DMX unexpectedly passed away in April following a cocaine-induced heart attack that had left him in a coma for roughly a week. The Ruff Ryders legend was in the midst of a career resurgence after getting out of prison and seemingly on a path to recovery. But old demons reared their ugly heads and he succumbed to the disease of addiction.
Before DMX made his transition, he left behind a body of work producer Swizz Beatz was able to craft into the posthumous album Exodus. But according to rapper Chris Webby, DMX recorded his last guest verse for his new single “We Up.”
As the Connecticut rapper explained to HipHopDX, “This was DMX’s last ever recorded feature verse. It’s still surreal to me that this track even exists. X’s impact on me as a young kid stepping into the world of Hip Hop and starting to rap can’t even be explained in words. The illest part of this track to me too, is that he said he really fucked with the song and was like, ‘When we shooting the video?’ A lot of bigger artists when you get a feature, they don’t even bother to say anything — which is cool too, it’s just business with a lot of people and I totally get that.
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“But you could just tell he cared, and you can really hear it in the verse itself. He really brought that classic DMX energy and delivered. Obviously, everything happened as it did soon after, but I knew we still had to shoot that video and we had to do it in a way that would honor his legacy. I think the Dog would have approved of how we went about it. RIP DMX forever.”
As Webby mentioned, the track arrived with a visual directed by Rook, which features several members of the Ruff Ryders as an homage to the late X. When it comes time for DMX’s verse, it’s delivered through an animated pit bull wearing a Ruff Ryders chain, a borderline strange but sensical touch.
DMX's 'Exodus' Is A Painful Reminder The Ruff Ryders Legend Wasn't Done Here
While Exodus didn’t exactly perform like some may have expected, it still landed at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 upon its release. .
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“Get Up” is taken from Chris Webby’s forthcoming album, Still Wednesday. The project is expected to arrive on Wednesday (December 22). Check out the video above.
