After the deaths of Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur, the rap world kinda got...I don't know what the word is. Scared? It seemed in the wake of those two fateful murders, people didn't want to talk about shooting people, "thug life", selling drugs, all the harsh realities of the world. Not in the mainstream anyway. Nah, what was selling was shiny suits, throwing your Rolly in the sky, driving Benzes and Bentleys, and making videos using that stupid "fish-eye" lens technique. People were happy-go-lucky, sampling hits from the 80's but makin' it sound so crazy. Not a mean mug or shirtless, tatted up body to found.
And then there was X.
DMX exploded onto the scene like an atomic bomb, decimating everything in his path. The backlash against Puffy, Ma$e and the like had already begun, and people were looking for a return of the dark, grimy and gritty sound that had been missing. Dark Man X supplied in spades.
From his guttural growl and barking to dark, bleak lyrics depicting homicides, bloodbaths, RAPE and the like, X was almost an overnight success. Songs like "Get at Me Dog" and "Stop Being Greedy" heated up the clubs and the streets. When "Ruff Ryders Anthem" finally dropped, it was game over. The thugs had someone to ride out to, and suburban America had another tragic figure to idolize.
The album was a coming out party for producers Swizz Beatz and Dame Grease, who produced the bulk of the tracks. They went on to become household names and still make hits today. DMX himself spawned several clones, the most successful being Ja Rule. X's reign lasted awhile before legal troubles, drug problems and just inability to advance his style stalled out his career indefinitely. But there's one thing you can't take away from DMX, and that is 1998, which was HIS year. He dropped two certified banging albums in one year, a feat quite unheard of, and just totally changed the game. "It's Dark and Hell is Hot" is a timeless piece of hip-hop music that any true fan should have in their collection.
KEY TRACKS: "Get at Me Dog", "Niggaz Done Started Something", "Damien", "Stop Being Greedy", "Ruff Ryders Anthem", "Hows it Goin' Down?", "Intro"
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