DMX’s platinum-selling debut album, ‘It’s Dark and Hell is Hot,’ was released on this day in 1998 through Def Jam & Ruff Ryders Entertainment. In '98, DMX was the new artist that everyone was talking about. He put out 2 albums in the same year and both are cult-classics! I first heard DMX in '93 with 'Born Loser' on Ruffhouse/Columbia; a track he'd probably rather we forget. Mic Geronimo put DMX on 'Time To Build' in '95 and 'Usual Suspects' in '97, which was the verse from X that caught all our attention: "What's all the noise about, have some respect, shut the fuck up..." His raw energy grabbed at a lane only he could fill, despite any comparisons to 2Pac. Through the Def Jam connection, LL Cool put him on a couple singles, and recently took credit for launching DMX, which I think was overselling his influence. The production of ‘It’s Dark & Hell Is Hot’ was primarily handled by Dame Grease, with the help of Irv Gotti and Swiss Beatz. The singles were ‘Get At Me Dog,’ ‘Stop Being Greedy,’ the smash ‘Ruff Ryders Anthem’ and an alternate version of ‘How It’s Going Down’ with Faith Evans. That said, the real heart of the album is in the album cuts, tracks like the 'Intro,' ‘Look Thru My Eyes,’ ‘Let Me Fly,’ ‘Damien,’ ‘I Can Feel It’ and more. Clocking in at over an hour’s length, it was a lengthy album that was celebrated as an instant classic and for Lyor and Def Jam to get X to come back months later with a second smash album is one of the greatest feats in Hip-Hop history in the days before internet oversaturated the market. $$$ talks! X will always be a people's champ, and I hope he finds his way through the darkness and into the light. Prayers up!
OG Sticker above / the video for 'How's It Goin' Down' is below...