It's Dark And Hell Is Hot
20 years ago, DMX released his debut studio album It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot. It was a dark, aggressive and brooding album, and filled with some of the most personal lyrics heard on any hip-hop album. “Get At Me Dog” and “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” were the two records that were ringing through the streets in every borough, but it was the introspective DMX that appeared on tracks like “Look Thru My Eyes,” “Stop Being Greedy,” and “Let Me Fly” that made him the most relatable rapper around.
May 23, 2018 “How’s It Going Down”. It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot is known for bringing the hardcore element back to rap, but DMX smooths things out with “How’s It Goin’ Down,” an addictive track that foreshadowed his unexpected turn as a hip-hop sex symbol. Produced by PK and released as the fourth and final single from the album.
- 22 rows It's Dark and Hell Is Hot. It primarily includes production from Dame Grease (13 tracks) and PK (8 tracks), in addition to production from Irv Gotti and Lil Rob (2 tracks), Younglord (1 track; add.), and Swizz Beatz (1 track). The album is widely considered a classic among hip hop fans and critics.
- It's Dark and Hell Is Hot. It primarily includes production from Dame Grease (13 tracks) and PK (8 tracks), in addition to production from Irv Gotti and Lil Rob (2 tracks), Younglord (1 track; add.), and Swizz Beatz (1 track). The album is widely considered a classic among hip hop fans and critics.
The influence of the album over the past two decades remains today. Hear it from the album’s producers, Irv Gotti and PK: “I don’t think 50 Cent has the success he has if It’s Dark and Hell is Hot didn’t come before him,” said Gotti. “I think Get Rich or Die Tryin’ is a descendent of it”
PK spoke to Drake’s producer after he interpolated “How’s It Going Down” on “U With Me,” a track off his 2016 album Views. “He was like, ‘Yo, Drake loves that style of music,’” PK said. “A lot of Drake’s early music was inspired by that type of sound from DMX.”
The album was also the culmination of a decade-long journey rapper trying to make it in hip-hop. In 1991, DMX was featured in the Unsigned Hype section of The Source, and signed with Ruffhouse Records in 1992, released a single called “Born Loser,” which didn’t catch with the radio crowd. X was eventually released from his contract.
DMX was a Baltimore native who spent his formative years at the New York’s Children’s Village group home growing up in Yonkers. Everyone in the neighborhood knew DMX growing up. Joaquin “Waah” Dean, co-founder of Ruff Ryders Records first met him in 1987 after hearing one of his tapes. “He was just standing outside of his apartment selling his little mixtapes,” Dean recalled.
Dame Grease, one of the producers on t’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, remembers DMX showing up to local talent shows. “He would have like 25 rap books with him,” Grease said. “Every page had lyrics on them, front and back. He had like 5,000 songs worth of lyrics.”
DMX was also known as an incredible battle rapper. Fellow rapper Styles P grew up in Yonkers, and remembers being in county jail together once with X. “I was stationed on D-Block,” Styles said. “I got to the pen and X was like, ‘Yo, you ready dawg?’ I was like, ‘For what?’ He was like, ‘It’s going down, come with me.’ We went to this church room and there was a drummer and a whole band, and we just started to battle with a bunch of guys.”
A legend in the streets, DMX was still waiting for an opportunity to showcase his talent to a mainstream audience. He finally got that opportunity in 1998, thanks to Irv Gotti, who was working as an A&R executive at Def Jam Records, and had known DMX since the late 1980s. Gotti had been telling anyone in the industry who would listen that DMX just needed a chance. “He was the voice for the voiceless,” Gotti said.
[Ed Note: DMX is notably absent from this piece. We made multiple requests to speak to him, but just couldn’t connect with him in time since he is in prison with limited phone and email access.]
“We have the pick of the litter.”
Irv Gotti(A&R executive, Def Jam Records): The first day at Def Jam, they told me my A&R responsibilities and I was like, “Cool, but we have to sign DMX.” They laughed at me. I was like, “Isn’t this what A&Rs do? We find talent.” They wouldn’t let me sign him. After two months, I quit and stopped coming in to the office. Lyor Cohen was the president at Def Jam, he called me, and I was like, “Yo, I would rather take my chances on the street. I thought Def Jam was live but it’s actually kind of corny.”
