dmx tour with jay z

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Manage Your Subscription
• Give a Gift Subscription
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes
• Entertainment

JAY-Z Says Touring with DMX Pushed Him to Perfect His Own Performances: 'He Improved My Stage Show'

"He was so competitive with me. I never met a human being more competitive with me, like ever, not even my big brother," JAY-Z said of the late rapper

JAY-Z is speaking candidly about how touring with DMX inspired him to step up his game on stage.

While chatting with LeBron James and others for the season four premiere of HBO's The Shop: Uninterrupted , the 51-year-old "Song Cry" crooner opened up about how the late rapper inspired him during the Hard Knock Life tour in 1999.

Speaking about DMX, JAY-Z said, "There was a competitive thing, but it was big love."

"He was so competitive with me. I never met a human being more competitive with me, like ever, not even my big brother," he continued. "My fondest memory of DMX is he improved my stage show."

Recalling the first night of the show, which the rapper said was "sold out," JAY-Z explained that he wanted to watch DMX's performance before his own.

"X is about to go, and I'm like, 'I wanna see,' " JAY-Z recalled. "And he goes [growls], and the f------ arena goes crazy."

"First of all, it's deafening, and I'm like, 'Oh s---,'" the "Empire State of Mind" artist continued. "He has a thing, like an Alize and Hennessy mix, it looks like blood — like he's drinking blood — and he's running back and forth [on the stage]."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE 's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

"Halfway through the show, then he takes his shirt off and the whole crowd goes wild," he added. "... First the guys are going crazy, now the girls are going crazy."

From there, the star said DMX transitioned his set to prayer, eliciting a new wave of emotions from the crowd.

"And now they're crying, the whole arena is crying. And they're like, 'OK, now you go,'" JAY-Z said. "I was like, 'Okay, I have to figure out my space in this. I have to figure out where do I exist.' "

RELATED VIDEO: DMX Says He Thanks 'God for Every Moment' of His Life in Last Recorded Interview Before His Death

DMX, born Earl Simmons, died at White Plains Hospital in New York in April, his family previously confirmed to PEOPLE .

The rapper was hospitalized in grave condition on April 2 after suffering a heart attack at home around 11 p.m., his attorney Murray Richman told NBC News the following day.

"We are deeply saddened to announce today that our loved one, DMX, birth name of Earl Simmons, passed away at 50 years old at White Plains Hospital with his family by his side after being placed on life support for the past few days," his family wrote in a statement at the time.

"Earl was a warrior who fought till the very end. He loved his family with all of his heart and we cherish the times we spent with him. Earl's music inspired countless fans across the world and his iconic legacy will live on forever," the statement continued.

"We appreciate all of the love and support during this incredibly difficult time. Please respect our privacy as we grieve the loss of our brother, father, uncle and the man the world knew as DMX."

Related Articles

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

If you ever wanted to know what really goes on backstage, this is the definitive inside look - uncut and uncensored. Complete with on-stage performances you'll see an intimate view of what l... Read all If you ever wanted to know what really goes on backstage, this is the definitive inside look - uncut and uncensored. Complete with on-stage performances you'll see an intimate view of what life is like at one of the biggest Rap Concert tours of all time. It shows life on the road... Read all If you ever wanted to know what really goes on backstage, this is the definitive inside look - uncut and uncensored. Complete with on-stage performances you'll see an intimate view of what life is like at one of the biggest Rap Concert tours of all time. It shows life on the road, in hotels and off stage in a way you've never seen before.

• Chris Fiore
• 6 User reviews
• 7 Critic reviews
• 29 Metascore
• 1 nomination

• Self (song)

• (uncredited)

• Pelted Hit through Scream
• (archive sound)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

• Connections Referenced in Jersey Girl (2004)

User reviews 6

• bob the moo
• Dec 18, 2006
• September 8, 2000 (United States)
• United States
• Hard Knock Life Tour
• Dimension Films
• Island Def Jam Music Group
• Roc-a-Fella Records
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• Sep 10, 2000

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 26 minutes
• Dolby Digital

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• See more gaps
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed

Get The Newsletter

• HeadlineToGo
• Inside the Boardroom
• Sneaker Game

About Boardroom

Boardroom is a sports, media and entertainment brand co-founded by Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman and focused on the intersection of sports and entertainment. Boardroom’s flagship media arm features premium video/audio, editorial, daily and weekly newsletters, showcasing how athletes, executives, musicians and creators are moving the business world forward. Boardroom’s ecosystem encompasses B2B events and experiences (such as its renowned NBA and WNBA All-Star events) as well as ticketed conferences such as Game Plan in partnership with CNBC. Our advisory arm serves to consult and connect athletes, brands and executives with our broader network and initiatives.

Recent film and TV projects also under the Boardroom umbrella include the Academy Award-winning Two Distant Strangers (Netflix), the critically acclaimed scripted series SWAGGER (Apple TV+) and Emmy-nominated documentary NYC Point Gods (Showtime).

Boardroom’s sister company, Boardroom Sports Holdings, features investments in emerging sports teams and leagues, including the Major League Pickleball team, the Brooklyn Aces, NWSL champions Gotham FC, and MLS’ Philadelphia Union.

How ‘Hard Knock Life’ Made Jay-Z a Superstar

Iceberg Slim, Little Orphan Annie, and the best-selling album in Hov history — let’s explore the enduring power of Vol. 2 and its namesake single.

When  Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life released on Sep. 29, 1998, Jay-Z was en route to becoming the biggest recording artist in the world.

As the Marcy maestro himself wisely predicted, it was a case of a rising tide lifting all ships as hip-hop increasingly dominated the charts.

In a year that saw regions and styles from the Bay Area to the Dirty South make themselves known to the mainstream like never before, the lanes and lines of the genre grew blurred as the competition peaked far beyond the bounds of LA and the Big Apple.

Even amid Blueprint brilliance or Watch the Throne opulence in the years to come, the Jiggaman’s Grammy Award-winning third LP remains the highest-selling album in his illustrious catalog.

Riding off the sweat equity of Reasonable Doubt and MTV ambition of In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 , Hov hit his stride just as rap was cracking the code for cultural and commercial success.

“ Vol. 1 , we took it from being in the street to being in the music business and dealing with that pressure,” Jay said of that era.

Cutting no corners, he had a broader vision for where it all could someday go.

“Now I’m staying a little longer and am more in control of everything,” Jay continued. “Not just rapping and music, but the whole overall project.”

Prepped to peak, Hov entered all lanes as he notched his first Billboard Hot 200 No. 1 album, selling over six million copies in the US alone.

The success came through touching his core demographic while becoming more involved in Roc-A-Fella Records’ broader vision for business and art as a new millennium dawned.

Get on our list for weekly sports business, industry trends, interviews, and more.

“The more educated the consumer becomes,” Jay began in a 1998 interview with  Oneworld , “the more they’re going to know that ‘this is the pure, this is what I want.'”

Pure, polished, and prolific, Jay-Z ‘s third studio album celebrated its 25th anniversary on Sept. 29, 2023.

Filling the shoes of the slain Biggie Smalls — and even a retired Michael Jordan — Boardroom explores how Jay-Z’s vivacious Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life put a priceless succession plan on pause and became the blueprint for an entire industry.

The State of New York

When Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities in 1859, he was waxing poetic on London and Paris in the late 1700s.

Perhaps he was cosmically prophecizing New York’s five-borough boom in 1998, too.

Between Harlem and Queens, rising rap stars from Cam’ron to N.O.R.E. were signing solo deals and going Gold.

Back in the Bronx, Fat Joe had his own plaques, while cohort Big Pun proved Platinum on arrival.

Over in Staten Island, RZA had the freedom to put out passion projects while fellow Wu-Tang Clan member Method Man could literally get Janet Jackson , Chris Rock, and Donald Trump on his album.

It was the best of times if you wanted a seat at the table or even a shot at the throne. Over in Brooklyn, the worst of times still lingered.

Having just lost The Notorious BIG the year before, the collateral of hip-hop’s coastal conflict hit the heart of the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood at the price of fans and families.

Just as Puff Daddy perfected the packaging of shiny suit singles juxtaposed with gangster rap gore, questions around commercialism and realism rang louder than ever as rap found itself in a tonal transition.

By the beginning of 1998, Jay-Z had just gone Gold commercially but caught a brick critically with In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 .

The sophomore album was released months after Biggie — his friend and his fiercest competition — tragically passed. Aware of the moment, the album’s second single, “City is Mine,” foretold a passing of the torch but failed to catch fire.

All the while, New York itself was scorching.

With rap rising and NYC on fire, could Hov find a way to conquer his hometown and reach the whole world?

Typically, the songs that ring off on Top 40 are not the same ones rap purists ride to.

At a time when everyone was dropping albums costing $16 a piece, resonating on the radio meant more to fans than ever — especially if you’re stuck in Rush Hour .

Across the board, hip-hop’s top artists were betting big on a hit single and music video to gain traction. Quite literally seeing the bigger picture, Jay-Z was working his records through movies.

