature, from fellow New York icons like Jay-Z, Nas, and the LOX to other rap giants like Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg to up-and-comers like the Griselda Crew and Moneybagg Yo to singers like Bono, Alicia Keys, and Usher (and a Marvin Gaye sample on top of it all). The album is DMX’s eighth, and his first on Def Jam since 2003’s Grand Champ. That album, Exodus, was nearly complete upon the rapper’s death, and after finishing touches from producer and friend Swizz Beatz, it’s out now. Months before his April death, New York rap legend DMX was talking about a new, feature-packed album.
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