On Friday, April 9, 2021, Earl “DMX” Simmons passed away days after suffering a severe heart attack in his home triggered by a drug overdose. For the hip-hop community, this is an indescribable and awful loss. In this, I hope to pay tribute to The Dog by providing a comprehensive list of my top ten favorite DMX tracks and their best lyrics surrounding hip-hop, family, faith, addiction, and loyalty.
- “Lord Give Me a Sign” (2006) – “Crying about, ‘Life ain’t nothing’/ But you either be the one mad cause you trapped or the one hunting.”
- “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” (1998) – “All I know is pain, all I feel is rain/ How can I maintain with that s**t on my brain?”
- “Party Up” (1999) – “Dog is a dog, blood’s thicker than water/ We done been through the mud and we quicker to slaughter”
- “Dogs Out” (2003) – “When there’s nothin left to eat, I ate away at my soul/ Felt destructive cause I don’t give a f**k if I go…”
- “X Gon’ Give It to Ya” (2003) – “Hit it with full strength (what?)/ I’m a jail n***a, so I face the world like it’s Earl in the bullpen/ You’re against me, me against you (uh-uh, uh-uh)”
- “Slippin’” (1998) – “See to live is to suffer, but to survive/ Well that’s to find meaning in the suffering.”
- “Get at Me Dog” (1998) – “The days are longer and seems like I’m facing time/ I’ve got a lot of dreams, but I’m not really chasing mine.”
- “Here We Go Again” (1999) – “Didn’t listen, so I might as well have been talkin’ to the air/ Everybody makes mistakes, a mistake is aight/ But if it ain’t, I’ma tell you straight, time to say, ‘Goodnight’”
- “Where The Hood At” (2003) – “Don’t want me havin no patience turn into more patience/ More trips to ICU cuz I see you”
- “Dogs For Life” (1998) – “Now who I am is who I’ll be until I die, either accept it or don’t f**k with it/ But if we gon’ be dogs then you stuck with it!”
Rest in Paradise X, and may your music forever hype up the streets. Errrr, Arf, Arf.
Check out my Spotify playlist below to listen to these tracks plus many more 🙂