Having learned a lesson from “Ain’t No…” ascending off its placement in the Eddie Murphy-led The Nutty Professor , Jay’s dual Def Jam deal pushed “Can I Get A…” to the forefront of Rush Hour ‘s red carpet.

Pairing Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker at their commercial height, Rush Hour pulled in over $244 million at the box office, exposing the track to a broader audience than record store shelves alone could have bargained for.

From seats to soundtracks, Jay-Z’s lead single for 1998’s Vol. 2 was slowly growing through theaters, promo sales, and music video rotation.

All the while, “Can I Get A…” wasn’t Jay-Z’s only single on the charts.

The slow-burn success of the Rush Hour hit was all drafting off a collaboration on par with Chan and Tucker’s double act.

Months before the movie hit theatres, Atlanta hitmaker Jermaine Dupri called on Mr. Carter to co-write his second solo single, “Money Ain’t a Thang.”

Prior to 1998, the Kriss Kross producer and Reasonable Doubt rapper couldn’t have occupied more opposite ends of the hip-hop spectrum, but suddenly, there they were. With Dupri looking to gain equity as an artist and Hov hoping to take his business down South, the pairing positioned the anthem not as an answer to the jiggy wave, but rather a celebration of elite taste.

Through two covert moves, Hov had Middle America eating popcorn to his single and bottles being bought to his feature. Adding in the equity of his own film foray, Streets is Watching , Hov was heating up.

In a matter of months, he caught the eyes and even had the ears — but what he needed next was the heart.

Lukewarm to Hot

The winter of 1997 was both ice-cold and sizzling for hip-hop’s Iceberg Slim.

Only months removed from Biggie Smalls’ death, Jay-Z was pulled into the Bad Boy Family fold for Puff Daddy’s No Way Out tour. Serving as the opening act for a bill that featured Diddy, Ma$e, Busta Rhymes, Usher , and more, the once-underground rapper was now playing packed houses.

“Rappers don’t usually get to go out and tour the whole globe,” Jay told MTV in 1997. “If you’re performing in front of 15,000, that’s rare in rap. Puff opened a lot of doors for a lot of rappers.”

As an opener, Jay’s time on stage was short.

However, a beat played by DJ Kid Capri between sets suddenly changed his whole career.

“When we did the Diddy tour, I had ‘Hard Knock Life’ on a plate — just the beat,” Kid Capri told Sway in 2013 . “I used to play it in the arena. On the third show, Jay ran out and he heard it like, ‘Yo, what’s that?’ I said, ‘You want that?’ I put him on the phone with 45 right there in the arena.”

In a matter of minutes, Jay was on the phone with the 45 King, a DJ and producer who emerged from rap’s golden age in the Bronx. Not long after, Jay-Z quit the tour.

“Two weeks later, the record came out,” Carpi said. “And it was his biggest record ever.”

“I probably did that song in maybe five minutes,” Jay-Z said in 2010 .

Making the most of an Annie LP that 45 King bought at the Salvation Army for 25 cents, “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” grew to be an absolute smash, cracking the Top 10 in a dozen countries.

Regardless of region or language, the song simply connected.

“I grew up around music listening to all types of people,” Jay told MTV in 1998. “I’m into music that has soul in it. Whether it be rap, R&B, pop music, whatever, as long the person’s soul is in it and I can feel it through the way, that’s what I listen to.”

While “Can I Get A…” brought Hov into movie theatres, “Hard Knock Life” booked him onto award shows and the late-night circuit. With one hit, “Hard Knock Life” proved the foundation for Platinum single sales and a No. 1 album.

“He has a lot of big records,” Carpi noted. “But that was the big one.”

Shortly after Vol. 2 ‘s release, Jay performed the single on HBO’s The Chris Rock Show . Rocking the new Air Jordans — two weeks before they came out — Jay took the stage not flanked by hypemen or models but rather by a set of swaying neighborhood kids.

“What I represent is a group of people,” Jay told MTV. “I represent every ghetto and every urban area across the country. I’m the people, I’m the rebellious voice that’s like, ‘Yo, pay attention to us.’ That’s what I do.”

Across the country, fans would soon find out firsthand.

Road Warrior

Despite Jay dropping from the lineup, Puff Daddy and the Family’s No Way Out Tour was a torrid success. More than that, it set a new standard for hip-hop as a commercial juggernaut.

“There were no big tours concerning rap because there was so much negativity,” Ma$e told The Baltimore Sun in 1997. “We’ll open doors for other rap groups to go out and have a good time, without everybody being so scared.”

Mission accomplished. The tour grossed $16 million.

Looking to take it further, Jay-Z announced the Hard Knock Life Tour in 1999, taking DMX, Method Man, Redman, and DJ Clue on the road.

Despite the safety and success of Puff’s platform, media members and venue owners alike questioned Jay’s venture given the gritty nature of his lineup. Even with a hit single and No. 1 album, the tour was considered a high-stakes gamble for bookers.

“For a while, we couldn’t tour because we had to get so much security for the buildings and they were pushing insurance up so high because they thought something was gonna happen,” Jay told MTV in 1999 . “We’re setting a precedent with this tour, it’s going off with no violence.”

From March to May, the Hard Knock Life tour would rock arenas from Toronto to Tampa and from Camden to Cali. Moving smoothly and safely to each sold-out date, the tour made a record-setting $18 million — besting Puff’s own impressive precedent.

Adorning a local sports legend’s jersey at every stop , Hov was both walking and working like a ballplayer. The tour saw stretches with five shows in five nights.

More than that, it saw success. The show was so popular that arenas were selling tickets behind the stage in sections usually left empty by design, sight lines be damned.

Moreover, Jay admirably donated ticket proceeds from a show in Colorado to benefit the families impacted by the tragic Columbine school shooting.

Always aware of earnings, performance and bus footage was repackaged as Backstage , a concert film distributed by Dimension Films with a soundtrack that went Gold.

The Hard Knock Life Tour proved that everything Jay touched turned to Gold if not Platinum.

Better yet? His prime run was only just beginning.

Jay-Z’s Last Dance

In 1997, Jay-Z alluded to Vol. 2 being his last album long before it ever came out.

During his co-venture with Def Jam, he was under contract to put out projects despite his original intent to retire after Reasonable Doubt , his debut LP. Instead, he had the hot hand in music , movies, and merchandise.

The album rollout for Vol. 2 gauged interest from Def Jam, New Line Cinema, and any arena brave enough to book the record-breaking tour. Months after the Hard Knock Life Tour wrapped, Jay-Z brought his stage set to the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards .

While Hov played the entire arena run in a series of carefully selected athletic jerseys, this time, his whole team was adorned in Roc-A-Wear for the ceremony stage.

The clothing company, perhaps previewed in the “Hard Knock Life” video, was a venture in leveraging lifestyle.

As the story goes, fellow Roc-A-Fella co-founder Dame Dash reached out to clothing company Iceberg in hopes of an endorsement deal for Jay. When they rejected the idea, the Roc team began exploring the idea of developing their own brand.

In a matter of years, Roc-A-Wear would post $700 million in annual sales. Even in the midst of making some of his finest and most successful music, the “Dead Presidents” rapper still saw his growing legacy as being much bigger than hip-hop music alone.

“I see myself as an entrepreneur, period,” Jay said. “If it wasn’t this it’d be something else. I never saw myself having a boss, I just saw myself working for myself.”

The same kids swaying in his videos could work like Hov or work for Hov.

“Our kids don’t have a legacy,” Jay-Z added in an interview with Fox Files in 1998. “We want to put together something real special so that our kids and our kids’s kids know they have a place, that they have something at Roc-A-Fella.”

With Vol. 2 , Jay furthered himself and his label as tastemakers in film and fashion while further strengthening its place in the music game.

The album introduced both Beanie Sigel and Ja Rule to the public eye while also paving paths for Memphis Bleek and Amil.

Suddenly, Roc-A-Fella was a reputable outfit for breaking up-and-coming artists. Though skyscraper visions all came to fruition in time, they emerged from “Hard Knock Life.”

“The song was so appropriate for the whole album because we definitely took it back 360,” Jay said.

Able to rock arenas with a call-and-response flow and side-to-side bop, the single allowed Jay to become the man across the country and the God MC back home in New York.

With that tour take-home, he could build Baseline Studios in Manhattan without having to pay for studio time. With the album’s cachet on the radio and in the streets, he could hop on songs with DMX and Mariah Carey alike, operating in all lanes.

In the quarter-century since Vol. 2 was released, Hov himself has ranked it as his fourth-best album, outdone only by The Black Album , The Blueprint , and Reasonable Doubt.

These days, he considers himself retired from rapping as he ascended to billionaire status by mastering marketing far beyond the booth.

“I see myself as so much more than a rapper,” Jay told Blues & Soul back in ’98. “I really believe I’m the voice for a lot of people who don’t have that microphone or who can’t rap.”

It all harkens back to a time when rap was winning and New York was up for grabs. A time when things clicked for Jay-Z in the boardroom and in the studio.