Darrin “Dee” Dean(co-founder, Ruff Ryders Records): So Lyor decided to come to the studio and see for himself.
Irv Gotti: Kevin Liles, Dame Dash, and Lyor went with me to Powerhouse Studios in Yonkers. DMX, The Lox, and Drag-On were in there rapping.
Darrin “Dee” Dean: DMX had his jaw wired shut. X was robbing a lot of kids back in the day, and after this one kid got robbed, his father came to the studio looking for X, and wanted to get a fair one with him. It went down. It was a fair one-on-one. X got his jaw broken along with a couple ribs. He was in the hospital and Irv called a meeting with Lyor, so he came in the studio.
Irv Gotti: Lyor kept a poker face when he was at the studio. He was trying not looking too excited, so they didn’t know how badly he wanted to sign them.
Darrin “Dee” Dean: He started spitting with his jaw wired, and Lyor was like, “Oh shit, this guy’s the real deal.” That’s how we got our deal with Def Jam. Lyor signed him on the spot.
Irv Gotti: Once we left the studio. Lyor was going crazy. He was like, “Yo. He is fucking incredible. We have the pick of the litter. He is going to kill it.” And we signed him.
“He was the voice for the voiceless.”
At the time, the hip-hop landscape was dominated by Puff Daddy and Bad Boy Records. They were putting out hit after hit, dominating the charts and radio airwaves. The glitz and glamor of Bad Bady’s mainstream hits and increasingly more shinier outfits in their music videos gave rise to the shiny suit era.
Meanwhile, everyone involved with It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot knew it was time to not only showcase DMX’s talents, but bring hip-hop back to the streets. Two hit records, 'Get At Me Dog' and 'Ruff Ryders’ Anthem,' defined that approach.
Dame Grease(producer): We were coming off the shiny suit era.
Joaquin “Waah” Dean(co-founder, Ruff Ryders Records): When Biggie and Pac passed away, it opened up a void, and we filled in that blank. At the end of the day, Puff helped us a lot so shoutout to Puff, but we had a great relationship with the streets and we were going to do what we know.
Darrin “Dee” Dean: When we came in the game, they were wearing Versace silk suits. We came in straight from the hood, with jeans, Timbs, and hoodies.
Styles P(rapper): When people say “street,” all street shit ain’t the same. You had mobster kind of street, you had flashy street, you had cocky drug dealer street. X was raw, super raw, projects, you don’t know if a stick up might happen. He might stick up somebody he was with. That was the type of dude X was. He’s a dog. Even more than bringing street rap back, it was just more bringing something that was raw that nobody got to see before. Who was like X?
Dame Grease: I produced the last song of the shiny suit era with “If You Think I’m Jiggy” with The Lox and the first song of the bring it back to the streets era with “Get At Me Dog.”
PK(producer): “Get At Me Dog” was initially a freestyle. Dame and I were in the studio, and I just started looping this EPMD sample. Dame made some changes, and it was recorded and released as a freestyle with The Lox on a DJ Clue tape. That shit was ringing through the streets through every car system in every borough. It was bananas.
It's Dark And Hell Is Hot Production Credits
Irv Gotti: One of my favorite lines on the song is when he says, 'When we're starving, we eat whatever's there.' He didn’t say I’m starving. He said we starving. He took himself off the stage and he became one of the dudes in the crowd. He spoke for all the grimy n----- who ain’t got nothing on the street.
Dame Grease: This was a dude who would cut your ass on the corner who was on the radio now.
Irv Gotti: Jay-Z was the best I rapper in the world. DMX was the best we rapper. Jay-Z is like one of a thousand, while DMX was speaking for that thousand. He embodied the motherfuckers who ain’t got shit. He was the voice for the voiceless.
Dame Grease: Everything from DMX was 1,000 percent uncut. A term on the street we use is heroin straight from Singapore. It means it was raw, no nothing, no cut, no taxes, no nothing. That was X. The world was fiending for some real shit.
Darrin “Dee” Dean: We were in Maryland recording the album, and it was five in the morning. It was me, DMX and one of our friends Man Man who has since past away. We were playing cards at the house, and X started to recite the hook [to 'Ruff Ryders' Anthem']. It was in his head. I was like, “Alright, let’s go to the studio.”
