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Just as rap music was reaching its toughest, darkest, grimmest period yet, following the assassinations of 2Pac and Biggie in the late '90s, along came DMX and his fellow Ruff Ryders, who embodied the essence of inner-city machismo to a tee, as showcased throughout the tellingly titled It's Dark and Hell Is Hot. Unlike so many other hardcore rappers who are more rhetorical than physical, DMX commands an aggressive aura without even speaking a word. He showcases his chiseled physique on the arresting album cover and trumpets his animalistic nature with frequent barking, growling, and snarling throughout the album. He also collaborates with muscular producers Swizz Beatz and Dame Grease, who specialize in slamming synth-driven beats rather than sample-driven ones. Further unlike so many other hardcore rappers from the time, DMX is meaningful as well as symbolic. He professes an ideology that stresses the inner world -- characterized by such qualities as survival, wisdom, strength, respect, and faith -- rather than the material one that infatuates most rappers of his time. It helpes that his album includes a few mammoth highlights ("Ruff Ryders' Anthem," "Get at Me Dog," "Let Me Fly," and "I Can Feel It") as well as a light, mid-album diversion ("How's It Goin' Down"). The long running length of It's Dark and Hell Is Hot does wear you down after a while, since nearly every song here sans "How's It Goin' Down" hits hard and maintains the album's deadly serious attitude. Even so, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot is a tremendous debut, laying out DMX's complex persona with candor, from his faith in God to his fixation with canine motifs, and doing so with dramatic flair.
© Jason Birchmeier /TiVo
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Irving Lorenzo, ComposerLyricist - Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - Irv Gotti, Producer - James Mtume, ComposerLyricist - KEVIN CROUSE, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DMX, MainArtist - Robin Mays, ComposerLyricist - Lil Rob, Producer
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Kasseem Dean, ComposerLyricist - Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - Rich Keller, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DMX, MainArtist - Swizz, Producer
℗ 1998 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Damon Blackmon, ComposerLyricist - Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - Anthony Fields, ComposerLyricist - Fonce Mizell, ComposerLyricist - Rich Keller, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DMX, MainArtist - P.K., Producer - Dame Grease, Producer, Additional Producer - Laurence Mizell, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Damon Blackmon, ComposerLyricist - Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - Anthony Fields, ComposerLyricist - Rich Keller, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DMX, MainArtist - Mad Man, Producer, Additional Producer - P.K., Producer - Dame Grease, Producer - Waah, Producer, Additional Producer - Jaoquin "Waah" Dean, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Damon Blackmon, ComposerLyricist - Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - Anthony Fields, ComposerLyricist - Rich Keller, Additional Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DMX, MainArtist - P.K., Producer - Prince Charles, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Dame Grease, Producer, Co-Producer
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Damon Blackmon, ComposerLyricist - Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - Anthony Fields, ComposerLyricist - Sam Taylor, ComposerLyricist - D'Anthony Johnson, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DMX, MainArtist - Sheek, FeaturedArtist - P.K., Producer, Additional Producer - Dame Grease, Producer
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Damon Blackmon, ComposerLyricist - Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - Richard Frierson, ComposerLyricist - MANUEL ALEJANDRO, ComposerLyricist - ANA MAGDALENA, ComposerLyricist - Rich Keller, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DMX, MainArtist - Dame Grease, Producer
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - Anthony Fields, ComposerLyricist - DMX, MainArtist - Ken "Supa Engineer" Duro, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - P.K., Producer - Justice Johnson, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Damon Blackmon, ComposerLyricist - Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - Rich Keller, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DMX, MainArtist - Dame Grease, Producer
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - Anthony Fields, ComposerLyricist - Rich Keller, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DMX, MainArtist - P.K., Producer
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - Anthony Fields, ComposerLyricist - Rich Keller, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DMX, MainArtist - Rajah Winn, Producer, ComposerLyricist - P.K., Producer - Waah Winn, Producer - Jaoquin "Waah" Dean, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Irving Lorenzo, ComposerLyricist - Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - Irv Gotti, Producer - Freddie Perren, ComposerLyricist - KEVIN CROUSE, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DMX, MainArtist - Robin Mays, ComposerLyricist - Lil Rob, Producer
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Damon Blackmon, ComposerLyricist - Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - Anthony Fields, ComposerLyricist - Michael Masser, ComposerLyricist - DMX, MainArtist - Ken "Supa Engineer" Duro, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - P.K., Producer
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Damon Blackmon, ComposerLyricist - Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - DMX, MainArtist - Ken "Supa Engineer" Duro, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Dame Grease, Producer
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Damon Blackmon, ComposerLyricist - Loose, FeaturedArtist - Rich Keller, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DMX, MainArtist, ComposerLyricist - Big Stan, FeaturedArtist - Dennis Joyner, ComposerLyricist - Kendall Clark, ComposerLyricist - Mel Smalls, ComposerLyricist - Drag-On, FeaturedArtist - Kasino, FeaturedArtist - Kimani Davis, Composer - Dame Grease, Producer
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Damon Blackmon, ComposerLyricist - Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - Phil Collins, ComposerLyricist - Rich Keller, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DMX, MainArtist - Dame Grease, Producer
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - Rich Keller, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DMX, MainArtist - Dame Grease, Producer
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Damon Blackmon, ComposerLyricist - Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - J. Gillespie, ComposerLyricist - Rich Keller, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DMX, MainArtist - Ed Penney, ComposerLyricist - Dame Grease, Producer
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
David Styles, ComposerLyricist - Jason Phillips, ComposerLyricist - Sean Jacobs, ComposerLyricist - Damon Blackmon, ComposerLyricist - Earl Simmons, ComposerLyricist - Mase, FeaturedArtist, ComposerLyricist - DMX, MainArtist - L.O.X., FeaturedArtist - Dame Grease, Producer, Mixer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 1998 Rush Associated Labels Inc.
Album review
Just as rap music was reaching its toughest, darkest, grimmest period yet, following the assassinations of 2Pac and Biggie in the late '90s, along came DMX and his fellow Ruff Ryders, who embodied the essence of inner-city machismo to a tee, as showcased throughout the tellingly titled It's Dark and Hell Is Hot. Unlike so many other hardcore rappers who are more rhetorical than physical, DMX commands an aggressive aura without even speaking a word. He showcases his chiseled physique on the arresting album cover and trumpets his animalistic nature with frequent barking, growling, and snarling throughout the album. He also collaborates with muscular producers Swizz Beatz and Dame Grease, who specialize in slamming synth-driven beats rather than sample-driven ones. Further unlike so many other hardcore rappers from the time, DMX is meaningful as well as symbolic. He professes an ideology that stresses the inner world -- characterized by such qualities as survival, wisdom, strength, respect, and faith -- rather than the material one that infatuates most rappers of his time. It helpes that his album includes a few mammoth highlights ("Ruff Ryders' Anthem," "Get at Me Dog," "Let Me Fly," and "I Can Feel It") as well as a light, mid-album diversion ("How's It Goin' Down"). The long running length of It's Dark and Hell Is Hot does wear you down after a while, since nearly every song here sans "How's It Goin' Down" hits hard and maintains the album's deadly serious attitude. Even so, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot is a tremendous debut, laying out DMX's complex persona with candor, from his faith in God to his fixation with canine motifs, and doing so with dramatic flair.
© Jason Birchmeier /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 19 track(s)
- Total length: 01:05:09
- Main artists: DMX
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Def Jam Recordings
- Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
© 1998 UMG Recordings, Inc. ℗ 1998 UMG Recordings, Inc.
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