“Now, we’re set up to operate like businessmen,” Jay told Oneworld in 1998 . “For the whole album, I was on top of my game creatively.”

Aux Money: Teezo Touchdown’s Evolution Will Be Televised

Aux Money: Tay Keith is Always Staying a Step Ahead

Aux Money: Don C is Just a Chicago Kid Living the Dream

Aux Money: Babyface Ray on Detroit, Wemby, Fashion & More

Lil Dicky is Dave Burd’s Present, but His Future is Firmly in Film

How Roc Nation Reinvigorated the Super Bowl Halftime Show

Sign up for Boardroom’s newsletters to get the biggest stories in the business of sports, music, and entertainment directly in your inbox, daily.

Subscribe for the biggest stories in the business of sports and entertainment, daily.

Things you buy through our links may earn  Vox Media  a commission.

Jay-Z Shares His Fondest Memory of DMX and Says Why He Boycotted the Grammys

The fourth season of LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s talk show The Shop: Uninterrupted premiered on HBO this past Friday, and they kicked things off with a roundtable of WNBA player Nneka Ogwumike, series co-creator Paul Rivera, Bad Bunny, and Jay-Z. The highlight of the shop talk was when Jay-Z shared his “fondest memory of DMX ,” which was when the late rapper opened for Jay-Z on his Hard Knock Life Tour in 1999. Jay-Z relives the moments before the first performance: “X is about to go on, and I want to see. X is going before me. And then he goes [ growls ], and the arena goes crazy. It’s deafening, and I’m like, ohhhhh shit ,” at which point Jay-Z grabs his face, Kevin McAllister style. Jay-Z goes on to describe all the ways that DMX was an impossible act to follow — his energy, the crowd cheering for him when he takes his shirt off halfway through the set. “First the guys are going crazy, now the girls are going crazy. And then he gets to the end, and he starts a prayer. And now they’re crying. The whole arena is crying! And they’re like … okay, now you go. ”

In the episode, Jay-Z also recounted why he boycotted the 1999 Grammys in solidarity with DMX: “We both came out that year, he didn’t even get nominated. He had two albums, two number-one albums in the same year. They didn’t even nominate him. I won that year, for Rap Album. So my first Grammy win, I wasn’t even in the building, because I boycotted it for him. So there was a competitive thing, but it was big love. He was so competitive with me, I never met a human being more competitive with me. Ever. Not even my big brother.” Jay-Z’s Shop: Uninterrupted interview occurred the same day as the release of his DMX and Nas collab, “Bath Salts.”

• the shop: uninterrupted
• lebron james

Most Viewed Stories

• Cinematrix No. 44: April 25, 2024
• The Man Who Gossiped Too Much  
• Bonus Cinematrix: The Criterion Channel Edition
• Walton Goggins Elevates It
• Sophia Bush Makes Relationship With Ashlyn Harris Cover-Story Official
• American Horror Story: Delicate Recap: I’m the Auteur, Bitch
• Swiftie Rehab

Editor’s Picks

Most Popular

What is your email.

This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us.

Sign In To Continue Reading

Create your free account.

Password must be at least 8 characters and contain:

• Lower case letters (a-z)
• Upper case letters (A-Z)
• Numbers (0-9)
• Special Characters (!@#$%^&*)

As part of your account, you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York , which you can opt out of anytime.

Cookie banner

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy . Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use , which became effective December 20, 2019.

By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.

Filed under:

How DMX’s First Tour Helped Usher in a New Era of Hip-hop

The Survival of the Illest Tour came just as X’s popularity exploded. Not only did it capture a young artist on the rise, it also paved the way for massive rap tours that followed.

Share this story

• Share this on Facebook
• Share this on Twitter
• Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: How DMX’s First Tour Helped Usher in a New Era of Hip-hop

On Thursday, Ringer Films will debut the latest installment of its HBO Music Box series, DMX: Don’t Try to Understand . Over the next few days, we’re chronicling the rapper’s rise and place in hip-hop history . Today, we’re looking at X’s first headlining tour, which came just as his popularity was exploding and helped change the way rap tours were perceived.

I come to you hungry and tired You give me food and let me sleep ...

On July 18, 1998, DMX took the stage at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. The performance was technically the last date on the Survival of the Illest Tour, though the travelling portion had ended its run of shows a couple of weeks earlier. On the road, DMX performed with a pair of then-unknown teenagers—his hypeman, Drag-On, and his DJ, Swizz Beatz—but for his return to New York, the Apollo stage was filled with people, including record executive/producer Irv Gotti, the Lox, and other members of the Ruff Ryder crew.

Lord, why is it that I go through so much pain? All I saw was black, all I felt was rain ...

Survival of the Illest was a showcase for artists on Def Jam Recordings. Each night featured sets from Onyx and the Def Squad—the trio of Redman, Keith Murray, and Erick Sermon (though the EPMD member didn’t travel to all the concerts). Though those acts included veterans who had sold millions of records, the undisputed headliner of the tour was DMX, hip-hop’s breakout star of the moment. The previous May, he released his debut, It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot , which landed atop the Billboard 200 chart. By the end of 2000, it would be certified four times platinum. Also by the end of December, he would release his second album of the year, Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood . It too would debut at no. 1 and would eventually be certified three times platinum.

Plenty of times you sent help my way, but I hid And I remember once, you held me close, but I slid…

Though listeners had heard DMX’s growl on record, Survival of the Illest was the first time audiences outside of New York could really see him in person as he emptied out his soul. He rapped explosively and vulnerably about giving into his darkest impulses and the salvation that he hoped he’d find. “DMX was like a broken electric wire around water,” says Lyor Cohen, the president of Def Jam at the time. “It was explosive, and it was just in the infancy of his career.”

And I think I’ve seen it, ’cause I don’t feel the same Matter of fact, I know I’ve seen it, I can feel the change...

At the Apollo show, as Beatz scratched over the instrumental outro to DMX’s breakout single, “Get at Me Dog,” the rapper told the DJ to cut the music, hollering, “Let me fuck with my peoples for a minute! Let me fuck with my peoples for a minute!” Even back then, DMX closed his shows with a prayer, a tradition he would continue until his death on April 9, 2021 , at the age of 50 from a drug-induced heart attack. In the years to come, he would sometimes improvise the prayer in the moment, but on that night, he recited the same one he recorded for It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot , accompanied only by the voices in the crowd shouting it along with him.

And I fear that what I’m sayin’ won’t be heard until I’m gone But it’s all good, ’cause I really didn’t expect to live long So, if it takes for me to suffer for my brother to see the light Give me pain till I die, but, please, Lord, treat him right

Def Jam hired Rick Mordecon to direct a documentary of that night. He had only a couple weeks to prepare and a minuscule budget of about $10,000. Mordecon, a self-described “tattooed Jewish guy,” hadn’t really worked with hip-hop artists before and was skeptical going into the project because of rumors he’d heard about them carrying guns. But as the night came to a close, the audience at the Apollo held hands and wrapped their arms around each other, moved by the love that DMX showed them. “It was the most cohesive, beautiful, emotional experience,” says Mordecon, who befriended the rapper and kept working with him over the years. “I was crying by the end of that concert.”

By 1998, hip-hop was not only pushing itself further into the mainstream, it was doing so with fewer pop concessions, which had previously been necessary. More and more rap videos entered the daily rotation on MTV and BET, not just appearing on the specialty shows. Artists who made their reputation with street records were getting radio airplay. Still, the live-music industry was slow to embrace this shift. Promoters at the country’s biggest venues mostly stayed away from the genre, convinced that audience members up in the cheap seats would be bored watching a guy walk back and forth in front of a pair of turntables. Rappers had a reputation for flouting set times and showing up late, which meant overtime pay for union workers and large fines for breaking a city’s noise curfew. Or they were still spooked by tales of violence dating back to Run-DMC shows in the mid-1980s .

Ron Byrd , who started working in live music in late ’70s with Prince and in the early ’80s with Teena Marie and Rick James, became Def Jam’s de facto tour manager in the mid-’80s after working on Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys’ Together Forever run. He was the tour manager for the Survival of the Illest, Hard Knock Life, and Ruff Ryders/Cash Money tours, and has continued to work with artists from new generations, like Kendrick Lamar, Migos, and Lil Yachty. By the late ’90s he was used to the ways that rap music got shunned. “They used to do tricky stuff, like you couldn’t get insurance,” he says. “It’s not that it was banned, but nobody would insure the show. Some arenas, like the big basketball arenas, they wouldn’t take your booking or they would price you out—they can set whatever price they want for a building. It wasn’t economically viable for a promoter to do a hip-hop show, unless it was underground.”

Looking at Survival of the Illest’s itinerary now, the choice of venues can seem strange, as it jumped from Midwestern clubs with 2,000-person capacities, to buildings in the Northeast usually used by minor league hockey teams, to civic centers of Southern cities in secondary or tertiary markets. “It wasn’t by necessity, but I believe it was by design that [Def Jam] put the artists in those-level buildings,” says Byrd. “We knew we were building something.”