Irv Gotti: Swizz Beatz was a 16 year old kid. He was the nephew of Dee and Waah, and he was around watching us make the album. He had all this hip-hop energy and his beats were always different. I was like, “Yo, give Swizz a shot. He’s dope.”
Darrin “Dee” Dean: We went to the studio at five in the morning and recorded Ruff Ryders’ Anthem.
Dame Grease: The studio sessions were pure energy. It’s funny, because somebody asked me if those sessions were crazy. To me, it was regular. To anyone else, it was probably crazy. We were smoking weed, having dice games in the corner, there was probably a pitbull or two walking around. You know, couple thotties. Just your typical studio session.
Irv Gotti: The minute I heard Ruff Ryders’ Anthem, I was like, holy shit, we’ve got a monster. I kicked down Lyor’s door at the office. I told him, “Motherfucker, we’re gonna own the world.” He was in a meeting, and started apologizing to the people in the room, just telling everyone, “This is Irv, he’s very passionate.” I was like, “Fuck anything you’re doing right now.” I played him the record, and he went crazy too.
Darrin “Dee” Dean: It was the anthem. It put Yonkers on the map.
“He thinks of himself as a dog.”
It’s Dark and Hell is Hot launched DMX’s career to new heights. He released a critically-acclaimed follow-up album Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood in the same year, his third album, ...And Then There Was X, went five-times platinum. DMX starred alongside Jet Li and Aaliyah in Romeo Must Die and starred in the movie Cradle to the Grave. In the past decade, DMX has been in the news for a series of arrests. In March, DMX was sentenced to one year in jail for tax fraud. Despite his personal struggle, friends and peers come back to one thing: DMX’s passion and loyalty.
Dame Grease: He will take the shirt off his back for anybody. If he walked down the street and saw a family struggling, he would help them right there, with groceries or whatever he needed, no matter if they were white, black, or whatever. I’ve seen it a million times. None of this stuff is ever publicized.
Jonathan Mannion(photographer): When it came time to shoot for It’s Dark and Hell is Hot, we went to Yonkers, and he was in camouflage head-to-toe. We jumped fences to get into wide-open space at a power plant, and shot there. It was a real moment of freedom for him. To have his childhood and his upbringing, which wasn’t all fluffy and peachy, this was a different journey for him. People started to understand him, and he was allowed to explore his deep set of emotions. I also remember his excitement and energy. He would just be hanging out the passenger window shouting, “Y.O. baby, Yonkers, we in here!” full barking and everything. I remember getting chills. It was like he had arrived.
Dmx Intro
Styles P: He has his demons, which we all do. It is what it is. For me personally, I never see how other people see X. It’s always a winning story no matter what he’s going through, because I know his background. I haven’t seen too many people come from what he came from and do what he’s done. It’s hard for me, how everybody feels pity for him, because I know he’s going to get it together, that’s part of his trials and tribulations and what makes him the man he is today.
It's Dark And Hell Is Hot Download
Irv Gotti: When the album came out, he had a legendary show at the Apollo. He tore that shit down, and he ended with “Prayer,” and started crying. And when he closes with the lines, “So if it takes for me to suffer, for my brother to see the light, give me pain ‘til I die, but please, Lord, treat him right,” and threw up the X with his arms, there was hood n----- and bitches in there crying. Every motherfucker in the Apollo had the X up with him and they were crying. He was like, “I love y’all n----. I love my n-----.” He’s telling everyone in the audience “I love y’all.” I was on stage behind him, and I was like, god man. That’s DMX, man. Artists don’t have a connection like that. He’s in your heart. He’s in your fucking heart.
Jonathan Mannion: There’s purpose, there’s imperfections, but it all means well. He means well for himself and he means well for the people around him. He empathizes with people’s struggles. He’s a man of the people. Heart and empathy is how I would describe him. Heart because he possesses it. Empathy because he has it for the people who he can see traits of himself in.
Irv Gotti: There’s no one who knows him who doesn’t love him. He’s a loving, caring friend. He’s a dog. He thinks of himself as a dog. It’s crazy, right. When you think of a dog, the first thing you think of is loyalty, he’s a by your side motherfucker. It doesn’t matter what’s going on, a dog is going to be by your side. That’s DMX. That’s why I never judge him. I don’t care if he’s high as a kite, or sober, I love that X as much as the other X. I love the X that’s free and I love the X that’s in jail right now. That’s my dog.