It's Dark And Hell Is Hot
School of hard knocks graduate DMX cuts an intimidating figure on his explosive major-label debut. But for all the dog-bark rapping and machismo, *It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot* is a concept album about pain, above all else. He imbues manic-depressive fantasies like \"Get at Me Dog\" and conversations with Satan (\"The Convo\") with deep introspection—and the occasional Phil Collins interpretation (the spooky \"I Can Feel It\"). It\'s a masterful balance of control and catharsis; few voices are better suited to channel such heartache.
The debut album from DMX is the Dante’s Inferno of rap. His infamous stage presence and aggression gave a voice to the voiceless in the streets of New York and overnight changed the course of hip-hop.
Just as rap music was reaching its toughest, darkest, grimmest period yet, following the assassinations of 2Pac and Biggie in the late '90s, along came DMX and his fellow Ruff Ryders, who embodied the essence of inner-city machismo to a tee, as showcased throughout the tellingly titled It's Dark and Hell Is Hot. Unlike so many other hardcore rappers who are more rhetorical than physical, DMX commands an aggressive aura without even speaking a word. He showcases his chiseled physique on the arresting album cover and trumpets his animalistic nature with frequent barking, growling, and snarling throughout the album. He also collaborates with muscular producers Swizz Beatz and Dame Grease, who specialize in slamming synth-driven beats rather than sample-driven ones. Further unlike so many other hardcore rappers from the time, DMX is meaningful as well as symbolic. He professes an ideology that stresses the inner world -- characterized by such qualities as survival, wisdom, strength, respect, and faith -- rather than the material one that infatuates most rappers of his time. It helpes that his album includes a few mammoth highlights ("Ruff Ryders' Anthem," "Get at Me Dog," "Let Me Fly," and "I Can Feel It") as well as a light, mid-album diversion ("How's It Goin' Down").