“They knew better than to try to put this in an arena setting or anything like that yet,” he continues. “I don’t care who I start out with—Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Young Thug, whatever—in touring, nobody ever goes straight to the arenas. The only person that probably went straight to the arenas in the last 20 years is Drake.”

When the Lollapalooza festival started travelling through outdoor amphitheaters at the start of 1990s, it always featured a couple of rap acts—ones like A Tribe Called Quest and the Pharcyde—and split them between the main and side stages. In 1996, longtime hip-hop booking agent Cara Lewis teamed with House of Blues executive Kevin Morrow to create the Smokin’ Grooves Tour, which was conceived as a variation on Lollapalooza that focused on alternative Black music. With headliners like Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, it functioned as a way to make amphitheater bookers more comfortable with shows where the real audience draw were acts like Cypress Hill and the Fugees.

During the winter of 1997, Sean Combs put together the Puff Daddy & the Family tour. Though it mainly promoted his Bad Boy Records label, the 26-city arena tour also featured artists including Jay-Z, Foxy Brown, and Busta Rhymes. That experience helped motivate Jay and his Roc-a-Fella Records partner Dame Dash to create 1999’s Hard Knock Life Tour, a 50-plus-show journey that would be immortalized in the documentary Backstage . Jay-Z and DMX headlined, and they were opened by fellow Def Jam–signees Redman and Method Man. But Hard Knock Life wouldn’t have been possible without Survival of the Illest. “It was definitely a precursor,” says Andrea Duncan-Mao, a former MTV News producer and print journalist who covered both tours. “It was kind of the rehearsal, the dry run for them.”

Though Survival of the Illest was anchored by DMX, Onyx, and the Def Squad, some shows also featured appearances by other Def Jam artists, including Method Man, Foxy Brown, and Cormega. Lots of years (and lots of blunts) have passed since then, and the memories of the people who were there are no longer crystal clear. Some say each of the acts had their own tour bus. Others say they all rode together in one of those big charter buses with TV monitors in the back of the seats like old people take to the Grand Canyon. There are conflicting reports.

What the participants do agree upon is that there was a camaraderie between all the artists and their entourages on that tour, which wasn’t always the case. “Everybody was in the prime of they life—young, getting-money rap stars,” says Fredro Starr of Onyx. “There was friendly competition on every level: rapping, pushups, gambling. All types of shit was going on. Groupies. A couple of babies was made on that tour.”

And as expected for a trip featuring a bunch of 20-somethings running wild across the country, there were a few incidents that were terrifying in the moment but have since turned into favorite anecdotes. One night in (probably) New Jersey, Method Man joined Redman on stage. Redman says they were, as expected, “high as fuck.” When the two got together, they were known for pushing each other’s daredevil antics. After Meth leapt into the crowd, Red got on top of a huge speaker and the audience began goading him. “My dumbass goes and jumps to go hang on the lights above us, not knowing that the lights been on all night and them shits was hot,” Redman remembers. “I put my hands on them lights and nearly burned my fingerprints off my fingers.”

He let go instantly and fell, past the stage and all the way to the floor. “He lay there for a minute,” Byrd says. “We was all looking at him from the stage like, ‘Oh shit, do we need to call the paramedics?’”

Redman was still unresponsive when Method Man and Kevin Liles, Def Jam’s general manager of promotions at the time, came around him. “Meth was like, ‘You ain’t dead, n—, get up! Get up! You won’t die, n—! Real n— don’t die, n—! Get up!’” Redman says. “And I opened my eyes and I started jumping around and shit. I think that was one of the highlights of the tour.”

Then there was the time in Chicago when the artists were getting ready to check into their hotel before the show. “[The MTV News crew] all went to go say hi and they all came out of the bus,” Duncan-Mao says. “We’re standing there talking and the bus just starts rolling down the street, and we’re like, ‘Who’s driving the bus?’ There was no one driving the bus.”

It proceeded to crash into a street lamp and a brownstone’s stoop (luckily no one got hurt). “I always thought it was Keith Murray who actually knocked the bus out of gear, but since X died, people have told me it was him and they didn’t want to say it was him,” Duncan-Mao says.

DMX loved to drive, although most people didn’t want him behind the wheel because of the dangerous speeds he would go. “DMX was always trying to drive the bus,” says Sticky Fingaz of Onyx. One day the rapper somehow took control of the vehicle and managed to get them to the show. “I can’t drive no bus, I don’t even know how to get that shit out of park,” says Starr. “So he’s pretty good.”

Though artists now see touring as their main avenue for making money, in the late ’90s, physical music sales were still strong, so live shows for hip-hop acts were more of a promotional consideration. When fans couldn’t pull up artists’ videos or full discography on demand, or get constant updates through social media, going on the road was the way for acts to create awareness, or just remind people they still existed. “Back in the day, that was the key to selling units, being out,” Redman says. “You really had to be outside to sell units, not like these young people talk about, ‘I’m outside! I’m outside!’ You actually had to be outside, shaking people’s hands and getting to know people and making connections and putting out the energy of who we are.”

Despite some fears, there were no riots or major violent incidents at the shows, a trajectory that continued through the Hard Knock Life Tour. “The whole vibe of that tour was crazy,” says Starr. “Nobody got arrested, nobody caught a body. It was good.”

Def Jam liked to send their artists on package tours, not just because they could help grow each other’s fan base. By having them all together, it would give the impression of a larger movement that needed to be paid attention to. “When you have a bunch of acts, it feels like a full takeover,” says Julie Greenwald, Def Jam’s former senior vice president of marketing and the current chairwoman of Atlantic Records. “You can take over the whole night on a radio station. The in-stores are crazy. The press, when we do the interviews that day, it felt like a press conference.”

When MTV News came to Chicago to film Survival of the Illest, before the actual show they followed the groups to a cookout where Redman DJed at George’s Music Room, an institution that had been in the city since 1969. “That kind of stuff they were doing on the tour ultimately created some goodwill so that when Hard Knock Life came around, they had done their due diligence in terms of reaching out to the community,” Duncan-Mao says. “Even if [on] that particular tour the venues were not great.”

The Chicago show was held at the International Amphitheatre, a venue that opened in 1934 and hosted national political conventions during the 1950s and ’60s, but was long past its prime by the time Survival of the Illest showed up. It was demolished a year later. Though it held several thousand people, the show was sparsely attended, because it was in a rough neighborhood that was possibly in the middle of disputed gang territory. As was the case with many hip-hop shows back then, the sound was horrible, and DMX ended up slamming the microphone to the ground. MTV had to send a cameraperson to a later tour stop in Baltimore because the performance footage from that night was too depressing. “It was really sad for X, because he had been getting all this love everywhere,” Duncan-Mao says.

DMX was a revitalizing force for Def Jam Recordings and a pivotal figure as it became a part of the Universal Music Group in ’98. Though the label had some hits in the recent years before him with Jay-Z’s In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 and Foxy Brown’s Ill Na Na , they were losing the culture war to New York rival Bad Boy Records. Then DMX’s grim and grimy vision presented an alternative to the celebratory flash that was associated with Puff Daddy’s world. “People were tired of the Technicolor, happy-dappy bullshit that rap music started becoming,” says Lyor Cohen. “DMX represented the reality of what was happening. He checked the whole industry.”

Though DMX was considered a phenomenon, he was already deep into his 20s by the time he found national success. He’d been featured in The Source ’s Unsigned Hype column back in 1991 and spent years battling MCs around the New York area, but it wasn’t until his 1998 single “Get at Me Dog” that the rest of the country started to catch on. When that moment arrived, he was ready for the stage. “From pretty early on, he was spectacular,” Greenwald says. “It was just raw, you could just feel it.”

He also had a history of serious trauma, rooted in emotional, physical, and substance abuse, as well as extreme poverty and incarceration. His personality could seem manic. Sometimes he couldn’t stop talking, other times he would be guarded and withdrawn. “There was an air of unpredictability around him, but that’s kind of what made him interesting, for better or for worse,” says Duncan-Mao, who interviewed him many times for MTV News over the years and wrote a XXL cover story about him in 2000. “X had demons that he fought all the time, and if you spent any time around him, you would see them.”

In the Backstage documentary, there’s a brief clip where DMX talks to Chuck D before a show. The Public Enemy frontman asks if he enjoys being on tour. “No,” DMX responds immediately. “The only part I like is the performance, that one hour when I’m on stage, that’s it. The rest is hell.” When Chuck D tries to assure him he’ll get used to it, he replies, “I’m used to it, I just don’t like it.”

If you ask people now whether DMX liked going on tour, the replies are mixed. Some will tell you he loved the validation he got from fans and the connection it allowed him to make with them. Others will say he hated the pressure that record labels put on him to promote his music, so that’s why he would sometimes disappear for days. “X wanted to be home with his family and his dogs,” says Byrd. “It’s not the same, living on a bus, eating catered food backstage every day. It can become monotonous and people do want to get home. I don’t think so much that he didn’t like the experience, I think he just didn’t like being away and not being with [his] loved ones.”

