Been Thinking About DMX…

and his death, our reaction to it, and my feelings about those things

If you’re a fan of DMX you already know everything about him. By now, you’ve likely read the stream of tributes that have come out since his passing last week. I wasn’t even sure if I should write anything about it. What the hell would I have to add? I’ve never even met the guy. I did have a funny incident with him and a bathroom at his birthday party back in the day.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t a big fan of DMX’s music when it came out. I was slowly emerging from my underground hip hop backpack days when I started my career as a journalist at Blaze, a hip hop publication from Vibe. It was 1998 and for me, it was all about lyrical dexterity and this dude was barking. WHAT?!

I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. There were some heated arguments about X at the office. A coworker, who’d done a bid, took me aside one time in the office kitchen to explain to me X’s appeal. He said X was speaking for the dirty, hungry, grimy cats who couldn’t get into the jiggy clubs but instead waited outside to rob the drunk party revelers who’d spent the night popping bottles of Cristal.

His breakdown helped a bit but I never ended up bumping X’s CDs like that. I enjoyed his guest appearances. I still don’t think any of his albums…