Hip Hop lost one of its greatest two weeks ago due to an overdose and several complications that followed. DMX was an incredible, fantastic, lyrical, and overall great rapper. I wanted to honor his legacy in my own way by sharing my top three favorite songs of his.

My top one was a collaboration with Eminem and Obie Trice. The song, “Go To Sleep,” was a diss at Ja Rule during the time when Eminem had beef with him. DMX’s verse comes in last as he takes a more subliminal approach to dissing Ja, whereas Eminem and Obie Trice take more direct shots. I love this song because of its beats and production style. DMX’s verse is my favorite out of the three of them and it really opened my eyes to the true nature of hip hop.

Coming in at number two is “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” from his album It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot. This song piqued my interest because at the time I discovered it, I was used to listening to more west coast hip hop instead of east coast. Though I listen to Eminem a lot and he is an east coast rapper, his music was always more geared towards west coast vibes so when I heard this song I felt like I got a real taste of east coast hip hop.

Last but not least at number three is “Slippin” from his album Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood. This song is a more personal song of his and I thought it was very beautiful. Hip hop always sounds kind of rough and DMX’s music especially, but this song brought that roughness and personal experience to create something that was very pleasing to hear. I can’t help but compare the vibes from this song to the vibes from Tupac’s Me Against the World album. There is something about how personal this song was to DMX and how personal that album was to Tupac that makes them feel like very similar projects.

It was a devastating blow to hear of DMX’s death. I was really praying he would pull through. His music and his legacy will live on in infamy and he will be dearly missed. May he rest in power.