After the Survival of the Illest Tour, DMX stripped down his minimal live show even more. He would go on stage with just a DJ, but there was no longer a hypeman. If he needed any help with the words, he knew the crowd would be there to shout them along for him.

Eric Ducker is a writer and editor in Los Angeles.

A History of Drake and His Frenemies

How taylor swift writes about being taylor swift, pearl jam: part 1, with kevin clark.

Jay-Z Eyes New "Hard Knock Life" Tour

Jay-Z made history earlier this year with his highly successful "Hard Knock Life" tour, and now it looks like hip-hop fans may be in store for a new version of that outing.

The "Hard Knock Life" tour, which also featured DMX, the duo of Method Man and Redman, and DJ Clue, earned $18 million and suffered no cancellations, no artist drop-offs, or any incidents of violence. On another positive note, the tour even pitched in money to help the families of the victims of the Columbine tragedy (see [article id="1429428"] "'Hard Knock Life' Rappers Line Up Post Tour Plans" [/article] and [article id="1428204"] "Jay-Z, DMX To Help Families Of Columbine Victims" [/article]).

albums) at the same time. DMX comes out, myself comes out, Method Man, Redman, we all come out. So hopefully we be as hot and we try and do it all over again."[/article]

according to their label, Def Jam Records.

-- John Gill

Latest News

POV VMA SUBMISSION FORM

MTV Video Music Awards Will Return to New Jersey for September Show

Scream’s Ghostface Accepts Best Movie And Best Fight: ‘Movies Don’t Create Psychos’

Anthony Ramos And Dominique Fishback Ramp Up The Tension In New 'Transformers' Clip

Joseph Quinn Acknowledges The Power Of 'Stranger Things' Fans

Ariel And Prince Eric's Romantic Night Ends With A Splash In New 'Little Mermaid' Clip

Jay-Z Explains Exactly Why DMX Was An Impossible Act To Follow As A Live Performer

In the wake of the late DMX’s tragic, untimely death , his fans and peers have been sharing their memories and stories that reveal just what made him such a formidable force in the hip-hop world . Who better to testify to X’s power as a live performer than one of the best and most influential New York rappers in the game, Jay-Z. As the clip below shows, in a recent episode of LeBron James’ show, The Shop on HBO, even Jay-Z found X a tough act to follow. Just as he showed his fallibility in a recent episode by admitting he sometimes forgets his own lyrics , Jay let James and crew know that following up a DMX set was no easy feat.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted)

“X is about to go on, and I’m like, you know, I wanna see,” he begins. “X is going before me. And then he goes (growls) , and the f*cking arena goes crazy. First of all, it’s deafening… and I’m like oh sh*t.” Jay goes on to explain the other elements of X’s set that get the crowd hype, including ripping his shirt off halfway through his set, and then, of course, leading the entire crowd in prayer as a closing act. Then, after all that, it’s time for Jay-Z to take the stage — a tough act to follow indeed. Check out his retelling of the set above, it showcases exactly why Jay is such a successful figure in pop culture in the first place, he’s a great storyteller. And if you’re craving more DMX, check out the posthumous Exodus album his label released this past Friday.

The 20 greatest hip-hop tours of all time

Our ranking, inspired by all the great rap acts on the road this summer, is 100% correct

L ook around and it might feel like we’re in a golden age of rap tours.

Rhyme greats De La Soul recently finished a European tour billed The Gods of Rap with the legendary Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan and Gang Starr’s DJ Premier. And the summer concert season is set to feature even more high-profile hip-hop shows.

West Coast giant Snoop Dogg is headlining the Masters of Ceremony tour with such heavyweights as 50 Cent, DMX, Ludacris and The Lox. Lil Wayne is doing a string of solo gigs and will launch a 38-city tour with pop punk heroes blink-182 starting June 27. Stoner rap fave Wiz Khalifa will headline a 29-city trek on July 9. The reunited Wu-Tang Clan continue their well-received 36 Chambers 25th Anniversary Celebration Tour, and Cardi B will be barnstorming through the beginning of August.

With all this rap talent on the road, The Undefeated decided to take a crack at ranking the 20 greatest hip-hop tours of all time.

Our list was compiled using several rules: First and foremost, the headliners for every tour must be from the hip-hop/rap genre. That means huge record-breaking, co-headlining live runs such as Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s On the Run II Tour were not included, given Queen Bey’s rhythm and blues/pop leanings. We also took into account the cultural and historical impact of each tour. Several artists, ranging from Run-DMC and Salt-N-Pepa to MC Hammer and Nicki Minaj, were included because they broke new ground, beyond how much their tours grossed. For years, hip-hop has battled the perception that it doesn’t translate well to live performance. This list challenges such myopic ideas.

With only 20 spots, some of rap’s most storied live gigs had to be left off the list. Many were casualties of overlap, such as Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys’ memorable 1987 Together Forever Tour and the Sizzling Summer Tour ’90, which featured Public Enemy, Heavy D & the Boyz, Kid ’n Play, Digital Underground and Queen Latifah. The 12-date Lyricist Lounge Tour, a 1998 showcase that featured Big Punisher, The Roots, De La Soul, Black Star, Common, Black Moon’s Buckshot and Fat Joe, also just missed the cut.

You may notice that Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. are missing from the list. But this was no momentary lapse of sanity. ’Pac’s and Biggie’s brief runs took place when rap shows were beginning to become a rarity, leaving most of their memorable stage moments to one-off shows. Dirty South royalty Outkast’s strongest live outing, when Big Boi and Andre 3000 reunited in 2014, was not included because it was less of a tour and more of a savvy festival run.

There are other honorable mentions: Def Jam Survival of the Illest Tour (1998), which featured DMX, the Def Squad, Foxy Brown, Onyx and Cormeg a; the Ruff Ryders/Cash Money Tour (2000); Anger Management 3 Tour with Eminem and 50 Cent (2005); J. Cole’s Dollar & A Dream Tour (2013); and Drake’s Aubrey & The Three Migos LIVE! tour (2018).

With that said, on with the show!

20. Pinkprint Tour (2015)

Nicki Minaj, featuring Meek Mill, Rae Sremmurd, Tinashe and Dej Loaf

The most lucrative hip-hop trek headlined by a woman also served as the coronation of Nicki Minaj as hip-hop’s newest queen. What made The Pinkprint Tour such a gloriously over-the-top affair was its seamless balance of dramatic Broadway-like theater, silly high jinks and a flex of artistic ferocity. One moment Minaj was in a black lace dress covering her eyes while mourning the loss of a turbulent union during “The Crying Game.” The next, she was backing up her memorable appearance on Kanye West’s “Monster” as the most wig-snatching guest verse of that decade. And the Barbz went wild.

Gross : $22 million from 38 shows

Kendrick Lamar performs during the Festival d’ete de Quebec on Friday, July 7, 2017, in Quebec City, Canada.

Amy Harris/Invision/AP

19. The Damn. Tour (2017-18)

Kendrick Lamar, featuring Travis Scott, DRAM and YG

When you have dropped two of the most critically lauded albums of your era in Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012) and To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), there’s already an embarrassment of riches to pull from for any live setting. But Kendrick Lamar understood that to live up to his bold “greatest rapper alive” proclamation he also needed populist anthems to turn on the masses. The Damn. album and world tour presented just that, as he led his followers each night in an elevating rap-along. It kicked off with a martial arts film, a cheeky nod to Lamar’s Kung Fu Kenny alter ego, before launching into the chest-beating “DNA.”

Gross: More than $62.7 million from 62 shows

Drake and Future performing on stage during The Summer Sixteen Tour at AmericanAirlines Arena on Aug. 30, 2016 in Miami.

Getty Images

18. Summer Sixteen Tour (2016)

Drake and Future

This mammoth, co-headlining tour was a no-brainer: Drake, the hit-making heartthrob, Canada’s clap-back native son and part-time goofy Toronto Raptors superfan. And Future, the self-anointed Atlanta Trap King, gleeful nihilist and producer, whose slapping, codeine-addled bars made him a controversial figure on and off record. The magic of this yin/yang pairing shined brightest when they teamed up to perform such tracks as “Jumpman” and “Big Rings” off their industry-shaking 2015 mixtape What a Time to Be Alive . When the smoke settled, Drake and Future walked away with the highest-earning hip-hop tour of all time.

Gross : $84.3 million from 54 shows

From left to right, Sandra ‘Pepa’ Denton, DJ Spinderella and Cheryl ‘Salt’ James perform on stage.

