DMX - It's Dark And Hell Is Hot (May 12, 1998)

 

Been a hot minute, my fellow lonely soul. I know, me too.

Story time: The turn of the millenium. I was a teenager. We've only spent 2 years since me and my family moved into my father's house after he finished his postgraduate studies. During that time, the only exposure to hip hop that I had was the Space Jam OST and Lightning Strikes by Cypress Hill which I enjoyed hearing as I blew up the streets of the Road Rage battleground in Twisted Metal 4. That's it.

Now let's talk about the sheer brilliance that is Jet Li.

I still get goosebumps whenever I remember how me & my cousins gathered around in my aunt's house in the summer of 1996 to watch a certain Chinese action movie called Fist Of Legend, a remake of Bruce Lee's classic vehicle Fist Of Fury. Little did our prepubescent minds know what was in store for us. Naturally, the movie blew us away with its brilliant fight choreography by Yuen Woo-Ping as well as the surprisingly-balanced narrative. And that's when I became a Jet Li fan for life. So when I tell you that the level of excitement I had for having my very first movie purchase in life be Romeo Must Die, Jet Li's first Western lead vehicle, was otherworldly, you know I'm not bullshitting. I even remember the tagline on the back of the box. "Jet Li is a one-man Matrix." Hey, I'm totally embracing the ludicrousness of it all and you should, too. But I digress.

I pop in the VHS tape. And I'm greeted with this. And, that... That was my introduction to the late great Earl Simmons, whom the world will forever remember as DMX.

I remember going ham whenever I popped that VHS tape in and that intro came on. I loved it so much that I went looking for the Romeo Must Die OST, only to be shocked at the fact that the fuckfaces at Virgin never included the song "I'm Gonna Crawl" with the damn thing. Instead, they made the incredibly genius decision to cave in to the fuckfaces at Def Jam to include the song on their Nutty Professor 2 OST. Cuz that makes sense. In any case, I had no idea that the rapper I was listening to was DMX until I checked the end credits for who played the character Silk in the film. Because Silk appears in the club scene immediately after the opening, X's vocal tones made it unmistakably easy for me to connect the face of Silk with the then-unidentified rapper's voice that I heard prior. Add that to the Come Back In One Piece duet with his co-star, the late legendary Aaliyah, which was pretty prevalent in the film, and you’ve got my pretty thorough first impression of X. 

However, said exposure still remained limited after that given the fact that rap music wasn't really made available in music stores round my way in Saudi Arabia, so Exit Wounds & Cradle 2 The Grave it was for me. Then, of course, came Def Jam Vendetta, which I've already raved about ad nauseum on here. Although I will say that in light of his passing, the video where he giddily describes his desired finisher to the devs will never leave me.

It was on this game that I had my first furthering into X’s vast musical catalog. They grouped what would end up being two of his most popular anthems, Party Up & X Gon Give It To Ya, with one of his most popular album cuts. A song that’s actually featured on the album I’m reviewing today. But before I do so, let’s reflect more on that which is infinitely more important than the artist or his art: Earl Simmons the human being.

Earl was born to Arnett Simmons & Joe Barker, a teenage couple who were sadly too ignorant in how to raise children. And with Joe cutting off all ties with Arnett, Earl and his two sisters, Earl was left to live a harrowing childhood, often suffering violent mental & physical abuse from his mother. This, coupled with his heartbreaking experience of having his mentor Ready Ron trick him into the crack addiction that would end up haunting him for the rest of his life at the tender age of 14, left Earl with quite the bleak outlook on life as a whole. Though, not all was bleak. For even though X resented Ron for pulling that evil stunt, he also always gave him credit for introducing him to that which would eventually introduce the beloved icon to the world: Hip hop.

Make no mistake, even though he didn't have quite the rosy attitude, assuming Dark Man X wasn't one driven, creative motherfucker would be the worst mistake one could ever make. After a brief stint as Ron's beatboxer, Earl took to rhyming. And when I tell you that he gained a rep for airing dudes out with his rhymes, he gained a fucking rep. To the point that hip hop fans worldwide are still talking about his fabled meeting with one Shawn Carter in a pool hall, where Jay left the venue after spitting one of his rhymes on some disrespectful Brooklyn shit. Nevertheless, to do so good that dudes are still talking about you after you've been on the receiving end of such a stunt is almost unheard of.

Before that event, though, X's phenomenal lyrical skills were far from enough to secure him any type of success, status quo shit when dealing with the cesspool that is the music business. Which led X to sink further into the path of darkness that he was already on as he gained another infamous rep: Robbing people with his dogs. His kinship with these creatures was as much a part of his story as anything else. Peep the story that Murda Mook talks about on Drink Champs for you to get the picture. Again, I digress.

