‘It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot’: The album Kendrick Lamar called “raw and realness”
Concerning full-length studio albums, Kendrick Lamar is the crème de la crème in hip-hop. His ability to craft and structure a project is unparalleled, and, with the exception of a few artists, he is the only contemporary rapper whose music is centred around bodies of work.
Whether conceptual or more standard, his albums take listeners on a journey and are regularly met with critical acclaim. However, well before he entered the music industry, Lamar was familiar with how high-quality projects should sound and had deciphered the formulas used by other artists.
As an adolescent growing up in Compton, Lamar was exposed to a lot of West Coast music. However, he didn’t only listen to local artists. He also ventured a little further and delved into the abundance of East Coast material, particularly that coming out of New York.
On several occasions, Kendrick Lamar has revealed he had a deep love for Biggie Smalls’ albums. Most notably, Ready To Die and Life After Death. Additionally, he had an appreciation for MCs such as Lauryn Hill and Jay-Z.
That said, there is one East Coast lyricist who really swept him away as a kid, and that figure was the late Yonkers star DMX. In 1998, just before the turn of the millennium, DMX released a series of now-legendary projects. However, it was his debut, It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, that captured the imagination of a young Lamar.
Following the release of his own debut, Good Kid, m.A.A.d City, Kendrick sat down with Complex to discuss some of the pivotal moments in his career, and, during the conversation, the California lyricist unveiled that DMX’s 1998 project was what inspired him to begin writing lyrics.
Recalling the 1998 album, Lamar told Complex, “Aww yeah. That’s the first album that got me writing. I wrote my first lyrics to that album, actually, about 13-14. I was going into eighth grade, seventh grade going into eighth grade maybe. I just got inspired, and I started writing, so that will always be one of my favourite albums!”
In 2012, shortly after the release of Good Kid, m.A.A.d City, Lamar got to meet his hero. Detailing his exchange, he told the interviewer, “The fact that I just met DMX for the first time last week—I got to actually tell him that for the first time. That album inspired me to be a rapper.”
Explaining exactly what it was that attracted him to It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot, Lamar detailed his love of DMX’s abrasive energy, stating, “It was just the raw and realness. Tupac was gone, there was a void, [something] was missing in the game, and he came through to fill that void. Now that I think about it, that was the reason why.”
It is undeniable that Tupac Shakur and DMX both have an aggressive, raw and unapologetic energy about them, and both deliver their rhymes with unwavering passion and vigour. Lamar concluded by naming his favourite song, finishing, “My favourite song would probably be the ‘Intro.’ ‘One two one two / come through run through gun who / oh you don’t know what the gun do.’ I had that on repeat. That, ‘Get At Me Dog,’ I could go all day.”