17. Salt-N-Pepa Tour (1988)

Featuring Keith Sweat, Heavy D & the Boyz, EU, Johnny Kemp, Full Force, Kid ’n Play and Rob Base

It may seem preposterous in this outspoken, girl-power age of Cardi B, Lizzo, Megan Thee Stallion, Kash Doll, Young M.A, Tierra Whack and City Girls, but back in the early ’80s, the thought of a “female” rhyme group anchoring a massive tour seemed out of reach. That was before the 1986 debut of Salt-N-Pepa, the pioneering group who’s racked up a plethora of groundbreaking moments and sold more than 15 million albums. The first female rap act to go platinum ( Hot, Cool & Vicious ) and score a Top 20 hit on the Billboard 200 (“Push It”), Salt-N-Pepa led a diverse, arena-hopping showcase that gave the middle finger to any misogynistic notions. And Salt, Pepa and DJ Spinderella continue to be road warriors. They’re currently on New Kids on the Block’s arena-packing Mixtape Tour.

Encore: Opening-act standouts Heavy D & the Boyz would co-headline their own tour the following year off the platinum success of their 1989 masterpiece Big Tyme .

16. Glow in the Dark Tour (2008)

Kanye West, featuring Rihanna, N.E.R.D, Nas, Lupe Fiasco and Santigold

Yes, Kanye West has had more ambitious showings (2013-14’s button-pushing Yeezus Tour) and more aesthetically adventurous gigs (the 2016 Saint Pablo Tour featured a floating stage, which hovered above the audience). But never has the Chicago-born visionary sounded so hungry, focused and optimistic than he did on his first big solo excursion, the Glow in the Dark Tour.

Before the Kardashian reality-show level freak-outs and MAGA hat obsessing, West was just a kid who wanted to share his spacey sci-fi dreamscape with the public, complete with a talking computerized spaceship named Jane. Even the rotating opening acts — topped off by the coolest pop star on the planet, Rihanna — were ridiculously talented.

Gross : $30.8 million from 49 shows

15. I Am Music Tour (2008-09)

Lil Wayne, featuring T-Pain and Keyshia Cole

Between 2002 and 2007, Young Money general Lil Wayne was hip-hop’s hardest-working force of nature, releasing an astounding 16 mixtapes. Then Weezy broke from the pack with the massively successful I Am Music Tour. The bulk of Lil Wayne’s 90-minute set was propelled by his career-defining 2008 album Tha Carter III , which by the show’s second leg had already sold 2 million copies. By the time T-Pain joined the New Orleans spitter for a playful battle of the featured acts, Lil Wayne’s takeover was complete.

Gross : $42 million from 78 shows

MC Hammer, performing on stage in 1990, had a large entourage for his Hammer Don’t Hurt ’Em Tour.

14. Hammer Don’t Hurt ’Em Tour (1990-91)

MC Hammer, featuring En Vogue and Vanilla Ice

With 15 background dancers, 12 singers, seven musicians, two DJs, eight security men, three valets and a private Boeing 727 plane, MC Hammer’s world tour was eye-popping. Rap fans had never seen anything of the magnitude of the Hammer Don’t Hurt ’Em stadium gigs, which recalled Parliament-Funkadelic’s army-size traveling heyday in the 1970s.

Each night the Oakland, California, dancing machine, born Stanley Burrell, left pools of sweat onstage as if he was the second coming of James Brown. If the sight of more than 30 folks onstage doing the Running Man, with MC Hammer breaking into his signature typewriter dance during “U Can’t Touch This,” didn’t make you get up, you should have checked your pulse.

Gross : $26.3 million from 138 shows

13. Things Fall Apart! Tour (1999)

Each gig was a revelation. This was no surprise given that Philadelphia hip-hop collective The Roots, formed by longtime friends drummer Questlove and lead lyricist Black Thought, had a reputation for being unpredictable. Still, it’s ironic that a group known for being the ultimate road warriors — they were known for touring 45 weeks a year before becoming the house band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2014 — is represented on this list by one of their shortest tours.

But the brilliant Things Fall Apart club and hall sprint, which took place throughout March 1999, proved to be an epic blitz fueled by the band’s most commercially lauded material to date, Questlove’s steady percussive heart and the inhuman breath control of Black Thought.

Encore: Neo soul diva Jill Scott, who co-wrote The Roots’ breakout single “You Got Me,” gave fans an early taste of her artistry as she joined the band onstage for some serious vocal workouts.

12. House of Blues’ Smokin’ Grooves Tour (1996)

The Fugees, Cypress Hill, A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, Ziggy Marley and Spearhead

While gangsta rap was topping the charts, the hip-hop industry faced a bleak situation on the touring front. Concert promoters were scared to book “urban” acts in large venues. Enter the House of Blues’ Kevin Morrow and Cara Lewis, the booking agent who achieved mythic status when she received a shout-out on Eric B. & Rakim’s 1987 anthem “Paid in Full.” The pair envisioned a Lollapalooza-like tour heavy on hip-hop and good vibes. The first ’96 incarnation came out of the gate with Haitian-American rap trio The Fugees, multiplatinum weed ambassadors Cypress Hill, A Tribe Called Quest and Busta Rhymes.

Encore: The series, which has also featured Outkast, The Roots, Lauryn Hill, Gang Starr, The Pharcyde, Foxy Brown and Public Enemy, is credited with opening the door for a return to more straight-ahead hip-hop tours led by Jay-Z, DMX and Dr. Dre.

Kanye West (left) and Jay-Z (right) perform in concert during the Watch The Throne Tour, Sunday, Nov. 6, 2011, in East Rutherford, N.J.

11. Watch the Throne Tour (2011-12)

Jay-Z and Kanye West

In better times, Jay-Z and Kanye West exhibited lofty friendship goals we could all aspire to, with their bromance popping on the platinum album Watch the Throne. Before their much-publicized fallout, Jay-Z and West took their act on the road for the mother of all double-bill spectacles.

Two of hip-hop’s greatest traded classics such as the ominous “Where I’m From” (Jay-Z) and soaring “Jesus Walks” (West) from separate stages on opposite sides of the venue. Those lucky enough to catch the tour can still recall the dream tag team launching into their encore of “N—as in Paris” amid roars from thousands of revelers.

Gross : $75.6 million from 63 shows

10. The Miseducation Tour (1999)

Lauryn Hill, featuring Outkast

In 1998, Lauryn Hill wasn’t just the best woman emcee or the best emcee alive and kicking. The former standout Fugees member was briefly the voice of her generation as she rode the multiplatinum, multi-Grammy success of her solo debut The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill . By February 1999, it was time to take the show on the road. Hill and her 10-piece band went beyond the hype, especially when they tore through a blistering take of the heartbreaking “Ex-Factor.”

Encore: Outkast (Atlantans Andre 3000 and Big Boi) rocked the house backed by some conspicuous props, including two front grilles of a Cadillac and a throwback Ford truck, kicked off their own headlining Stanklove theater tour in early 2001.

9. No Way Out Tour (1997-98)

Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs, Lil’ Kim, Ma$e, Busta Rhymes, Foxy Brown, 112, The Lox, Usher, Kid Capri, Lil’ Cease and Jay-Z

The Los Angeles Times headline spoke volumes: “Combs to Headline Rare Rap Tour.” Combs, of course, is Sean “Diddy” Combs, the music, fashion, television and liquor mogul who Forbes estimates now has a net worth of $820 million. But back then, the hustler formerly known as Puff Daddy was struggling to keep his Bad Boy Records afloat after the March 9, 1997, murder of Brooklyn, New York, rhyme king The Notorious B.I.G.

But out of unspeakable tragedy rose Combs’ chart-dominating No Way Out album and an emotional all-star tour. Despite suggestions that large-scale rap shows were too much of a financial gamble, Puffy rallied the Bad Boy troops and a few close friends and proved the naysayers wrong. The No Way Out Tour was both a cathartic exercise and a joyous celebration of life. “It’s All About the Benjamins” shook the foundation of every building as Combs, The Lox and a show-stealing Lil’ Kim made monetary excess look regal. And the heartfelt Biggie tribute “I’ll Be Missing You,” which was performed live at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, had audiences in tears.

Gross: $16 million

Rap stars, from left, Redman, foreground, DMX, Method Man and Jay-Z join host DJ Clue, background left, in a photo session on Jan. 26, 1999, in New York, after announcing their 40-city Hard Knock Life Tour beginning Feb. 27, in Charlotte, N.C.

AP Photo/Kathy Willens

8. Hard Knock Life Tour (1999)

Jay-Z, featuring DMX, Redman and Method Man

Jay-Z stands now as hip-hop’s most bankable live draw. In 2017, the newly minted billionaire’s 4:44 Live Nation production pulled in $44.7 million, becoming America’s all-time highest-grossing solo rap jaunt. It’s a long way from the days of Jay-Z lumbering through performances in a bulletproof vest when he was last off the bench on Puff Daddy’s No Way Out Tour.

Surely the seeds of Jay-Z’s evolution as a concert staple were first planted on his Hard Knock Life Tour, which was documented in the 2000 film Backstage . This was a confident, full-throated Shawn Carter, and he would need every ounce of charisma, with Ruff Ryders lead dog DMX enrapturing fans as if he were a Baptist preacher at a tent revival and the duo of Redman and Method Man rapping and swinging over crowds from ropes attached to moving cranes. What a gig.

