The song DMX wrote for your rage: “Sometimes people want to feel worse”
DMX released his third album …And Then There Was X in 1999 off the back of the successful It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot and Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood. The LP was recorded between Hit Factory Criteria in Miami and Powerhouse in New York City, and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the Grammy Awards in 2001.
Released on Def Jam, the album was home to his hit singles ‘Party Up (Up in Here)‘ and ‘What These Bitches Want’, as well as the Irv Gotti-produced ‘What’s My Name?’ DMX, who was known for his aggressive rapping style before his death in 2021, used the latter song as a way to channel his rage.
“Let me see, that was the third album,” he recalled to GQ. “In Miami, we recorded the joint and Irv brought me that beat. Irv Gotti brought me that beat. We were almost finished with the album. He was like, ‘Yo, I got the fucking banger for you.’ So he put it on, I was like, ‘Ooh!’ That shit’s crazy. I wrote that kinda fast, too.”
DMX’s anger is on full display throughout the song, rapping in the second verse, “Make cowards disappear into thin air/ By puttin’ shit through ’em/ Never comin’ back/ Last time you saw that n*gga/ Is the last time you’ll see that n*gga/ No more deaths/ ‘Cause in a minute you gon’ have grandma bein’/ The only family member left.”
The Yonkers rapper admitted that he constantly felt anger beneath the surface despite appearing to have a good time. Instead of trying to make himself feel better, DMX embraced the feeling as a way to avoid being taken advantage of in life.
“I’m angry all the time,” he said. “It was a good time, I had a lot of fun down there in Miami, third album. When I get in that studio, it’s a whole other situation. It’s like, ‘Fuck you, suck my dick, fuck outta here, bitch arse n*gga, I’ll kill you.’ It’s kinda who I am.”
He continued, “Sometimes people wanna to feel worse. You don’t always wanna feel better. However you wanna feel, there should be a song that helps you feel that way that you can just ride to and feel like you wanna feel. Who wants to be happy all the time? You’ll get taken advantage of all the time.”
During an interview with Spin magazine, DMX was asked how he can go from rapping, “I’m not a nice person/ Suck my dick,” on ‘What’s My Name?’ to working with children with AIDS.
“I am a thug. But a real thug got heart,” he said. “A thug will do anything to get his, but he wants to help his people. I don’t want to see any kid that reminds me of me or my family when I was younger—all hungry or needing shit. When fake thugs talk, the pretty bitch shit comes out: I get my nails done, I got jewels, look at my shoes. Fuck that.”