DMX mixes streetwise East Coast hip-hop with the crack and thunder of eternal damnation on his debut album, which is filled with anthems that sound forged in fire and brimstone. The slimy, grimy “Get at Me Dog” gives the rapper a bedrock to unleash his trademark gruff and growling vocal. Elsewhere, with the barbed-wire beat, chantable hook and background yelps of “what?” on “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem”, he delivers a psalm for not just his crew but the streets as a whole.