Gross : $18 million

Flavor Flav (left) and Chuck D (right) of the rap group Public Enemy perform onstage in New York in August 1988.

7. Bring the Noise Tour (1988)

Public Enemy and Ice-T, featuring Eazy-E & N.W.A. and EPMD

There has always been a controlled chaos to a Public Enemy live show. Lead orator Chuck D jolted the crowd with a ferocity over the intricate, combustible production of the Bomb Squad while clock-rocking Flavor Flav, the prototypical hype man, jumped and zigzagged across the stage.

DJ Terminator X cut records like a cyborg and never smiled. And Professor Griff and the S1Ws exuded an intimidating, paramilitary presence. Armed with their 1988 watershed black nationalist work, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back , an album many music historians consider to be the pinnacle hip-hop statement, Public Enemy spearheaded arguably the most exciting rap tour ever conceived.

Encore: Along for the wild ride was the godfather of West Coast rap, Ice-T, who was putting on the rest of the country to Los Angeles’ violent Crips and Bloods gang wars with the too-real “Colors.” N.W.A. was just about to set the world on fire with their opus Straight Outta Compton. Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, MC Ren and DJ Yella unleashed a profanity-laced declaration of street knowledge that was instantly slapped with parental advisory stickers. And Erick and Parrish were making dollars with their rough and raw EPMD joint Strictly Business .

6. Nitro World Tour (1989-90)

LL Cool J, featuring Public Enemy, Eazy E & N.W.A., Big Daddy Kane, Too $hort, EPMD, Slick Rick, De La Soul and Special Ed

But not even LL Cool J was ready for the monster that was N.W.A. The self-proclaimed World’s Most Dangerous Group completely hijacked the spotlight when N.W.A. was warned by officials not to perform their controversial track “F— the Police” at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena. A minute into the song, cops stormed the stage and shut down Eazy-E and crew’s volatile set, a wild scene that was later re-created in the 2015 N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton .

Encore: A few months before the Detroit gig, N.W.A. was booed during a Run-DMC show at New York’s Apollo Theater. “We all had watched Showtime at the Apollo , so we all knew if it went bad what was gonna happen,” Ice Cube explained on the Complex story series What Had Happened Was … “We hit the stage, and as soon as they saw the Jheri curls, all you heard was ‘Boo!’ I mean, before we even got a line out, they was booin’. I guess they just wasn’t feeling the Jheri curls.”

Rappers Christopher “Kid” Reid and Christopher “Play” Nolan of Kid ‘n Play perform onstage during “The World’s Greatest Rap Show Ever” on Jan. 3, 1992 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

5. The World’s Greatest Rap Show Ever (1991-92)

Public Enemy, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Geto Boys, Kid ’n Play, Naughty by Nature, A Tribe Called Quest, Leaders of the New School and Oaktown’s 3.5.7.

Props to the promoter who put together this awesome collection of hip-hop firepower for a tour that at least aimed to live up to its tagline. What stands out the most was the early acknowledgment of rap’s reach beyond the East and West coasts. The significance of including Houston’s Geto Boys, for instance, cannot be overstated.

Scarface, Willie D and Bushwick Bill carried the flag for Southern hip-hop, winning over skeptical concertgoers with their raw dissection of ’hood paranoia, “ Mind Playing Tricks on Me ,” which had become a favorite on Yo! MTV Raps . Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince proved they could still rock the house with PG-rated material. (It helped that Will Smith had just begun the first season of NBC’s The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. ) Queen Latifah busted through the testosterone with the empowering “Ladies First.” And Naughty by Nature frequently knocked out the most crowd-pleasing set of the night with their promiscuous anthem “O.P.P.”

Encore: The World’s Greatest Rap Show Ever made its Jan. 3, 1992, stop at New York’s Madison Square Garden less than a week after nine people were fatally crushed at a hip-hop charity basketball game at City College of New York. Before Public Enemy’s powerful message of black self-determination, Heavy D, an organizer of the doomed event, made a plea for unity. Fans were certainly listening. The gig was a resounding, peaceful triumph.

LL Cool J performs at the Genesis Center in Gary, Indiana in December 1987.

Raymond Boyd/Getty Images

4. Def Jam Tour (1987)

LL Cool J, Whodini, Eric B. & Rakim, Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew, and Public Enemy

From 1986 to 1992, New York’s Def Jam Records was the premier hip-hop label. Its roster of artists, which included Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys, EPMD and Slick Rick, was unparalleled in range and cultural dominance. So when it came time for partners Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin to spread the Def Jam gospel on its first international tour, the imprint’s biggest star, LL Cool J, was chosen to lead the way. And he didn’t disappoint.

James Todd Smith strutted out of a giant neon boombox sporting a Kangol hat, dookie rope gold chain and Adidas jacket. Of course, that jacket would soon be thrown to the floor as a shirtless Ladies Love Cool James tore through his ’85 single “Rock the Bells” as if it were the last song he would get to perform.

For many overseas, their first taste of American rap also included DJ Eric B. & Rakim, who were killing the streets with their 1987 masterpiece Paid In Full . Almost overnight in Germany, France, Norway and the Netherlands, hip-hop became the new religion.

Encore: This was the first proper world tour for Public Enemy, who had just dropped their 12-inch single “Rebel Without a Pause.” Although they were the opening act, Chuck D and his posse stole the show, establishing their standing as global behemoths. The now-legendary show at London’s Hammersmith Odeon can be heard throughout It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back .

The Up In Smoke Tour in 2000 was a dream team bill, headed by producer Dr. Dre and featuring Eminem, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and more.

Photo by Ken Hively/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

3. Up In Smoke (2000)

Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Eminem, Tha Dogg Pound, Warren G and Nate Dogg, and Xzibit

The multimillion-dollar stage design put the concert industry on notice that not only could rap shows attain the lavish production values of the best rock shows, they could surpass them. It was also an emphatic statement that the largely West Coast rap dignitaries knew how to throw a party. And there still isn’t another hip-hop song that matches the first 20 seconds of Dre’s “Next Episode” in concert.

Gross : $22.2 million from 44 shows

2. Raising Hell Tour (1986)

Run-DMC, featuring LL Cool J, the Beastie Boys and Whodini

There’s a reason Run-DMC is hailed as the greatest live hip-hop act of its era. They understood that less is always more. Because of their stripped-down beats and rhymes, the group amplified the genius of every aspect of their concert presentation up to 11. Jam Master Jay’s scratching was more thunderous than the other DJs on the 1s and 2s. Run’s pay-me stage presence commanded respect. And D had the throat-grabbing voice of God. They wore Godfather hats, black jeans and shoelace-less Adidas sneakers. The Hollis, Queens, crew was the personification of cool.

LL Cool J was just 18 during the Raising Hell Tour, but he was coming after Run-DMC’s crown every night. The hotel-wrecking Beastie Boys co-piloted rap’s bum-rush into Middle America, scaring parents wherever they landed. And Whodini brilliantly straddled the line between electro funkateers and around-the-way dudes representing BK to the fullest.

As “Walk This Way,” Run-DMC’s genre-shifting Aerosmith collaboration, exploded on the pop charts, vaulting the Raising Hell album to 3 million copies sold (the first hip-hop album to go triple platinum), ticket sales followed. The 45-city tour affirmed hip-hop’s cultural takeover.

Encore: The image of Joseph Simmons commanding 20,000-plus fans to hold up their sneakers during a performance of “My Adidas” at a New York show is still a surreal sight.

1. Fresh Fest (1984)

Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC, Whodini, The Fat Boys, Newcleus & the Dynamic Breakers, New York City Breakers, Turbo and Ozone

Ricky Walker had an idea: The concert promoter wanted to put together the first national rap music and break-dancing tour. In 1984, hip-hop had moved on from its underground beginnings in the Bronx. Run-DMC had just dropped their self-titled debut, and their “ Rock Box ” became the first rap video to received play on MTV. Breakin’ , the first break dancing movie to hit the big screen, pulled in nearly $40 million at the box office on a minuscule $1.2 million budget. Walker saw the future.

He called New York impresario Simmons to tap some of his Rush Productions talent, which included heartthrob Brooklyn trio Whodini , rap’s first solo superstar Kurtis Blow, the comedic Fat Boys and, of course, the hottest hip-hop act in the country, Run-DMC. But when it came time to promote the first show, billed as the Swatch Watch NYC Fresh Fest Festival , in Greensboro, North Carolina, Walker was laughed out of the room by a radio ad man.

Rap was still viewed by many record industry power brokers as a passing fad. In a 1985 interview with Billboard magazine, Walker recalled the salesperson pleading with him. “You’re a friend of mine,” he said. “Can’t I talk you out of doing this show?”

Walker’s instincts, however, proved to be dead-on. Fresh Fest moved 7,500 tickets in four hours. The tour, which also featured some of the best street dancers on the planet, such as Breakin’ stars Boogaloo Shrimp and Shabba Doo, as well as the synth funk-rap group Newcleus, not only did brisk business at mid-level venues but also sold out 20,000-seat arenas in Chicago and Philadelphia. Like the pioneering rock ‘n’ roll shows of the ’50s conceived by Cleveland radio DJ Alan Freed, the Fresh Fest proved that rap could be a serious and profitable art form. The rest is hip-hop history.

