DMX - It's Dark and Hell Is Hot (CD)

All Music Guide

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 were more rhetorical than physical, DMX commanded an aggressive aura without even speaking a word. He showcased his chiseled physique on the arresting album cover and trumpeted his animalistic nature with frequent barking, growling, and snarling throughout the album. He furthermore collaborated with muscular producers Swizz Beatz and Dame Grease, who specialized in slamming synth-driven beats rather than sample-driven ones. Yet further unlike so many other hardcore rappers from the time, DMX was meaningful as well as symbolic. He professed an ideology that stressed the inner world -- characterized by such qualities as survival, wisdom, s...trength, respect, and faith -- rather than the material one that infatuated most rappers. It helped, of course, that his album includes a few mammoth highlights ("Ruff Ryder 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"). The long running length of It's Dark and Hell Is Hot does wear you down after a while, since nearly every song here sans "How's It Goin' Down" hits hard and maintains the album's deadly serious attitude. Even so, it's perhaps DMX's most essential album. It's Dark and Hell Is Hot may not be his best, nor an outright classic, but it lays out DMX's complex persona with candor, from his faith in God to his fixation with canine motifs, and does so with an engaging sense of dramatic flair. - Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide Read more Less