It's Dark and Hell Is Hot
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| It's Dark and Hell is Hot | ||
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| Studio album by DMX | ||
| Released | May 19, 1998 | |
| Recorded | 1998 | |
| Genre | Hardcore rap | |
| Length | 65:15 | |
| Label | Def Jam Records | |
| Producer(s) | Damon "Dame Grease" Blackman Irv Gotti Swizz Beatz, etc. |
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| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| DMX chronology | ||
| - | It's Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998) |
Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood (1998) |
It's Dark and Hell Is Hot is a hip-hop album, and the debut from American rapper DMX, released in 1998. It's Dark and Hell is Hot features 4 popular singles with music videos, "Get at Me Dog", "Stop Being Greedy", "How's It Goin' Down" and the "Ruff Ryders Anthem". The album is widely considered a hip hop classic by numerous hip hop fans, mainly due to its revitalization of the Hardcore rap mainstream scene, after Puff Daddy and Bad Boy Entertainment briefly dominated the charts with their pop-orientated and sample-reliant songs. It debuted at #1 on The Billboard 200, and was certified 4x platinum on December 18, 2000.
Despite the album's heavy hardcore rap vibe and violent, gothic, religious undertones, many "poetic" connections are made due to DMX's unique rhyming ability, mostly autobiographing his life on tracks like "Let Me Fly", "Look Thru My Eyes", "The Prayer", "I Can Feel It" and "The Convo."
"I Can Feel It" contains musical and verbal samples from the famous Phil Collins song "In The Air Tonight".
It's Dark And Hell Is Hot was also released in a "edited" version with most profanity removed through various editing methods including backmasking. Drug and violent content was left completely uncensored though, even leaving in a section where DMX refers to raping a young teenage girl. This can be heard on the song, "X Is Coming".
[edit] Critical and commercial reception
The album has garnered quite a bit of critical praise, earning high scores from various media outlets; All Music Guide, for example, gave it a 4/5. The album is also considered a classic by many fans, and has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide to date.
[edit] Track listing
- "Intro" - 4:09
- "Ruff Ryders' Anthem" - 3:34
- "Fuckin' wit' D" - 2:18
- "The Storm" (Skit) - 1:00
- "Look Thru My Eyes" - 3:50
- "Get at Me Dog" [featuring Sheek of The L.O.X.] - 4:03
- "Let Me Fly" - 4:12
- "X is Coming" - 4:18
- "Damien" - 3:42
- "How's It Goin Down" - 4:42
- "Mickey" (Skit) - 0:25
- "Crime Story" - 3:47
- "Stop Being Greedy" - 3:37
- "ATF" - 1:56
- "For My Dogs" [featuring Drag-On, Big Stan, Loose & Kasino] - 4:12
- "I Can Feel It" - [featuring Phil Collins] - 4:13
- "Prayer" (Skit) - 2:31
- "The Convo" - 3:33
- "Niggaz Done Started Something" [featuring The L.O.X. & Ma$e] - 5:14
| DMX |
|---|
| Albums | Singles | Full discography |
| Filmography Belly | Romeo Must Die | Exit Wounds | Angel | Cradle 2 the Grave | Eve | Third Watch | Never Die Alone | DMX: Soul of a Man |
