Retro Video of the Week: "Ruff Ryders' Anthem" by DMX

Friday will be the 25th anniversary of the release of DMX's debut album, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot.  In many ways, the album marked a sea change in rap, as it's rough and dark imagery made DMX an instant star.  Within a couple weeks of its release, it shot up to #1 on both the Billboard album chart and Billboard R&B album chart, starting a string of five consecutive studio albums that would top both charts.  The album eventually went quadruple platinum in the U.S.

DMX would basically take over rap for the next couple years, cranking out two more albums in the next year and a half -- 1998's Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood and 1999's . . . And Then There Was X -- which went triple and quintuple platinum, respectively.

While "Ruff Ryders' Anthem" wasn't the first single released off of It's Dark and Hell Is Hot -- "Get At Me Dog" and "Stop Being Greedy" were released first -- it's the song that broke DMX into the mainstream, reaching #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and getting plenty of airtime on MTV.  Most importantly, since then, it's nearly impossible for me to hear someone say "stop" with any sort of slight pause afterward, without me then thinking -- or in many cases, screaming in an intimidating manner -- "drop, shut 'em down, open up shop.  Oohhh noooo, that's how Ruff Ryders roll."