DMX

Why he matters

Earl Simmons was born in Mount Vernon and raised in Yonkers. He started out beatboxing for a local rapper, then switched to rapping himself, taking his name from the Oberheim DMX drum machine. In Yonkers he connected with Irv Gotti and the Dean brothers, Waah and Dee, who were starting Ruff Ryders. A Columbia deal produced the single “Born Loser” in 1993 and went nowhere.

The second try was built differently. When Gotti took over A&R at Def Jam, DMX signed through a Ruff Ryders joint venture in 1997, and then he went to work on other people’s records: Mase’s “24 Hrs. to Live,” the LOX’s “Money, Power & Respect,” LL Cool J’s “4, 3, 2, 1.” By the time “Get at Me Dog” dropped in early 1998, people were waiting. It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot came out that May, mostly on Dame Grease and PK beats, and debuted at number one. Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood also hit number one that December.

His first five albums all debuted at the top of the Billboard 200, the first artist to do that. The voice was the whole draw: barking, threatening and pleading on the same record, over beats that stayed out of his way. “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” also launched a young Swizz Beatz. DMX died in 2021, and Exodus came out on Def Jam that May.

What a working rapper can take from it

Features are your rollout. DMX’s debut arrived with an audience already waiting, because his guest verses had introduced him to everyone buying Mase and LOX records. Before you drop a project, get on other artists’ songs, in your city and slightly above your level, and make each verse the best thing on the track.

Trust the record you don’t love. DMX thought the “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” beat was too simple and the song too basic. It became the album’s top-20 pop hit. Artists are often bad judges of which of their songs will connect; test with an audience before you cut something.

Your voice is an instrument, so play all of it. He growled, barked and shouted, then pulled back to something close to conversation on the personal songs. That range needs care at the mic, because a low take and a shout won’t sit at the same level. The vocal recording guide covers gain staging for performers who swing that wide.