We've just passed the fifteen year anniversary of It's Dark And Hell Is Hot, an album heralded by many as a classic. In the years leading up to this release, all DMX was known for was his decent cameos and raspy voice. He came around just in time to replace Busta Rhymes, who had already gone off the deep end at this point. Before blowing up after his debut, he was signed to Ruffhouse Records during the early nineties. Aside from one single, nothing notable ever came out of this relationship. The fact that he didn't already have a huge amount of fame meant little to nothing, as this album ended up selling five million copies.
Before releasing this album, Dark man X, was forced to go back to the underground and reinvent himself. That's when he decided that his gimmick would involve him being covered in blood all the time and joining his buddies for quick little guest features and music video appearances. All this hard work finally paid off when Earl was signed to Def Jam Records, a relationship I always thought was a little weird but Def Jam was also going through some renovations of their own. This may not have benefited either party, but it's worth noting that he got himself an acting role in the movie, Belly, with Nasir Jones as his co-star. Just chalk him up as another artist that was never able to act worth shit.
Other than that, all you need to know his that DMX was always able to think up some of the worst, longest, and unnecessary album titles you'll ever here. It's Dark And Hell Is Hot is dark enough, but he followed it up with Flesh Of My Flesh And Blood Of My Blood, an album he released in the same year. Like I said earlier, this current album is a surprisingly huge commercial success for reasons that I still can't fully explain. If you bought the bonus album, which everyone did, your CD case contained an extra disc, which helped promote the idea that Def Jam was on some kind of comeback. Since we're in 2013 now, we can all realize that they weren't at all. In fact, it's better to just think this album was released on his Ruff Riders label. It was kind of was, but not really and it's just a long ass story that I don't feel like getting into right now.
Where my dogs at?
1. Intro (It's Dark And Hell Is Hot)
Couldn't even make out much of a though towards the intro skit, but thankfully this is no ordinary album intro. There's actually a song on here and it's also really fucking good, making for one of the best album introduction I've heard this past week. DMX is cool enough but the beat on here is bananas and is responsible for any good things this song may have caused. I can't even express how happy I am that this isn't just another terrible skit.
2. Ruff Ryder's Anthem
I know that I tell you all that you've heard these songs before, and I know that may not be the case all the time. Here is one case where I'm almost positive that every one of my readers has heard this at least once. For a song like that, it may be surprising that I actually really enjoy this. But then again, I've never meet someone who doesn't like this shit just a little bit. Earl's lyrics are completely nonsensical, but sometimes that type of thing just has to take a back seat. I'm always entertained as hell whenever radio stations or media outlets try to censor this hurricane of profanity. It's bad but I actually find the clean version to be more entertaining than the original.
3. Fuckin' Wit D
I've seen Earl call himself "D", "X", and I'm sure there's a song out there where he refers to himself as "M". Make up your mind, man, we don't have all day to go through you monikers. Anyways, this beat isn't nearly as bad as I remember it being, but he still sounds hesitant and uncomfortable on it. I think that may be because it's a little more up beat than his other work, but I have no concrete explanation.
4. The Storm (Skit)
Just a cookie cutter skit that was thrown in there to make the track list seem longer. Nineteen tracks seems nice until you actually listen and realize half of them are skits...
5. Look Thru My Eyes
I'm not fucking with this song at all, and neither should you. Another case of the beat not fitting the artist at hand. It's dark compared to the last song, but it just becomes boring after a minute. If you ever do find yourself listening to this, I recommend a minute or two to just appreciate how cool the man sounds on the mic . For being a current day pastor, I'm sure he puts on on hell of a show. Be honest, how much would you love seeing a DMX mass.
6. Get At Me (Feat. Sheek Louch)
I don't even know what would ever cause such a catastrophe, but somehow Sheek Louch found his way onto this album. If you've never heard of him, he's a member of The LOX, mostly known for being far and away worse than the other two. There's no proof of this, but it's widely speculated around the rap world that all the artists have created a "We Hate Sheek Louch" club, in which everyone is invited. The only rapper who missed out on this generous invite, was fellow LOX member, Styles P. That's a long ass story, but in short: P wasn't happy at all and has spent the better part of the last decade trying to find his way into the group because believe me, no one hates Sheek more than Styles P. That explains why he's always so salty nowadays, trying to start up fights with Joe Budden. The song was released as the first single and is pretty good..
7. Let Me Fly
Can't see anyone wanting to play this song again. Not the worst thing in the world while you're listening to it, but once the time's up, I dare you to remember a single thing about it. Earl's kind-of-singing isn't very good but it honestly could have been a whole lot worse.
8. X Is Coming
DMX has always had a thing for the shock value and slight horror core, which is usually hit or miss. This song is actually more of a hit, as it comes off as straight creepy. I definitely could have done without the chorus, though. Sorry, little kids repeating lines has never done it for me. The insanity is restored when he thought it would be a good idea to say that he'll rape any girl over the age of fifteen. I'm shocked Def Jam let that one fly.
9. Damien
I couldn't say this song is awful, because its not, but there is no such thing as a classic album that contains a song like this. This is nothing more than a duet, but the other artist is DMX with a slightly higher pitched voice. You should probably keep on moving and act like this didnt happen. I'll keep it in mind, though. There's no way this song doesn't come into play when giving the album a final overall grade.