Earl had the door to changing his life opened a bit when he was offered a single deal with the fuckfaces at Ruffhouse, home of the aforementioned Cypress Hill. Born Loser was the result of that, and even though Chad Elliott succeeded in capturing some of the macabre aura that would later define X, the single was never treated seriously. So X was released back into the wild where he grew hungrier and more desperate.

I've already gone to lengths about how much I respect the late great Too Poetic aka The Grym Reaper from the Gravediggaz for surviving homelessness, so my sentiment is doubled when I'm talking about X. Because as dire as the situation got for Poetic, at least he had a loving family to fall back on for emotional support if nothing else. X had nobody, NOBODY, who could've helped him there. That is, until one of his close friends introduced him to Joaquin Dean aka Waah, cofounder of the fabled Ruff Ryders movement. That relationship ultimately was a blessing for both parties, as Waah was getting desperate to make ends meet attempting to break into the music industry as well. Eventually, Waah introduced X to one Irving Lorenzo aka DJ Irv, who provided a certain layup that ultimately sparked his meteoric rise.

Irv would feature X, along with former opponent Jay-Z and ex-CMC member & future cornball Ja Rule on the underrated Mic Geronimo's unsung masterpiece The Natural, on the posse cut centerpiece Time To Build. The synergy X displayed with DJ Irv's relentless beat shed some more of the brilliance buried under all the muck. Irv & X would follow up with another attempt at breaking in the music business in the form of the 1995 Make A Move/Can't Touch Me Kid single. Irv shopped the single to TVT Blunt but legendary fuckup Steve Gottlieb passed on X, continuing his string of colossal missteps of passing on legendary acts such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg & Jay-Z. Ouch. Nevertheless, X was once again facing life on the cold streets. Until DJ Irv struck gold with Jay-Z when Can I Live became a centerpiece of Jay's lone classic Reasonable Doubt. The fuckfaces at Def Jam sensed that this Irv cat had an eye for talent as he pushed his all for them to sign DMX. Leading to the now-legendary story of X freestyling in front of the bag of sewage known as Lyor Cohen. Don't ask.

X had previously gotten into trouble that led to him receiving a severe beatdown to the point that he had to have his jaw wired shut. But his desperation had consumed him by the time it came for him to showcase what he had to Lyor. X proceeded to rhyme with such a ferocity that led to the wires in his jaw getting ripped open. Lyor hid his enthusiasm from everyone present at first, but as soon as he left the venue with Irv, he lost his mind, famously squealing: "We found the pick of the litter."

Pick of the litter, indeed, as X was showcased on hip hop icon LL Cool J's timeless posse cut 4,3,2,1 which finally broke X into the mainstream as he shared the spotlight with Method Man, Redman & eventual LL victim Canibus. X then featured on the remix to Mic Geronimo's hit Nothing Move But The Money alongside the late great Black Rob (these days are tough, man. Deadass.) as well as appearing on another posse cut, this time Mic's Usual Suspects alongside Tragedy, Ja Rule & fellow Ruff Ryders alumni the LOX. After appearing on Onyx's title track to their Shut 'Em Down album, a smash in and of itself, X then followed that up with two huge posse cut appearances for colossal twat Sean Comby Combs: He tore through cornball Mase's 24 Hrs To Live alongside Rob & the aforementioned LOX, who then featured X as the star closer to their smash single, the title track to their debut album Money Power & Respect. Needless to say that X's life was set for a huge change.

Huge change is an understatement, as X released his debut single Get At Me Dog to literal pandemonium in February 1998. The song was inescapable as the buildup to his eventual debut began. X only increased the fervor with Stop Being Greedy in March, and in May, a week before his album dropped, he would release what is now his most successful single, Ruff Ryders Anthem. By that time, the world was fiending for X's debut, It's Dark & Hell Is Hot, to forever immortalize the hungry Yonkers MC.

Spoiler alert: He was immortalized. Not only with this debut that ended up selling over 4 million records stateside, but with each of his next 4 albums for Def Jam passing the 1 million mark, with the 2nd & 3rd soaring past 3 million & 5 million sales respectively. He remains the only rapper to have two albums debut at number 1 on the Billboard charts in the same year. I really don't like to talk about numbers this much, but it's very important to showcase how X had taken over the machine in a way nobody expected him to. And I say nobody with every fiber of my being. To go from nothing to having such an impact on arrival that Joel fucking Silver is lining up a three-picture deal just for you is unheard of. And yes, Joel Silver is the dude who produced Romeo Must Die, bringing us back full circle to where I started with this.

