"Ruff Ryders' Anthem" is a song by American rapper DMX, released on May 5, 1998, as the third single from his debut studio album '' It's Dark and Hell Is Hot'' (1998). In 2008, the song was ranked at number 79 on ''VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop''. In the US, upon the song's initial release it had originally peaked at number 93 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, before reaching a new peak of number 16 following DMX's death in April 2021.

Background and conception

"Ruff Ryders' Anthem" was produced by Kasseem Dean, at the time an up-and-coming musician better known as Swizz Beatz. Swizz Beatz had been introduced to DMX by his uncles Darrin and Joaquin Dean, who are co-founders of the Ruff Ryders. According to Swizz Beatz, DMX had initially rejected the production: "I made the 'Ruff Ryders Anthem' beat in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. It was me just bugging out, having my New York influence and having my Atlanta influence. That track was the perfect blend which was awkward and different at the time because nobody had ever heard anything like that. DMX didn't want to do it. He was like, 'Man, that sounds like some

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

track, I need some

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

shit. I'm not doing that. It's not hood enough." Despite Swizz Beatz's best efforts, it wasn't until Darrin and Joaquin Dean convinced DMX to give the track a chance that he did so.

Composition

The background vocals and beat follow the rhythm of a military cadence. This coincides with the

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

's theme of being a cohesive unit. Swizz Beatz once recalled how the 'What!' ad-libs formulated, stating "The 'What!' ad-lib and all of that came about in the middle of us hyping him up. We left it in the track to add energy. Collectively, we came up with that vibe".

Music video

The official

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was directed by J. Jesses Smith, who had previously worked with DMX on the visuals for “ Get at Me Dog”. The video features

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

s by rappers Fredro Starr and

Sticky Fingaz Kirk Jones (born November 3, 1973), better known by his stage name Sticky Fingaz, is an American rapper, record producer and actor best known as a member of multi-platinum hardcore rap group Onyx. Sticky Fingaz was discovered by Jam Master Ja ...

as well as DMX's Ruff Ryders label-mates The LOX,

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

, and Swizz Beatz. It has over 206 million views on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

as of 2023.

Charts

"Ruff Ryders' Anthem (Remix)"

"Ruff Ryders' Anthem (Remix)" is a song featuring vocals from American rappers and Ruff Ryders cohorts DMX, Jadakiss, Styles P, Drag-On and

. The song was released in 1999 as the third and final single from DJ Clue's solo debut album, '' The Professional'' (1998). The remix charted on the US ''Billboard'' Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and was later featured in '' Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories'' in the ingame radio station The Liberty Jam. In 2020, the song was featured in the video game '' Call of Duty: Warzone''.

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1998 songs 1999 singles DMX songs Hardcore hip-hop songs Song recordings produced by Swizz Beatz Songs written by Swizz Beatz Def Jam Recordings singles Roc-A-Fella Records singles Ruff Ryders Entertainment singles Gangsta rap songs Songs written by DMX pl:How's It Goin' Down