12/07/2025
DMX’s 1998 run is one of the most iconic years any rapper has ever had.
Two No. 1 albums in the same year, both classics, both completely different vibes, and both destroyed the charts and the streets.
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DMX’s 1998 Run — ICONIC.
In 1998, DMX did what nobody else in hip-hop history had done before: he dropped two full-length albums in the same year, and both debuted at No. 1. It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot (May ’98) introduced the world to the raw, growling, prayer-filled intensity that made X a force of nature. Later that same year, he doubled back with Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood (December ’98), proving that his hunger, pain, and spiritual battle were more than an image — they were his truth.
These breakdowns say it all:
• “Dark and Hell Is Hot” = gritty street anthems, barks, snarls, aggression, pain, and prayer. A debut that felt like a storm.
• “Flesh of My Flesh” = darker, heavier, more emotional, showing both his rage and his vulnerability.
In just seven months, DMX became the voice of the streets, the face of Ruff Ryders, and a defining figure of late-90s hardcore rap.
