"TAKE A LOOK BACK" TUESDAY IS A NEW WEEKLY FEATURE FROM THE KASUAL WORLD.
In the music industry, Tuesday is commonly known as the day that new music, more specifically new albums are released. Instead of taking a look at NEW albums, we will be taking a look back, at previously released albums, classic albums that we would run and buy (before digital downloads) and play until the CD (compact disc) skipped! These are the albums of yesterday, that are the topic of discussion, today...
Today's Album: "ITS DARK AND HELL IS HOT" BY DMX written by King Riv (contributor)
I remember it all so clearly. It was 1998, and school was close to being let out for summer vacation. DMX's debut album was about to drop. I had been saving all of my allowance, and when the album was here, I headed straight to The WIZ (the former go-to outlet for new music) to get my hands on this album in which I so eagerly waited for."IT'S DARK AND HELL IS HOT".
From the first listen, this album did not disappoint. Man, oh man!..I was hooked. Playing this album was so refreshing for my ears. At this point we were all stuck on the Puff Daddy movement, the "shiny suit era". The shiny suit era was great, but I needed something more aggressive. DMX delivered just that, and in a major way. Tracks like "Ruff Ryder’s Anthem" which you could be heard blasting out of every car and window in my home town of Brooklyn at the time, was the hardest thing out in a long while.
"Ruff Ryder's Anthem": It's Dark and Hell is Hot
At the time of this album's release I was 13, and hearing a rapper create a song like "Damien" had me so impressed. This cat actually had a song on the album, where he thinks a particular person is his friend, but really is a devil in disguise. FUCKING GENIUS!!
"Damien": It's Dark and Hell is Hot
I thought to myself, "No one had a prayer skit on an album (to my knowledge) at this point" This album was hitting on so many different levels, so Hip-hop gravitated toward DMX's music like bees to honey. People couldn’t get enough of this album and neither could I.
To this day, I can still play this whole album and vibe to it, like it came out yesterday. You can’t find too many hardcore hip-hop heads who didn’t buy this album, and still own it. I will forever remember this album as one of the few albums that made me really understand rap music for the lyricism, creativity, and the ingenuity in which it contains.
Bottom line IT'S DARK AND HELL IS HOT is , and will always be a great album.