See, the reason this rant is so extensive and long is because I am still reeling, along with the rest of the world, from April 9th. That date will forever be imprinted in my brain as the day life's challenge increased that much more due to X's extraordinary life coming to the inevitable end that everyone of us faces. The sheer emotion millions of people around the globe felt when they learned of the terrible news cannot be quantified. Just as an example, one of my Saudi friends who doesn't know the first lick about hip hop asked to confirm the news. Think about it: X's reach was so huge that people in Saudi friggin Arabia who don't know shit about hip hop remember him vividly. Literally, I've only witnessed such a reaction for Pac & Big over here.

I've long thought about how I wanted to introduce DMX to my blog, despite what some may believe. And I truly regret the fact that my obsessive perfectionism has prohibited me from showing love to him while he was still with us.

Enough stalling, It's Dark & Hell Is Hot, boy/girl (pick one):

INTRO

I've documented my admiration for the beats of DJ Irv on this here blog on the aforementioned Mic Geronimo review. Once he started outsourcing others for their beatmaking services, the resulting music became very hit n miss. Here, he works with one Robert Mays aka Lil Rob who provides the best beat that ever came outta his outsourcings, building one hell of an atmospheric relentless instrumental around a simple 3-second classical music loop. Of course there has to be a preceding audio excerpt where X hypes up his dogs, something you'll get used to real quick when listening to his catalog. Anyways, once X begins to rhyme, you are drawn to the sheer conviction behind every single syllable. The man's desperation literally made his first impression count in the best of ways. This was the song I spoke of in the prologue of this review that was included in the Def Jam Vendetta video game along with Party Up & X Gon Give It To Ya, and I had no doubt that this was the most powerful cut of those three. This shit knocks.

RUFF RYDERS' ANTHEM

Ah yes. The song most people identify with X today. Also the song that made Swizz Beatz entire career. Sorry, Jadakiss, but as good as All For The Love was, it didn't leave the mark this did. Confession time: I'm not that attached to the Swizz Beatz sound as a whole. Don't get me wrong, he can produce when his Casio shit is reigned in. But in my humble opinion, a lot of his Casio beats are unlistenable. Back to this song though. Believe it or not, I heard the remix first on, where else, The Liberty Jam radio station off of GTA LCS in 2005. We're talking about the original here, though, as the world is introduced, for better or worse, to Swizz Beatz in his lone production for this album. The fact that Ruff Ryders cofounder Darrin Dean aka Dee & X trashed each & every single beat Swizzy slid their way to the point that X only rhymed on this after he lost a dare will always be hilarious to me. I will concede that it was a good thing that he did so: This is one of his biggest anthems for a reason (pun intended) as X lights the booth on fire with his infectious energy.

FUCKIN' WIT' D

The Ruff Ryders family really were a well oiled machine by the time this album was released, as they already had a dedicated team of talented in-house producers besides Swizz, such as Damon Blackman aka Dame Grease (who still gets regular work today) and Anthony Fields aka P. Killer Trackz who all but vanished from the scene besides popping up in RR documentaries. Shame, that as PK produced this gem with Grease getting a coproducer credit that samples the same gutter-yet-soulful funk loop PMD did for Hit Squad general K-Solo on Rockin' For My Hometown. Funny, that. You know why. Anyways, X comes unglued to the listener's glee and proceeds to demolish everything around him in a way that will grab hold of your attention and will not let go. Trust me. 

THE STORM (SKIT)

X & the rest of the Ruff Ryders were never good with skits. Skip this shit.

LOOK THRU MY EYES

I know the skit leads into the song. So what? Anyways, this provides a much needed wind down from the previous three high octane tracks, and it does so magnificently. X displays a versatility in meshing with whatever beat thrown his way that you normally wouldn't see if you stuck to listening to his singles. The fact that he does so without altering his pitch or lowering his volume adds to the feat. X also displays one of his most cherishable talents: Speaking about the inner workings of his mind. It's a spell-binding quality that will never leave his discography. The beat by PK & Grease displays their versatility behind the boards, as well. Awesome!

