It's Dark and Hell Is Hot is the debut album of rapper DMX, released May 19, 1998 on Def Jam subsidiary Ruff Ryders Records. The album featured four singles with music videos, "Get at Me Dog", "Stop Being Greedy", "How's It Goin' Down" and the "Ruff Ryders Anthem". The album is widely considered a hip hop classic by numerous hip hop fans and critics, mainly due to its revitalization of the hardcore rap mainstream scene, after Puff Daddy and Bad Boy Entertainment briefly dominated the charts with their pop-orientated and sample-reliant songs.