A Quick Hit: DMX: 25th Anniversary
Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood is a bombastic sophomore album by a rapper (and his record label) cashing in on his stellar debut.
Christmas morning 1998. I’m sixteen, but the entire event was still a thrill for me. Sticky buns were baking in the oven. Coffee pot sat near empty, having already been raided by my folks. There was a December chill in the air familiar to Southwest Washington. Frost on the grass. Karen Carpenter, with the voice of an angel, wishing us a “Merry little Christmas.” It was a scene out of a holiday movie.
As we began to unwrap our presents, I went for one of the smaller gifts with my name on it.
“To: Nick
From: Santa”
Even though I’d stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was nine, my mom still liked to keep things in the spirit of Christmases from yesteryear. The irony behind her gesture that Christmas was that beneath the snowman-themed wrapping paper was a literal bloodbath, and standing in the middle of it was DMX.
Santa, like me, was a big fan of East Coast rappers, and (also like me) found DMX’s debut album, It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot, to indeed being nothing but hot fire.
So, as one might expect, Santa brought me DMX’s follow up — the second #1 album he dropped in 1998 — Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, an appropriate Christmas gift. Holding the CD in my hand, everything about it felt controversial. X was already a superstar, and he pulled off a remarkable feat putting out another full-length album in the same year he already dropped an album. Tupac did it a couple of years earlier, but these were DMX’s first two albums. Both were platinum-selling monsters, but Flesh of My Flesh…is just a notch below It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot. It comes down to a rather hot take that I have: I don’t like The Lox. Jadakiss and Styles P can rhyme, no doubt, but I don’t like their voices. That’s not a trivial thing in music. If you don’t like the way a singer or rappers sounds, it’s going to be tough to get into their music.
As it turns out, both “Blackout” and “We Don’t Give A Fuck” have two of the worst beats on Flesh Of My Flesh…. Why did they do Jay-Z like that? To compare, It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot only has one track with The Lox, and the album is better because of it. While these little faux paus weaken the overall product, that simply means that Flesh Of My Flesh…isn’t a classic like its predecessor; instead, it’s just great. One thing you know you’re going to get from DMX is an anthem, and this album gave us some heaters (“My Niggas,” “Bring Your Whole Crew,” and “No Love For Me”). Other DMX album staples are the conversations with deities, both righteous and nefarious. X gave us “The Omen” and “Ready To Meet Him”. There were only two commercial rappers from that era who could pull off featuring Marilyn Manson on a track, and DMX was one of them. It doesn’t feel forced, but it definitely was one of those “strike while the iron is hot” moments.
Earl Simmons helped make my Christmas way back in 1998 something to remember. I was stoked to get Flesh of My Flesh…, and I couldn’t wait to give it a spin on my Panasonic stereo CD-player. It didn’t disappoint and had enough juice to serve as a solid companion piece to its much more cohesive and original predecessor, It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot. It was the scalding hot second part of X’s impressive three-act debut that wrapped with the underappreciated…And Then There Was X.
Favorite Tracks
P Killer Trackz lived up to his name and produced a killer track that will forever remind me of this moment in skateboarding history.
X elevates this track to nuclear level banger, but that’s par for the course with him.
DMX did two things really well in rap music — two things he was the fucking king of. One of those things is demonstrated on a track like “Bring Your Whole Crew”. He’ll kill you on record.
The other thing that X was really good at was making himself vulnerable as he asks for forgiveness, reflecting on his wrongs, asking God to give him the strength to do right and step away from the sins of the flesh. “Slippin’” is his greatest example of this, and it’s his best song. Everything about it tells you all you need to know about DMX.
I had the great fortune of seeing DMX live as part of the legendary “Hard Knock Life Tour,” and it was life changing. It was my first concert (what a way to pop my cherry), so it’s a core memory no matter what, but the lineup was all of my favorite rappers.
As good as Meth and Red and Jay-Z were, DMX stole the show. To close out his set, my dude recited the prayer that opens “Ready To Meet Him” before he went right into that track. It was a spiritual experience.
It’s a shame that DMX isn’t around to celebrate the 25th anniversary of what truly was a remarkable achievement in music: dropping his sophomore album a few months after his debuts, and having it be another platinum success. He was a gift for hip-hop, and he is missed.
