Even more than bringing street rap back, it was just more bringing something that was raw that nobody got to see before. X was raw, super raw, projects, you don’t know if a stick up might happen. You had mobster kind of street, you had flashy street, you had cocky drug dealer street.
Styles P (rapper): When people say “street,” all street shit ain’t the same. We came in straight from the hood, with jeans, Timbs, and hoodies. 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.ĭarrin “Dee” Dean: When we came in the game, they were wearing Versace silk suits. 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. Two hit records, "Get At Me Dog" and "Ruff Ryders’ Anthem," defined that approach.ĭame Grease (producer): We were coming off 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. He was trying not looking too excited, so they didn’t know how badly he wanted to sign them. Irv Gotti: Lyor kept a poker face when he was at the studio. He was in the hospital and Irv called a meeting with Lyor, so he came in the studio. X got his jaw broken along with a couple ribs. 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. DMX, The Lox, and Drag-On were in there rapping.ĭarrin “Dee” Dean: DMX had his jaw wired shut. Irv Gotti: Kevin Liles, Dame Dash, and Lyor went with me to Powerhouse Studios in Yonkers. I thought Def Jam was live but it’s actually kind of corny.”ĭarrin “Dee” Dean (co-founder, Ruff Ryders Records): So Lyor decided to come to the studio and see for himself. 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. After two months, I quit and stopped coming in to the office. I was like, “Isn’t this what A&Rs do? We find talent.” They wouldn’t let me sign him.
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. “A lot of Drake’s early music was inspired by that type of sound from DMX.” “He was like, ‘Yo, Drake loves that style of music,’” PK said. 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. “I think Get Rich or Die Tryin’ is a descendent of it” 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. The influence of the album over the past two decades remains today. “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. It was a dark, aggressive and brooding album, and filled with some of the most personal lyrics heard on any hip-hop album. 20 years ago, DMX released his debut studio album It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot.
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