Following Earl Simmons’s passing on April 9, this week saw a resurgence on the Billboard charts for the legendary rapper better known as DMX. For example, The Best Of DMX compilation skyrocketed to #2 on the Billboard 200 album rankings.
The late New York emcee’s music experienced significant gains on the Hot 100 singles chart as well. Three DMX tracks made it onto the latest list of most popular songs in the country – “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” (#16), “Party Up (Up In Here)” (#40), and “X Gon’ Give It To Ya” (#46).
1998’s “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” is now the highest-charting single of DMX’s career. Previously, he peaked at #17 as a feature on The Lox’s “Money, Power & Respect” with Lil Kim. That star-studded collaboration also came out in 1998.
While DMX never reached the Top 10 of the Hot 100, he did achieve considerable success on the Billboard 200 chart throughout his musical run. Seven of Dark Man X’s projects broke into that tally’s Top 10, and five albums reached #1.
DMX’s debut studio LP, It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, opened at #1 in 1998 with 251,000 first-week copies sold. Seven months later, Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood also launched at #1 with 670,000 first-week units. 1998’s …And Then There Was X, 2001’s The Great Depression, and 2003’s Grand Champ were chart-toppers too.
It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot is now certified 4x-Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood is certified 3x-Platinum. …And Then There Was X is certified 5x-Platinum. The Great Depression and Grand Champ are both certified Platinum.
“Get at Me Dog” featuring Sheek Louch off It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot earned Gold certification from the RIAA. The Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood single “Slippin'” is also certified Gold. “Money, Power & Respect” also collected a Gold plaque.