DMX live at BBK
“All of my shit goes Platinum” bragged a 35 year-old actor/rapper, while eyeing a juicy piece of chicken he was about to grab backstage after his show. “I’ve no doubt in my mind!”
5 platinum albums, 8 Hollywood hits (plus 2 more movies in the making), multiple TV show appearances and soundtracks to another dozen movies all share one thing in common. They have the name of Earl Simmons attached to them. Dark Man X took his talents from the grimy streets of Yonkers’ housing projects to the masses all over for over 20 years. Establishing his own rapping style ‘spellbound’ at a very young age of 13, DMX became another true American dream. He remained true to himself with his dark and extremely forward raps. At the same time his popularity has been clear for the past 10 years.
“Is this a glorified advertisement?” you ask. No, it’s a true story of a troubled African-American kid from Baltimore, one of 3 sons to a single mother. Guns, crack pipes and pit bulls all got him in trouble with the law. Most recently it was impersonating a federal officer. Then speeding with a suspended license. Sounds like serious offenses to you? Considering the stories of some of the other rappers on the scene those offenses seem more like mischief and tomfoolery. Perhaps it is just another grown man refusing to grow up in his heart.
“My new album… is the same as all others. Same honesty, same emotions…” DMX answered questions without any hesitation, exuding the energy typical of a kid half his age.
But before he roams through the backstage hallways of BB King’s, surrounded by security and a few others, he does a set of Dog Man Xtreme music. Unlike a lot of the older school rappers he has no problems with today’s hits. He does his own music his own way. Fans love him. His albums go 6x Platinum. His movies make history. He is happy but never content. So gets on stage and makes his crazed fans happy before his new album hits the shelves. He even does a mini-freestyle to Busta’s latest hit.
Performing mostly his older hits he drives it up.
‘Where My Dogs At?’ And the crowd roars.
‘Party Up’ And the groupies do just that.
‘X Gonna Give It To Ya’ And the fans can’t wait.
“97 and 105 don’t play my shit anymore.” He says. “They did no promotion for me and we still packed this shit.”
With no opening acts, no other celebrities on stage that night and minimal radio play X still packed the joint like very few acts have. Making the fans wait longer than Slick Rick to start the show, he produced more crowd chants and pre-concert praises than disappointed booing. Somehow, despite very non-commercial angles and numerous rivalries, DMX came across as an overly admired performer loved by everyone, just based on the fans’ reactions.
His new stuff on the upcoming album ‘Year of the Dog Again’ seem to have more lyrical sense and less angst. As opposed to his other hits there appears to be less of a senseless drive to ‘rally it up’ and ‘get it going’ but more of a targeted perspective.
Will he have another Platinum hit on his hands? He seems certain of it. The rest is up to you.
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