DMX’s 10 Best Musical Moments! Hip-hop Heavyweight DMX succumbed to heart failure on April 9, 2021 a week after he was hospitalized after reportedly suffering a heart attack. Following his over twenty year career, the rapper leaves behind a plethora of songs along with many words of wisdom. We take a look at DMX’s 10 Best songs.
“Born Loser” (1992)
Produced by Ruffhouse records, back in 1992, “Born Loser” was DMX’s major label debut. DMX’s flow and the jingle-jangling production of the track was something closer to an LL Cool J than the barking dog DMX would become known for despite referring to himself as having “to scrap with a pit because I tried to take his bone
“Time to Build” (1995, Mic Geronimo Feat. Jay-Z, DMX & Ja Rule)
This track not only pitted DMX against Ja Rule, but also it showed that he could stand his ground against Jay-Z. Though the track set the stage for Ja Rule, Jay-Z and DMX’s Murder Inc. triumvirate, an album that had been planned would never come to reality as egos grew and feuds set in. That was certainly one major missed opportunity.
“Ruff Ryders Anthem” (1998)
With this track, suffice to say, it’s where and things got real for DMX. Along with finding his forte in a deeper, heavier bark, a hood survivalist’s philosophy and a simpler, repetitive lyrical line, DMX met his perfect match in the co-writing and co-producing muscle of then young Kasseem Dean (Swizz Beatz) and a great addition to this song.
“The Omen” (1998)
Given that much of DMX’s work with Swizz Beatz could be identified as “industrial,” it’s interesting to hear a hook where DMX boxes with the goth-metal devil himself, Marilyn Manson. The hardcore rapper battling himself in several ideological voices also portrays DMX’s constant struggles between right and wrong within his soul.
“Slippin’” (1998)
Genuinely one of DMX’s soulful songs sees the rough rapper melodically adrift over a languid Grover Washington Jr. sample (“Moonstreams”), telling an auto-biographical tale from childhood. The song’s video is scarily prophetic in that it shows DMX taking what could be his last ambulance ride. “Slippin’” also contains one of DMX’S slyest verses” “See, to live is to suffer but to survive / That’s to find meaning in the suffering / I’m slippin’ I’m fallin’ I can’t get up / Get me back on my feet so I can tear shit up.”
“Ready to Meet Him” (1998)
The last track of “Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood” DMX’s second album of 1998 – the rapper embraces his faith by conversing with God about what is, and what’s not, right. For more than seven minutes, DMX wrestles with existential dilemmas and ethical street dramas with sincerity and rage.
“Party Up (Up in Here)” (1999)
The track combines Swizz Beatz’s most infectious beat with DMX’s easy-to-chant lyrics (“Y’all gon’ make me lose my mind / Up in here, up in here”) to deliver an anthem indigenous to hip-hop, frat parties and sports rivalries all rolled up into one.
“X Gon’ Give It To Ya” (2003)
DMX lays claim to the streets and to the pop-hardcore-hop game he all but created with the lyric, “Don’t get it twisted / This rap shit is mine, motherfucker.” This time, however, Swizz Beatz’s stammering pulse, combined with a militaristic rat-tat-tat rhythm, gave the track an added layer of complexity.
“Give ‘Em What They Want” (2006)
14 years following his first shot with Sony, DMX returned to Columbia with the track, co-written and produced by Scott Storch.
“Lord Give Me a Sign” (2006)
Co-written and produced by Storch, this time with a persistently needling guitar click and an ever-so-slightly gentler DMX in a repeat performance of the reaching preach from 1998’s “Ready To Meet Him.” What’s different? “Since the last time we talked, the walk has been hard / Now I know you haven’t left me, but I feel like I’m alone.”
