![]() I was able to shoot movies with Steven Seagal. He always preached the word to people that he felt needed it, and he always ended his show with a prayer. It was way past music, the love he had for me. When I think back on those days, I think about so many things that he did for me. Lul G, Former Member of SOB x RBE, Sentenced to 21 Years in Prison I learned that maybe the fourth time performing, and then I was sharp and ready to spit my verse, just in case. But when he did want you to perform, he would look at you, and you just gotta be ready to do your verse. Right when your part was supposed to come up, he’d just keep rapping his part. ![]() The scary part was that he never told you. Songs like “Stop, Drop” - sometimes he’d do the joint with all of us, and sometimes he’d do it by himself. Some nights, he didn’t want you performing with him. Performing with X was a little different than performing with other artists. By the Hard Knock Life Tour, I was able to come out and perform with DMX two or three times a night, because we had so many songs together. So being his hype man really taught me how to perform. To get the crowd hype over some street shit takes way more energy than trying to get the crowd hype off of a party joint. But Ruff Ryders, we put out street music. When you’re performing party music, all you gotta do is dance and go with the party. At first, on the Survival of the Illest Tour, I was just his hype man. The first time I went on tour with DMX, I was nervous. He felt as though his blessings came from the Lord. X was a giving type of person - and he didn’t care about you giving it back. You’d be like, “Yo, X, what’s up?” And he’s the type that would probably tell you: “Dog, listen, I don’t really fuck with you.” He was real kind-hearted, too. When he came across people, if he rocked with you, he rocked with you and if he don’t, he don’t. His energy and his passion were something from out of this world. That’s why the world loved him, and that’s why we loved him. Even if you found other words that go with that, you cannot leave out those two. There’s two words to describe DMX: Energy and passion. It’s crazy, too, because at the time I actually looked like I could have been his little brother. We really looked at each other like brothers. I loved every artist, but me and DMX were always the tightest. It took a couple days for us to become brothers. I want this little dude right here.” That’s how I became Ruff Ryders.Ĭoming from where I came from, and going through what I was going through, it was a relief to feel as though I came across family. ![]() He was the one that put the stamp on me: “I’m not going to front. For me, being 17, and not really knowing I was in a battle until toward the end, I just kept coming at him, and he felt my hunger and felt my pain. X used to battle, like, 10 people by himself, and literally make them stop one by one. But he respected me, because I kept coming at him. Next thing I knew, it turned into a battle. He was there at the studio, and they told me to rap, and they told him to rap. Back at that time, it was the battle era - all that SMACK DVD stuff came from us. ![]() They brought me down to the Power House studio in Yonkers to meet a rapper. As fans around the world mourned DMX after his death at age 50, Drag-On called to share his memories of the late MC. We didn’t need any numbers or rankings for it to leave an everlasting impact on us as fans, however, as I can guarantee that for years to come the song will be quick to turn a packed room rowdy.Bronx rapper Drag-On was a key part of the Ruff Ryders rap dynasty in the late Nineties and early 2000s, making many memorable appearances alongside DMX, the Lox, and Eve. To this day, “Ruff Ryder’s Anthem” truly lives up to its title, and following DMX’s passing it became the highest-charting single of his career. So he technically won the bet…” Swizz says. “He didn’t lose the bet because that song ended up changing all of our lives. In a recent interview, Swizz went on to elaborate that thanks to X losing a bet, he agreed to do the song after all, which landed Swizz a spot on his debut album, It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot. Swizz Beatz, who produced the song, says DMX told him, “Man, that sounds like some rock ‘n’ roll track, I need some hip-hop sh*t. The first time DMX ever heard the beat for what we now know as “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem”, he was…let’s just say, less than thrilled. As an artist, you never truly know what your fans will love and connect with until you give it to them.
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