GET AT ME DOG (FEATURING SHEEK LOUCH)

The debut single. The one that started it all. This is the song that single-handedly shut down the Shiny Suit era. "Let my man and them stay pretty, but I'ma stay shitty" should be on t-shirts everywhere. This track, along with Fuckin Wit D and Ryder Or Die a year later, prove that even though X dissed the shit outta K-Solo for their unresolved dispute over who began spelling their rhymes first, he was still a diligent fan of EPMD's Hit Squad. A rather funny fact is that Grease sampled the same funk loop as the EPMD classic Get The Bozack a year after producer Amen-Ra from the repulsive Comby's jolly bag of Hitmen did the exact same thing for Pastor Mase's Will They Die 4 U?, making this even more of a middle finger to Comby's Shiny Suit brand. X barrels through with the most vital performance of his entire career, as he presents the most emphatic "fuck you" to everyone who shot him down up till that point. Props to the LOX's Sheek Louck repping for his mans on the hook. Fun personal fact: I first heard this song on the aforementioned GTA LCS video game in 2005, as well. Come to think of it, a lot of my posts on this blog owe their existence to that video game series. Timeless song.

LET ME FLY
It's abundantly clear that the Ruff Ryders team set out to make every song on It's Dark and Hell Is Hot single-worthy, which truly pays off when you have cuts like this one that are still recited verbatim 24 years later by X's fans around the world. X presents further proof that he has the ability to have the listener hang on his every utterance when talking about his demons over a moody mirthless Dame Grease instrumental.

X-IS COMING

Grease hands the reigns over to PK who whips up a straight up malevolent beat for X to let his demons loose as he rhymes about every evil thought that crossed his head during that session. Looking back, this only gives us insight into how much mental baggage the man carried, for him to be capable of thinking such disturbing thoughts. The second verse is straight up horrific. Enter this one if you dare.

DAMIEN

The first of three songs during X's career in which he has a conversation with the Devil. This saga is just sublime in how it details the ease in which one succumbs to the dark side's temptation and it all started here. Poetic, even. X excelled in delivering Damien's persuasive nature to you. Grease's backing instrumental was certainly apt, as well.  A masterpiece.

HOW'S IT GOIN' DOWN

Ah yes, the obligatory "laydeez" song. I don't care if I catch flak for this, but I never cared for this single. I don't give a fuck how vivid X's imagination was, I will ALWAYS have a problem with this type of subject matter. Skip this barf.

MICKEY (SKIT)

I'm good.

CRIME STORY

Irv sends Lil Rob careening back into the studio to cook up a slow funk loop as the backing to X's brooding, methodical take on blaxploitation. X once again displays his talent for detail as he weaves a tale of death and destruction. Again, you hear how X is potently adept at making you hang by his every word. Nice!

STOP BEING GREEDY

The 3rd single released prior to the album's debut. PK is back with a vengeance. He whips up one tornado of a beat chopped from the remains of a 70s classic and gives it to X, who unleashes one hell of a performance as he gives yet another mesmerizing take on split personality. Weirdly, this never got any sequels, though. No matter, this was a phenomenal choice for a single.

ATF
At barely under two minutes, Grease provides a minimalist backing for X to unleash a one-verse wonder that vividly describes a rather chaotic brush-in with the eponymous ATF. The twist being, his first & last bars are identical, making this either a tale about a dream sequence or a near-death experience. Brilliant!

FOR MY DOGS (FEATURING BIG STAN, LOOSE, KASINO & DRAG-ON)

This song contains the very first appearance of Bronx rapper Melvin Smalls aka Drag-On, who many people seem to confuse as a Cam'Ron clone, a comparison I just do not see, because aside from their voices being very similar, their approaches are too different. Oh, and Double R alumni Big Stan, Loose aka Loose Cannon & Kasino are here as well. There's a reason that Drag was the only one who sustained a presence with Ruff Ryders. Y'know, because he's the only one who, despite having the shortest verse, sounded like he kept up with X as the latter scorched the rest of his guests on this gloomy Grease beat. Oh, and Stan should never perform hook duties again. Overall, this did its job.

I CAN FEEL IT (FEATURING NARDO)

The fellow lonely soul who routinely and acutely reads my BBR vanity indulgences might remember that me & dark Phil Collins music just agree with each other. And what's the darkest song Phil ever made, you ask? Why it's the one people remember him most by, of course! In The Air Tonight has been a presence in my life for what seems like its entirety. Ma Dukes loves it. Pop Dukes, who ain't really a music guy, loves it. So, naturally, I cherish my memories with it. And we arrive at Dame Grease giving us a pretty decent reenactment of the timeless tune. Only him & X fucked up big time by allowing whatever the hell a Nardo is within ten miles of the studio. Seriously, he butchers his interpolation of Phil's amazing vocals, even saying "Hold on!" instead of "Oh, Lord!" Now that I'm done talking about Nardo's bitchass, I freaking revel in the rest of this song. X is in Lava Mode as his introspection simply arrests you and refuses to let go. X always went big with the third verse and this song is a perfect example thereof. X is so good that you even forgive the excrement that is Nardo's singing attempts.

