In commemoration of the rapper’s death. a look at 10 of the most crucial songs in DMX’s career, from “Born Loser” to “Lord Give Me a Sign.”
Earl Simmons didn’t come out of the womb raging, growling and barking like a pitbull. That sound, the hard sound of DMX, was built on a childhood filled with abuse and brutality. It was fueled by the violent complexities of life on the street, and fused by the bluntly poetic contemplation of right versus wrong, of God versus Satan, of dominance versus sublimation, and of how high one could go (or get) while remaining down-to-earth and righteously real. With that, DMX, who died Friday at age 50, was a portrait of harsh contradictions, a trait he shared with his very best songs. It was a far softer, flightier, even funnier DMX who made this his major label debut through Ruffhouse/Columbia. Back in 1992, his flow and the jingle-jangling production of this track was closer to an LL Cool J than the barking dog DMX would become known for — even though he does refer to himself as having “to scrap with a pit because I tried to take his bone.” Still, this single deserved more attention than it got at the time: a pink slip from Ruffhouse after “Born Loser” failed to win. This naggingly insistent track from Irv Gotti protégé Geronimo not only pitted a growlier DMX against a fellow rough-edged MC (Ja Rule), it showed that X could stand his ground against another NY boroughs’ rapper, Jay-Z. Though this tough track set the stage for Ja, Jay and DMX’s Murder Inc. triumvirate, a planned album would never materialize as egos grew and feuds commenced.