Gross : $3.5 million

Keith "Murph" Murphy is a senior editor at VIBE Magazine and frequent contributor at Billboard, AOL, and CBS Local. The veteran journalist has appeared on CNN, FOX News and A&E Biography and is also the author of the men’s lifestyle book "Manifest XO."

What happened between Jay-Z and DMX? Details explored as Dame Dash reveals the origin of the iconic feud

I t is no secret that rappers Jay-Z and the late DMX didn't see eye to eye. Despite collaborating on the track Money, Cash, H*es in 1998 and forming the supergroup Murder Inc. together, their rocky relationship began in the early 1990s. Reportedly, the falling out originated after a Bronx rap battle between the two ended in a draw - their competitive spirit leading to the rift.

Both rappers were at their commercial peak in the late 1990s to early 2000s which only fueled their rivalry. DMX's ...And Then There Was X debuted at No.1 on the Billboard chart in 1999, while Jay-Z's The Dynasty achieved the same in 2000.

During a conversation on his network, AmericaNu, on December 19, 2023, record executive Dame Dash revealed how he might have played a part in the legendary battle between Jay and DMX. Dame originally co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records with Jay-Z in 1994.

Dame Dash recounts how the feud between Jay-Z and DMX began

In the interview, Dame Dash stated that back in the day, his friends began teasing him for hanging around Jay-Z , because of how the rapper dressed:

"When I got with Jay, everybody that I knew in Harlem was teasing me because he dressed funny. Because you know, he was from Brooklyn."

He went on to explain how the animosity between their groups eventually grew into a rivalry that often saw them compete through rap battles. Adding that despite Jay-Z being criticized by those around him, he proved his skills as a rapper during these battles, confirming that Dame had made the right choice by sticking with Jay:

"My point is, everybody told me no. Everybody told me Jay was corny and wack. Everybody told me not to f*ck with him. And I did it and look what happened."

Regarding Jay's battle with DMX, Dame Dash revealed how the two first met. Setting the scene for their showdown, he detailed how he and the group Original Flavor were on 145th Street when they were challenged to a battle. Not wanting to start a fight in Harlem, Dame suggested moving to a different venue.

This led to a back and forth, the other group taunting Dame, which led to both sides calling their best rappers to compete. Eventually, the Ruff Ryders, DMX's entertainment company, were called to the venue, leading to a tense moment.

Dame ended the story by detailing the incident at a pool hall that he considers the beginning of DMX and Jay's feud:

"Steve then calls the Ruff Ryders. I don't know why or how that happened but DMX shows up and Jay's there and we get at it on the pool tables. One of his artists pulls out a gun and all my artists, everybody start pulling out guns."

Ruff Ryders themselves corroborated Dame's story in an interview with The Breakfast Club on Power 105.1 back in 2020:

They admitted that their egos prevented both artists from collaborating more, especially once Jay-Z became president of the Def Jam label in 2004.

"They had that past history of the competition, and that's the reason why it didn't happen," they said.

It also prevented their supergroup Murder INC with Ja Rule from recording an album together. However, the group did work on six tracks.

More about DMX and Jay-Z's relationship

Despite their differences, there was mutual respect between the two rappers during their later years. When DMX wanted to leave Def Jam for Sony, Jay helped him by wiping away the $12 million that he owed the label. Jay-Z and his wife, Beyonce, were also present at the DMX memorial on April 24, 2021. The rapper passed away at the age of 50 on April 9, 2021, due to a heart attack.

While both rappers were on equal footing early in their careers, their paths seemed to diverge as the years passed. Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, became the first billionaire in hip-hop due to his business ventures. Meanwhile, DMX, born Earl Simmons, had multiple run-ins with the law and his addiction to crack cocaine ultimately led to his passing due to organ failure.

Dame Dash's recollection of their iconic feud was insightful to some, but others were quick to question his version of events, pointing to contradictory statements that he made about his time with both rappers.

DMX's beef with Jay-Z: Real story behind ‘egos’ of two multi-platinum emcees that sparked an infamous rap war

The ego clash between two of the most legendary rappers of all time, DMX and Jay-Z, is not unknown. The east-coast rappers were once a part of the supergroup Murder Inc, and toured across cities for Jay-Z's 'Hard Knock Life Tour' along with Ja Rule, Method Man and Redman. The late rapper DMX featured in Jay-Z's track 'Money, Cash, Hoes' part of Vol. 2... 'Hard Knock Life' making a lot of noise. While the duo's incredible talents posed the potential to break new records, it was their competitive spirit, right from their early 90's Bronx Battles to even much later, which caused the rift.

Later, the close ones who observed the duo growing and reaching new heights said that their "ego" always came first, which made it impossible for the pair to work together. Ruff Ryders, the entertainment company that once managed DMX aka Dark Man X spoke of this clash in detail in an hour-long interview at "The Breakfast Club" on Power 105.1. Waah, Dee, and Chivon Dean of Ruff Ryders admitted, "They had that past history of the competition, and that's the reason why it didn't happen", referencing why DMX and Jay-Z could not work together when JayZ became the president of Def Jam in 2004.

DMX's past feuds: How rapper's beef with Jay Z and Ja Rule shattered their dreams of Murder Inc

Rapper DMX dies at 50: Tributes pour in for ‘true rap legend’ as close friends miss his ‘spoken poetry’

DMX's beef with Jay-Z

The beginning of their ever-existing feud can be traced back to the early and mid-nineties when the duo engaged with each other in an intense face-off at Bronx Battle. Speaking of the infamous pool hall rap battle in the Bronx where Jay-Z and X went head to head in the early 90s before they were famous, Ruff Ryders stated even though they called it a draw, the tension remained.  "We called it a draw because they both was (sic) nice — X felt like he won, Hov gonna feel like he won — so it was an animosity there always", Ruff Ryders said in an interview. In another instance, Irv Gotti, the man who brought Jay-Z and DMX together for Murder Inc said in an interview, "They always had friction because they battled and X, like, hated him," Gotti added, "Jay didn’t really give a f**k but they was (sic) always on some competitive s**t. That’s just the truth."

JAY-Z paid a $12 million debt for DMX at Def Jam

However the animosity was between the two East coast rappers, Ruff Ryders also brought out how Jay-Z helped get DMX out of debt at Def Jam by paying off as much as $12 million. They gushed, "The good part about Def Jam — and I gotta give it to Hov — X was in debt over there. He probably owed about $12 million,” Dean revealed. When DMX left Def Jam for Sony, he said that Hov “released him and wiped off the debt clean and let him go. He didn't have to pay nothing back.”

April 27, 1999: DMX & JAY-Z embrace following an emotional performance from the "Hard Knock Life Tour" in Denver, CO one week after the fatal Columbine shooting. Proceeds from the show were donated to the victims. pic.twitter.com/sDBDdUSwCy — •UPNORTHTRIPS• (@evboogie) February 27, 2018

DMX claims 'JayZ jealous'

DMX and Jay-Z both started riding the success ladder from the nineties. Jay-Z sold over 5 million copies of his 1998 Vol. 2... 'Hard Knock Life LP.' where DMX contributed to the track 'Money, Cash, Hoes.' At the same time, DMX released not one but two 'multiplatinum chart-topping' albums including 'It's Dark and Hell Is Hot' and 'Flesh of My Flesh and Blood of My Blood.' Much later in an interview with Rick Ross, DMX slammed Def Jam stating that the record label 'stopped focusing' on him after Jay-Z came in reigns. A report states that DMX even hinted that Jay-Z was jealous of him.

As with time gone, the close ones of the duo accepted that both the rappers could have made history together but they chose to do their own thing instead.

DMX at 50 passed away at White Plains Hospital on April 9, 2021. The family wrote a statement that said, "We are deeply saddened to announce today that our loved one, DMX, birth name of Earl Simmons, passed away at 50 years old at White Plains Hospital with his family by his side after being placed on life support for the past few days." As the news came out, the internet mourned an absolute legend whose contribution in solidifying East-coast as the Hip-hop hub will exist in history. SNL's Chris Redd, the comedian wrote, "My childhood and love for music would not have been the same without this man. DMX was easily my favorite artist growing up. I had every album, every ruff Ryder song, followed any artist he endorsed. Man....RIP the dog. There will never be another like him." Shaquille Rashaun "Shaq" O'Neal wrote, "We lost another Legend R.I.P DMX."

My childhood and love for music would not have been the same without this man. DMX was easily my favorite artist growing up. I had every album, every ruff Ryder song, followed any artist he endorsed. Man....RIP the dog. There will never be another like him. pic.twitter.com/2fp2S695Az — Chris Redd (@Reddsaidit) April 9, 2021

We lost another Legend R.I.P DMX pic.twitter.com/DfceOQozQM — SHAQ (@SHAQ) April 9, 2021