Latest Release
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- 25 JULY 2024
- 1 Song
- ...And Then There Was X · 1999
- The Best of DMX · 2003
- It's Dark and Hell Is Hot · 1998
- Grand Champ · 2003
- The Great Depression · 2001
- Grand Champ · 2003
- The Weigh In · 2012
- Romeo Must Die (Original Soundtrack) · 2000
- Cradle 2 the Grave (Original Soundtrack) · 2003
- ...And Then There Was X · 1999
Essential Albums
- School of hard knocks graduate DMX cuts an intimidating figure on his explosive major-label debut. But for all the dog-bark rapping and machismo, It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot is a concept album about pain, above all else. He imbues manic-depressive fantasies like "Get at Me Dog" and conversations with Satan ("The Convo") with deep introspection—and the occasional Phil Collins interpretation (the spooky "I Can Feel It"). It's a masterful balance of control and catharsis; few voices are better suited to channel such heartache.
- 2017
- 2012
- 2012
Artist Playlists
- No one brought NY street rawness to the mainstream like X. RIP.
- The defiantly tough New York rapper gets personal.
- Growling, menacing flows and banging hooks.
- The grisly street cuts behind the growling rapper.
Compilations
- Kin-G Tha Heterosapien
- Natethoven & BEAT IT UP PROD
- Kinetic Kash
More To Hear
- Q-Tip pays tribute to DMX in this special episode.
- Mehdi Maïzi rend hommage à DMX, idole de toute une génération.
- The New York rappers discuss the album 'Living Off Xperience.'
- The artists discuss the album 'Living Off Xperience.'
- Two living legends of hip-hop compare their catalogs.
- The vision of multi-talented phenomenon Drake.
About DMX
With DMX, a man blessed with a vicious bark of a voice, there was no such thing as half-stepping. Born Earl Simmons in 1970, the Yonkers-raised MC arrived as the physical embodiment of unbridled energy—a one-man distillation of fellow rugged New York acts like Wu-Tang Clan. On his 1998 debut, It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, DMX's aggressive vocals projected his imposing presence across songs like the minimal, clanging “Get at Me Dog” and rowdy breakout “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem". But X scaled back the pugnacity on that same album’s introspective “How’s It Goin’ Down”, which featured R&B singer Faith Evans and painted a picture of a complex relationship headed down the wrong path. DMX would revisit that sensitivity on the heartfelt “Slippin’”, from 1998’s Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, which found him expressing a desire to live a less tumultuous life. Though the rapper’s two sides may seem to have been at odds, he always thrived when he let his emotions fly unrestrained. In 1999, he released ...And Then There Was X, where even the anthemic “Party Up” served as a prime example of DMX's uniquely intense take on hardcore hip-hop. But whether ferocious, amped up, or introspective, the MC remained grounded by his faith, which, especially in the later years of his career, he approached with nothing short of absolute devotion. He died on 9 April, 2021.
- HOMETOWN
- Mount Vernon, NY, United States
- BORN
- 18 December 1970
- GENRE
- Hip-Hop/Rap