It's Dark and Hell is Hot - DMX (1998)

It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot is the 1998 debut album from New York rapper DMX. DMX (born Earl Simmons) grew up in Yonkers, New York and suffered a disjointed childhood spending much of his adolescence in various boys’ homes, homeless or in prison. DMX started his musical “career” after forming a friendship with local rapper Ready Ron and began beatboxing for him. Beatboxing is where Simmons coined his name from – he chose the name of a drum machine he used to use in a boys’ home called the “Oberheim DMX”, clearly as a credit to how good his beatboxing was. After a trip to prison in 1988, X started taking his music more seriously and selling mixtapes on street corners, which eventually lead to him getting signed. This was short-lived though as his contract at Ruffhouse Records was cut terminated due to poor single sales. It took for his collaborative projects with Ja Rule and Jay-Z in 1994-95 for DMX to start making a commercial name for himself, rather than just in New York. As of 2015, DMX has released eight records with his first five going platinum and charting at No.1 in the US.

It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot was set up in good stead by three great singles being released off the album prior to its release. The first was ‘Get At Me Dog’, a song that features a beat reminiscent of NWA’s ‘If It Ain’t Ruff’ or The Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Just Playing (Dreams)’ in the way it uses a guitar hook for the melody. However, what differs these two songs to ‘Get At Me Dog’ is DMX’s gruff and coarse vocals. The anger heard in his voice is a consistent feature in all of DMX’s music, however, is used to its best effect on It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot. Of course, X is more well known for his hit singles ‘X Gon’ Give It To Ya’, ‘Party Up (Up In Here)’ and ‘Where The Hood At’, but these tracks do not come close to the consistent quality on his debut album. Starting with the opener ‘Intro/It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot’, a

song that sets the tone for the record. The track begins with this disgruntled (and downright bizarre) conversation that turns into this killer hip-hop beat with DMX showcasing what he can do. Another track that shows this speed, aggression and a heavy beat is ‘F*ckin’ Wit’ D’’ where his flow bounces and compliments the beat. This is one of the tracks where producer Dame Grease has tracked analogue drums onto the sample, which is something that sparked my interest.

Another characteristic worth focussing on is the lyrical content of It’s Dark and Hell is Hot. The songs centre around repeated themes of brotherhood, crime, and Christianity. X repeatedly uses the notion of “cats and dogs” through the album with cats being the enemy and dogs being his “boys”. His lyrics of crime act as a social commentary as it is the life that surrounded Simmons while growing up. Tracks like ‘X-Is Coming’, ‘ATF’ and ‘Crime Story’ are an honest and sometimes brutal representation of life in rough neighbourhoods in New York. The lyrics about Christianity are the most intriguing, though, religion is something that does not often come up in popular music, let alone hip-hop. Tracks like ‘Damian’ and ‘The Convo’ are two songs that are easily distinguishable as being about Christianity. In both tracks, DMX uses two different rapping tones to act as if there is a conversation going on between two parties. Damian in ‘Damian’ represents the devil on DMX’s shoulder, telling him to do things he should not do, but the two voices in ‘The Convo’ are Simmons and God. X adopts his raspy and aggressive style for himself in the song and a more melodic style (heard in ‘I Can Feel It’) for God. This notion of Christianity runs throughout and could act as a conflict between a good and bad DMX.

Stand-out tracks on this album for me have to be ‘Ruff Ryders’ Anthem’, ‘X-Is Coming’ and ‘Crime Story’. ‘Ruff Ryders’ Anthem’ was the last pre-album release single off It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot and is the most commercially successful track on the album. Along with its distinct beat, it features a signature-DMX intro that builds hype (other examples of this are ‘F*ckin’ Wit’ D’ and ‘Party Up (Up In Here)’) as well as X’s gruff voice and overall enthusiasm that is seen on many of his later singles. ‘X-Is Coming’ is a favourite for me due to its incredibly dark lyrical content and blend of crime and Christianity. I am also fond of the adaptation of the nursery rhyme, used as the song’s hook, as it hints at a false sense of innocence. ‘Crime Story’ contains this Beastie Boys-inspired beat with a prominent bassline and analogue drums but does not contain DMX’s violent rapping style. He has slowed his flow down to match the upbeat and juxtaposing beat while singing about crime.

It’s Dark and Hell is Hot has earnt its place in history as a classic 90s hip-hop record. It has taken influence from Nas, Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep to create a dark social commentary that sits firmly in the East-Coast hip-hop repertoire. The album may clock in at over an hour, stretched over 19 songs, but does contain the quality to warrant being that long. I would highly recommend this to any fans of the 90s hip-hop scene as I believe it is a forgotten gem that should be rediscovered.