It’s way darker this time…
News just in, we’ve lost another real one. This feels shitty, this feels like a bad dream, feels like losing a mentor. Even though millions of us never got to meet the man, he was with us through his music. Every lyric, every song, album after album…his work resonated with millions across the globe. DMX touched so many lives through his art.
I was barely in my teens when It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot dropped. He changed the game forever with that album. The sonics were raw, the spitting was raw, the message was loud and clear…he had put the streets on its ears. We all stopped, we all dropped, and we all shut ’em down because the era of the don DMX had just started. This album was the beginning of a long relationship with X’s music. Ruff Ryder anthem was not just a banger…the song changed how we viewed ourselves, it gave us hope and gave the street purpose.
Man, it's hard to write this piece in past tense…knowing it was just the other day we were joking about some of his music…reminiscing about songs like, Where the hood at, How it's going down, as we chuckled at the mention of lines like “about three Kims”. All these takes me back to the 90s, as we would go through the motions of growing up trying to figure out what it meant to be a teen back then. The music embodied our day-to-day reality.
I remember the other night I was having a zoom call with my crew when someone played Slipping. This was the evening before DMXs untimely death. No words were exchanged as the song played. We all just took it in, everyone in their own way. The song starts with these powerful lines, “See, to live is to suffer but to survive. Well, that’s to find meaning in the suffering”. He had a way with words. He would take our life struggles and mirror them in song and make us know we are not alone. There was an army out there with you.
I didn’t grow up in NY, I didn’t grow up in institutions nor did I get incarcerated, but one just related to his struggle. This was a young black man who had come through struggle after struggle. Rising up to be one of the best to ever do it. Growing up on the East side of Nairobi, hip-hop became something that I learned to embrace early on. Music meant so much in our lives. The energy that the songs brought and the feeling of seeing these “hood” kids who had made it out and were now on TV and radio, gave us a self-belief that we could make it out of our struggles as well. It's safe to say, hip-hop gave our lives meaning.
X’s music is, was, and will always be timeless. He managed to paint a canvas with his music that most artists had never done. He wasn’t just tryna sell records talking about a life that he wasn’t about. Nah, X was the real deal. He shared and owned his struggles. He didn’t try to mask his own personal battles. Nah, X faced them head-on and showed us that he was a real one. X spoke to us…he was pound-for-pound amongst the realest rappers to ever do it. This dude wasn’t scared to be vulnerable nor emotional. X made it ok for us to embrace our darkest of days.
This was one hard week. Reading so many stories about how X was so caring and how he went out of his way to help others. He used most of his money to uplift communities and give opportunities to people in the hood. This is a hard one, it all happened too soon. Man, we were not even done coming to terms with Kobe leaving so abruptly, or knowing that Nipsey got his shine stolen at a tender age. Now, unfortunately, we are hear reading and writing about X in the past. He was only 50…I mean 50? Anyway, I chose to celebrate him….celebrate his life, celebrate his music. Cherish all the positive vibes he gave us. Even though he left too soon….for us, the people he inspired, his memory and legacy will forever live; because legends never die.
PRAYER III — DMX
Let us pray
Lord Jesus it is you who wakes me up every day
And I am forever grateful for your love, this is why I pray
You let me touch so many people, and it’s all for the good
I influenced so many children, I never thought that I would
And I couldn’t take credit for the love they get
Because it all comes from you Lord; I’m just the one that’s givin’ it
And when it seems like the pressure gets to be too much
I take time out and pray, and ask that you be my crutch
Lord I am not perfect by a longshot, I confess to you daily
But I work harder everyday, and I hope that you hear me
In my heart I mean well, but if you’ll help me to grow
Then what I have in my heart, will begin to show
And when I get goin’, I’m not lookin’ back for nothin’
’Cause I will know where I’m headed, and I’m so tired of the sufferin’
I stand before you, a weakened version of your reflection
Beggin’ for direction, for my soul needs resurrection
I don’t deserve what you’ve given me, but you never took it from me
Because I am grateful, and I use it, and I do not worship money
If what you want from me is to bring your children to you
My regret is only havin’ one life to do it, instead of two
Amen
© Untitled’s Cut
