Now this multi-platinum, global phenomenon, the person who almost single-handedly shifted hip-hop's identity away from one of shiny suits and fancy cars to one defined by a survival-centered street life where heart, credibility, strength and He has set the radio waves on fire with hits like 'Get At Me Dog,' 'Ruff Ryders Anthem,' 'Slippin',' 'It's On,' and 'Party Up.' He has been on two record-breaking national tours, Survival of the Illest and Hard Knock Life, and starred in two feature films, Hype William's Belly and the box office smash Exit Wounds with Steven Seagal, whose $35 million first week take was the biggest ever for the action star. His name is Earl Simmons, better known as the Dark Man X, and in three short years he has broken Billboard sales figures by debuting two albums at number one within the same year (It's Dark & Hell Is Hot and Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood).

For whatever the reason, lately we've been thinking about DMX, the artist whose bald head and shoulder-to-shoulder dog tattoo had gotten kids around the world barking and rhyming in loud bursts of manic, ghetto energy.

Maybe it was simply that 'Party Up'вЂ“that crazy up-tempo club jam that kept us rocking months after the most recent And Then There Was X album leveled off at five platinumsвЂ“was still insane on the brain. Or maybe it was just that growling spitfire delivery we couldn't get out of our head. Maybe it's because he spoiled us with three unforgettable albums in less than two years.

Def jam vendetta dmx