PRAYER (SKIT)

Ah yes. The only type of skit X excelled at. These really are emotionally charged to perfection and it all started here. Of course, I'm a Muslim who does NOT believe that Jesus, peace be upon him, is God Almighty in human form, God incarnate, nor, God forbid, the begotten son of God. Nevertheless, his dedication to his faith is obviously commendable.

THE CONVO

This should've closed out the album. Yes, I'm saying that Done Started Something should've been placed elsewhere on the album. Not because The Convo is a better song, but because the emotional loop X takes you in here is nearly impossible to follow. Over an aptly knocking Dame Grease composition, X delivers the first of many "absolution poems", as the fuckfaces at Vibe Magazine called them. And this is definitely the most melodious of the bunch. You may want to keep some tissues near you as you listen to this one, my fellow lonely soul.

DONE STARTED SOMETHING (FEATURING THE LOX & MASE)

This is the first of many posse cuts organized by Ruff Ryders to further showcase how X is a master in closing out a posse cut. Call me crazy, but Sheek Louch was always the best starter in the LOX. Think about it: Last Day, Money Power Respect, Reservoir Dogs, Ryde Or Die & this. Predictably, Mase is the weakest on here and this is probably his finest work behind the mic. That should tell you something about the remaining MCs, who torch this haunting Grease beat to the ground. To the ground.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This entrance into the genre will be forever remembered. It's Dark And Hell Is Hot was such a powerful statement that it introduced an entire movement on the strength of one MC. And by God does this album take you through a journey: Pain, rage, confidence, triumph, failure, betrayal, paranoia, redemption. All over the titanic efforts of the Ruff Ryders in-house production team of Dame Grease, P Killer Trackz & Swizzy, along with a couple of assists from Lil Rob. Somehow someway, the Dean brothers' vision for this album was realized to nigh perfection, with only a single skip out of sixteen songs. And every guest aided in this riveting trip, even the ones you never hear from again. Unforgettable. Not nearly as unforgettable as the late great himself, though. RIP Earl "DMX" Simmons.

WORTH IT?

I believe that after reading the previous paragraph, one would be called a dumbass fool if they still didn't track this work of art down. I mean that expression in every sense of the word.

TRACKS TO TRACK DOWN:

RUFF RYDERS ANTHEM REMIX (FEATURING DRAG-ON, JADAKISS, STYLES P & EVE)

Like I said prior, I heard this remix on the fictional Liberty Jam station in GTA LCS way before I heard the OG mix. Makes sense, as DJ Clue was the in-game DJ for the fictitious station set in 1998, of all years. I was so attached to this remix that I thought the OG mix's hook was incomplete when I first heard it. Speaking of Clue, ths remix was the crown jewel of his fairly-dope platinum-selling debut album The Professional. Back to the song, though: This is the exact same beat, only with more ad-libs from Swizzy & a gang of MCs for X to burn, cuz you know he will by now. Drag-On provides what is arguably his most famous stanza, then makes way for Kiss to swoop in with all his quotables and stake his temporary claim over the track. Piñero follows suit with his own take on the quotables discussion. Barbershop mainstay Eve then throws her hat in the ring and proves that among all the testosterone, she definitely had a place in the RR family. DMX closes out exactly the way you expect him to by now, with the most memorable verse on the song. Shame on the rest of them for even trying. Seriously though, this is one posse cut you do not want to miss.

I'M GONNA CRAWL

Never forget your first, right? This certainly left an impression on 14-year-old me as P Killer Trackz chefs up an unforgettable instrumental with a Far East-twinge to suit the Jet Li vehicle it was supposed to feature on. X gives an introspection tale worthy of enduring in one's mind for 21 years. No more talk, go bump this for yourself now.

MAKE A MOVE (1995 ORIGINAL)

The first song that truly captured what X can do. This is one track that has all of X’s brilliant traits mentioned above. Over a timely whimsical DJ Irv composition (told you he was good), X waxes poetic about the harrowing life he’s been living so far. You can tell X has a soft spot for this, as he spits the opening bars to this song in that classic Belly opening. Je also repeats the magnificent hook heard here on Mic G’s Nothing Move But The Money Remix. If that wasn’t enough, he remade the whole song on his third opus, albeit with an infinitely lesser beat from PK and a few unwanted additions to the hook. Nevertheless, this hidden gem deserves to be celebrated so go bump that shit right now. And we’re done.