DMX, real name Earl Simmons, released his debut major-label album ‘It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot’ in 1998 just as I was starting to really get into rap. I remember hearing “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” for the first time and being blown away by the ferocity in how he delivered his rhymes. He was almost spitting his rhymes with cruel intentions like a Mike Tyson uppercut in 1989. ‘It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot’ remains one of my favorite debut rap albums up there with Snoop’s ‘Doggystyle’ , Jay Z’s ‘Reasonable Doubt’ and Nas’s ‘Illmatic’. 

‘It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot’ sold 5 million copies and was followed up by ‘Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood’ in December of the same year. I vividly remember going to FYE at our local copy with my friends the day it came out. Immediately, the album cover hooked me with the image of DMX covered in blood let me know what I was in for when I put the CD in my player. The album was darker than it’s predecessor but also had a cleaner sound. The album featured the single “Slippin’” and went multi-platinum.

DMX followed that up a year later with ‘…And Then There Was X’, which basically became the music of my senior year in high school. “Party Up’ was a party anthem that seemed to be played non-stop on the radio and at any high school party I attended. 

Following that album DMX had a few hits but nothing that reached the heights he hit on his first three albums. He actually announced he would retire after the release of his fifth album ‘Grand Champ’. The retirement didn’t last long when he released his sixth album a few years later. 

DMX wasn’t without his issues and battled his own demons throughout his life. Even with that there was always something about him that was endearing. You knew there was better person inside him despite some of the poor decisions he made. Had he been able to stay away from drugs I could have seen transcending rap and becoming a bigger pop culture icon along the lines of Snoop Dogg or Ice T. 

His lyrics gave you a sneak peek into his mind and showed you a firsthand look at the battle between right and wrong going on inside him. His music seemed to come from the perspective of the devil and the angel on his shoulders battling for his attention. It seemed like DMX never knew which one to trust and tried to sort that out in his music.

DMX was only 50 years old when he passed away but his music will continue to live longer than the time he spent on Earth. I will forever be grateful to him for the music that he put out in the time that he did. His music was a big part of my personal music journey and is a gigantic part of the soundtrack of my life.

RIP DMX. You will be greatly missed.

-Blake