Drugs and rock 'n' roll have long been tied together as an exhilarating yet deadly combination, but the Hip hop, R&B and pop artists have been running away with this destructive lifestyle more than the rockers these days. We've seen it deteriorate and ruin the lives (and voices) of greats like Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson. DMX isn't in the same league as these aforementioned artists, but he was hot for a minute and few foresaw the crack/coke binge he would go on, which would result in bizarre, uneven music and a string of run-ins with the po po.
But this is 2009, and Whitney Houston has cleaned herself up and staged a successful comeback so why not DMX? Just like Whitney, who reached back to people in her past (Clive Davis) to help her rebuild her future, DMX has reached back to Swizz Beatz and his Ruff Ryder roots, launching his comeback on the remix to Jada's "Who's Real?"
X says he's "hungry" and he likely really is hungry, both literally and figuratively. The man hasn't had a (music) hit in ages and most people have written him off as a lost cause. Clawing his way back to relevance in a rap world dominated by Drakes and Kanyes won't be easy, just ask 50 Cent who's been struggling to find his place in the new ecosystem for the past 2 years. Jay-Z, who has been around the block far longer than DMX, has adapted to the new environment by embracing the changing waves, putting on black-rimmed glasses, paling around with Chris Martin and the aforementioned Drake and Kanye.
The veteran Ruff Ryder makes it clear in his interview with MTV that he thinks that today's popular Hip hop scene is "bulls--t." Guess who just had the number one album in the country for the past two weeks? Clearly, Jay and his proteges have targets on their backs.
With the old gang rallying together again, will the refocused energy push Earl Simmons over the top and land him a sizable audience as the anti-Jay-Z? He better pray about it.
