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I come from a real place I when I make these songs – DMX.
Handingataure double story yandisina. (I would never sing of a double story I don’t have) – Soul Jah Love.
2021 saw the passing of two iconic artists from very different worlds, but with something that binds fans of both.
The two were largely respected for their ability to tell their stories from a real place, digging deep into their own demons and producing music that inspired the listener.
Those who know of Soul Jah Love and have seen him work, will know how prolific a writer he was. A most famous event will be when a Zanu Pf official insulted him, and within hours there was a song in response to this.
Those who have access to DMX’s process, will also know that the man wrote the monster track Ruff Ryders Anthem in 15 minutes. He also wrote Fuckin With D and Let Me Fly on the same night.
Many will speak about how they were both dogged by drug addiction. The tragedy of how DMX got involved with substance abuse is galling. He tells the tale in the 2020 docuseries, Ruff Ryders Chronicles, of how, as a 12 year-old, a person who he looked up to gave him marijuana laced with cocaine.
Soul Jah Love’s battle with drug addiction was spelt out repetitively in his music, a mixture of celebrating the lifestyle and regret.
Perhaps that is what made their music palpable. It spoke to a tapestry of moods.
DMX, in an interview with GQ said, “Sometimes people wanna feel worse. You don’t always wanna feel better. Like however the fuck you wanna feel, there should be a song that helps you feel that way.”
Being able to access, accept and then share that darkness in oneself is not something many are able to do. These two were able to express their light, their wins, their losses and anger, their unhealed selves without waiting for it all to congeal.
This must not be mistaken for them not caring about their art. They paid a lot of attention to the music they gave to the world and what it was meant to do. They felt responsible for what their songs communicated and did not take it lightly.
In that respect, it would also speak to why they were defined by those close to them as loyal to a fault. Soul Jah Love’s friends will tell you about how he felt responsible for everyone around him, to take care of them. Swizz Beatz in talking about DMX, spoke about how he would pray for everyone before he did for himself. DMX always felt responsible for the welfare of other people, Swizz also said.
And in that you see another common line, their deeply religious expression in their music, bending to the will of a higher power when in distress.
In all, it was their skill and their demons that gave us a collection of memories to live through time. They recorded their experiences, relatable, so that those who were going through similar things would find a place that understood their feelings and allowed them to be lived.
And that is it right there.
Both gave their fans permission to feel pain, anger, fear, love and much more. They gave honesty to the human experience, providing legitimacy to how broad and complex it can be.
Thousands of kilometres apart, two geniuses, among the pantheons, given to the world and gone too soon in the most authentic application of that phrase.
To Soul Jah Love, and DMX, they will live forever even though Soul Musaka and Earl Simmons have left the building.
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