05/12/98. I was wrapping up my senior year in high school, a few weeks away from graduating. So basically, I wasn’t doing shit. I had finished most of my classes so my biggest priority on this day was to go to HMV on 72nd and Broadway (the OGs will know what I’m talking about) and cop “It’s Dark & Hell Is Hot”, the debut album from DMX. His first single “Get At Me Dog” had dropped a few months prior and I needed to see what X was capable of doing with a full album. He had a lot of the intangibles that are critical to being a hip-hop star: he was energetic, charismatic, and he possessed a once-in-a-lifetime voice that added edge to his signature growls. The anticipation was high and I wanted to be one of the first to capture the experience.
If me mentioning HMV, a music store that hasn’t been in business for around 45 years wasn’t enough to date me, me telling you that after I bought the CD, I popped it into my portable CD player is sure to get the job done. I remember listening to it on the bus on my way to school, and then finishing the album once I left. I also remember thinking to myself, “this mfer did it”. Historically, when a hip-hop artist generates the type of buzz that X had before a debut album, the odds of disappointment are sky high. Although it’s unfair to the artist, it’s reality. If you drop a song or two and they hit big, you are now equipped with the nearly impossible task of creating a damn near flawless masterpiece that’ll leave your listeners satisfied. This challenge has severely damaged the careers of many rappers, who despite giving it their best shot, ended up coming up short, much to the chagrin of their (now former) fan base.
X did the impossible, however. “Get At Me Dog” was an energetic, boastful, three minute display of X’s talents, but it didn’t give too much insight into the type of artist he might be. The song mostly associated with his debut album, “Ruff Ryders Anthem”, wasn’t too different on the surface, so up to this point, X was still a bit of a mystery. All those questions were answered with “It’s Dark & Hell Is Hot”, a 65-minute journey into the mind of a man chasing angels and battling demons. DMX wasn’t just a dude barking on tracks, or a guy using his trademark voice as a crutch. He had one of the rarest gifts a hip-hop artist can have: he had depth.
For those that don’t know, I had my own TV show for many years and starting in 1997, I had started getting opportunities to interview artists. For a teenager, this was fuckin’ mind-blowing, and looking back at it now, it’s still incredible. A few days, and several spins of the album later, I was contacted by a representative at Def Jam records who had an open press spot available... to interview DMX. As poised as I was back then, this got my adrenaline rushing. Some of the artists I had interviewed up to this point were either new/up and coming, ones I had no interest in musically, or more often than not, a combination of the two. Clearly, this was not going to be one of those times.
There was a packed house that day, with various members of local media all waiting to speak to the man who just dropped an instant classic. When I got my chance, I walked my boney-ass frame in my oversized gap tee over to DMX and introduced myself. Interestingly enough, the guy that X portrayed himself as in his music wasn’t a portrayal at all, as his energy that day was consistent with everything I had heard to that day. The highlight of the interview was when I told him to forget about the interview, that as a fan of hip-hop, I appreciate his album and I really enjoyed it. Out of everything we spoke about that day, that remark was the one that seemed to resonate the most with X. He nodded his head in agreement and told me he understood what I meant because at the end of the day, he’s a fan of hip-hop as well.
I could’ve written this article a while ago. 1998 was over 20 years ago. I didn’t. What caused me to reflect on this memory is that today, 4/9/21, DMX passed away. While it’s true that people usually don’t get their flowers until they can’t receive them, I can say I gave X his flowers when I met him, and for that, I am forever grateful.
Since the day I met him, DMX went on to become one of the biggest artists on the planet, achieving superhuman feats like dropping two number one albums in the same calendar year. He went on to act in a few films, wrote a book, and completely takeover songs he was featured on. Unfortunately, he also seemed to struggle with some of the same themes he so eloquently rapped about on his debut album. Chasing angels and battling demons.
Rest Easy X