10. How's It Goin' Down
I'm not mad at DMX for going for something more radio friendly, I've previously stated my knowledge for needing to make money with your money. I'm sure if he knew the crazy amount of sales this shit was bound to have, this wouldn't have made an appearance. Anyways, I am made at him for making such a bad female friendly song. Hardcore fans shouldn't be all that disappointed in him. He does talk about stealing a girl who already has a boyfriend, getting her pregnant, and turning her into a hooker. Sheesh, could anyone see the signs of his future life of crime?!?!
11. Mickey
Poor Mickey...
12. Crime Story
Well, this song isn't really terrible, but you would swear that Nas was over here picking the beat. I mean come the fuck on, I couldn't have found a more unsuitable instrumental if I tried. DMX is talking about the usual crime shit, which I'm sure you already knew from the awesomely generic song title, but there's no point if its going over something that could easily be confused with some smooth jazz. I love hip hop fusions, but there's a time and place for everything, and this isn't one of them. Speaking of bad experiments, go check out this band "Atilla". Rap and Metal have never mixed together, (sorry Limp Bizkit fans) but this is some of the biggest horseshit I've ever heard. You won't be disappointed.
13. Stop Being Greedy
Those of you cool enough to have a copy of the "Come At Me Dog" single will realize this as the B-Side. You can add this to the long list of b-sides being better than the main attraction, which is impressive because that single is looking mighty fine after these last couple of songs. The beat is unexplainably weird, but I kind of like it. I could imagine Mario climbing up a castle trying to find Bowzer to the instrumental of this shit. Reminds me of the weird ass cartoon track on Ghostface's Bullet Proof Wallets. This is better, though and still ranks among the best on the album.
14. ATF
Actually just one simple, yet decent verse. The track length may be confusing to you, but that's because the song takes a really god damn long time to actually start. I imagine this was some kind of freestyle that Earl really enjoyed and wanted to throw into his album. Its only decent though so I'm sure its a good thing he didn't try to stretch this thing out anymore than it needed to be.
15. For My Dog (Feat. Big Stan, Loose, Drag-On, & Dragon)
On an album as stuffed as this, you knew it was only a matter of time before DMX's friends from the hood popped up on the song. You don't know any of these rappers, and there's no reason to go off looking for any of their other work. The beat is good, but has no real stand out qualities. Earl doesn't spit anything crazy, but he quite easily destroyed his "compitition". Unfortunately, this album has taken a rough turn. Lets see if he can clean things up.
16. I Can Feel It
In regards to my last question, no. There's yet to be a song on here that I've completely trashed, as I'm working on giving some actual constructive criticism. I've got nothing for this one. It was doomed from the start, and there's not a single redeeming quality. The sample from Phil Collin's "In The Air Tonight" is bullshit and has no spot on a hip hop song, let alone a DMX album. If they really thought it was all that necessary, they al least could have put in the bad ass drums. Sigh, I'm fairly disappointed in this album, but I don't think anyone though this shit was any good.
17. Prayer (Skit)
These little prayer skits would soon prove to be a sample of DMX's career, appearing on almost all of his albums. Nothing really special about this one, though.
18. The Convo
Coming off the last skit, the song kicks off awesomely, but quickly becomes boring. That's depressing as hell to me. Nothing in rap is worse than a waste of potential. This song isn't really bad, though, as the majority of my distaste towards it comes from the change of pace midway through. I'm sure a few of you will enjoy that, but it was wasn't doing it for me.
19. Niggaz Done Started Something (The Lox & Ma$e)
Bad Boy artists The Lox (Sheek Louch's ass found his way on here again!) and Ma$e come off as nothing more than side acts, as DMX gives one final bark, destroying everyone else in the track. Ironically, Ma$e actually found his way onto the Ruff Ryder's label after his well documented beef with Puff Daddy. Dame Grease's dark, base heavy instrumental is among the best on the entire album, giving the gang a great place to spit their bars. The only rapper worth mentioning outside of DMX is Styles P, who built a reputation for word play based of his verse. Pretty fantastic way to end your debut album.
Rating: 3/5
DMX's It's Dark And Hell Is Hot can be an overstuffed mess at times. There, I said it. Like most young rappers, I'm sure he though that he may only have one chance to tell the world his story, which made him thrown any and every idea he ever had into this one cohesive project. Unfortunately, album-mode DMX doesn't have all that much to talk about and he slowly becomes rather redundant. Despite the numerous flaws, its not like this is a bad album. I like it, but I don't love it, and it damn sure shouldn't have sold over five million copies. On the commercial level, there's not much this albums done wrong, so its not like my review is going to mean anything. This certified Earl as a full out star, as he all but claimed the throne that Tupac and Biggie left. Later that year, he pushed out yet another album with an even scarier and worse title, but it also sold tons of copies. I'd be surprise if you didn't already have this, but if you're looking for a great DMX album, you're going to have to look elsewhere. While several of these songs are hip hop essentials, I can't justify purchasing the entire album. Oh well, sometimes these "classic" aren't all they are built up to be.