What DMX Was Really Like In The Studio: A Deep Dive

DMX’s creative process is explored in the latest episode of HipHopDX‘s “Deep Dive” series — watch it below.

The almost 30-minute video sheds light on what the late rap legend was like in the studio, featuring insight from some of his closest friends and collaborators including Swizz Beatz, N.O.R.E. and Irv Gotti.

X’s powerful rhymes touched the hearts and minds of millions across the globe, and the story behind his songwriting process only adds to the authenticity of his words.

In one clip, Ruff Ryders co-founder Joaquin “Waah” Dean takes fans to the very Yonkers stash house where DMX used to write his rhymes prior to getting signed — in a dark room lit only by a candle, no less.

Despite the bleak circumstances from which he came, faith always played a central role in Earl Simmons’ music as he would often lead prayers in the studio, as seen in footage early in the episode.

Perhaps God intervened in 1998 when DMX earned his big break with “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem.” Despite becoming his highest-charting and highest-certified single, X initially hated the beat and only did the song after losing a card game to fellow Ruff Ryders chief Darrin “Dee” Dean.

“That was one of the fastest songs I wrote. I wrote it in about 15 minutes,” he told GQ in 2019. “The beat was simple and repetitive. I was like, ‘This song is like fucking ABCs. Like, elementary’ … I’m glad I did do it. It worked out.”

As loyal as the canine he identified with, Dark Man X maintained a close partnership with “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” producer Swizz Beatz throughout his career, as well as other beatmakers like Dame Grease and Irv Gotti.

“I got a formula, a bond with certain n-ggas that work. Why fuck it up?” he said in one interview while working on his third album, 1999’s … And Then There Was X.

X’s personality and energy was so strong in the studio that Gotti — who produced tracks like “What’s My Name?” and “We Don’t Give a Fuck” — would literally embody the rapper’s spirit while working on music for him.

“It’s like I almost become X,” he says in one clip. “I’m in the studio, I’m jumping around, I say his rhymes. So when I do something for X, it’s different from any other artist because I become X.”

That affinity was shared not only by his peers, but those who grew up idolizing DMX. In one part of the video, we see Machine Gun Kelly stumbling over his words while meeting X for the first time. The love was reciprocated as X later explained they “kicked everybody out of the studio” and “vibed for like two hours.”

DMX wasn’t always an easy man to track down, though. Plagued by drug addiction and personal demons, his musical talent was somewhat hampered by erratic and unpredictable behavior — such as the time he gave N.O.R.E. the runaround for almost an entire week.

“Nobody flies into L.A. on Monday, records with DMX on Tuesday and then flies out on Wednesday. I’m like, ‘I’m N.O.R.E. Are you crazy? This is my man,’ the Drink Champs co-host told Fat Joe in an interview. “I didn’t even see this n-gga ’til Thursday!

“We in the same hotel, we both got the presidential suites in the W on Westwood. I’m next door to this n-gga! This n-gga knocks on my door at 4 o’clock in the morning on Thursday … ‘Yo, dawg! You ready, dawg?!’ I’m like, ‘Holy shit [sighs]… Hell yeah, I’m ready!'”

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N.O.R.E. then revealed that when they did eventually hit the studio, they didn’t even go to the studio that the label had booked for them.

“Sunday morning, we’re just hanging out. Still don’t have the verse,” he continued. “Some random dude just walks on the street, he’s like, ‘Yo, DMX.’ X is like, ‘Waddup, dawg?’ He’s like, ‘I got a studio right here’ … I said, ‘Dawg, I’ve had this studio booked since Monday!’

“We go in there, the n-gga starts laying his verse. Boom, boom. He’s killing it. Me and Capone looking at each other like, ‘We got it!’ All of a sudden the music is just dead … I open the [door], this n-gga is laid out asleep! In the middle of his verse! Everybody’s like, ‘Nobody fucks with the Dog while he’s asleep.'”

Sadly, DMX passed away in April 2021 at the age of 50. His death was ruled a cocaine-induced heart attack that caused a lack of blood circulation to his brain.

However, as the success of his posthumous album Exodus and the continued popularity of his iconic catalog has shown, his music lives on — something X himself sought to achieve when he was still alive.

“They know I’ma do it justice. I’ma give it a long, long life,” he told GQ of his creative process. “It confirms another thing I dare to believe that my music is not just for the moment; it’s forever.”

Check out the DMX Deep Dive below, and catch up on previous episodes on JAY-Z, 2Pac, Lil Wayne, J. Cole and Tyler, The Creator.