Today's song of the day comes from the recently passed rap icon DMX, aka Earl Simmons, who had a painful childhood in a broken home with lots of medical problems and physical abuse in his life. Running away and leading a life of some major crimes, DMX released some independently distributed singles and mixtapes before signing with hip-hop powerhouse Def Jam Records. His first big exposure came on other rappers' singles, with LL Cool J's "4,3,2,1" reaching the R&B top-40 at #24 and the pop Hot 100 at #75 at the start of 1998. He also was on minor hits from Mase, Onyx, and Mic Geronimo before his big break with the Lox on their top ten R&B hit "Money, Power, & Respect", that made the pop top-20 in May of 1998. His own lead artist debut was also released that February, and featured Sheek from the Lox as a featured guest. "Get At Me Dog" was built on a sample of the funk-disco band B.T. Express' deep cut "Everything Good To You (Ain't Always Good For You)" from their top ten album Do It Til You're Satisfied. The first two verses has him boasting how criminally hard he is and taunting those who attempt to come for him in the prominent title "chorus" on the track. But in the third frame he gets violently homophobic, and loses me on the totally unnecessary bullshit that comes with it. It's a shame, since the groove is solid and memorable and his delivery is adequately menacing. There's a surprising amount of nuanced exposition in his rhymes, but the hate shit puts a wet towel on it in the end...
"Get At Me Dog" nevertheless became DMX's first top-40 pop hit in May of 1998. The song also rose to #19 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, and made it to #6 on their Rap Singles list. His debut album, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, was massive, spending a week at #1 on the Billboard 200 sales chart, going on to move over four million copies and rocketing his career into the hip-hop stratosphere.
The second single from his debut was "Stop Being Greedy", which just missed the R&B top-40 at #45, while stopping at #79 on the pop Hot 100. Then came "How's It Goin' Down", his turn at a "love rap" which featured singer Faith Evans, which was a decent R&B hit at #19 while getting to #70 on the pop chart. Lastly, the rapper released "Ruff Ryders' Anthem", which not only charted twice in two years (1998 and 1999 on a remix from DJ Clue), but started a movement (and eventually a rap collective) that was big in the turn of the century. In its original release, the single went to #3 on the R&B chart and #94 on the pop Hot 100. This week, after DMX's passing, this particular track was the one fans remembered him most by, sending it into the Hot 100's top 40 all the way at #16.
(3/10)
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Here's DMX performing "Get At Me Dog" on the Hip-Hop Awards show in 2011...
Up tomorrow: Jamaican dancehall star asks his identity.
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