DMX & The Ruff Ryders Reminisce On Rough Road To Success – Ruff Ryders Chronicles Full Ep 1

Who would have bet that street guys could have a huge impact on music history? Who would have bet that nobody was swizz dmx badass riders was on fire it was crazy we set trends pioneers appears x struck a nerve that the streets we were starving for one of them what is real it will not be ignored what could come to being one of the most influential rap albums of the year came out today on dmx who else can make two albums in one year? triple plane no one can make everyone be at that height like us, this party is weak, I don't sleep, it's women just because we have a little money now we're still dealing with street guys, several people were stabbed, some are reported in critical condition. the camera in fame is a lot i went th

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a depression and it all just fell on me i watched my best friend win the world and lose his soul i'm so tired a lot of things went backwards and started going left we built red pilots together everyone said who should have been part of this something went wrong with the bike he wasn't breathing it's been a tough 24 hours for the platinum selling rapper we never thought it would end you know we'd keep releasing new hits artists but within any family there's also dysfunction we should have been an empire before I became a badass I was in these streets the streets were our education our Harvard University but this was not an overnight

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it came from having faith in yourself having spirituality understanding you We will never let anyone stop you from doing it .

We b

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t the family into the business. We bought all the friends into the mix and God gave us the opportunity to make hit records. We build a movement. We build a way of life, but everything. Go up you have to go down You're not going to stay on top forever Our setback was really a preparation for something bigger, but to understand the history of roughrider you need to know My journey started in the Bronx It was hard, very hard, there was a shootout. in the bronx today there is an execution really everywhere you go the same people on drugs disease violence crime whatever you can find it or buy it here The south bronx in the 70s was a war zone, you know, anarchy, poverty, burned buildings , broken glass everywhere.

Many parts of the South Bronx look like a city under siege with entire blocks razed. The one bright spot in all of that was the sense of community and family. The family unit is all you had. So to the deans, family was all I was. I didn't think about motherhood at 15, but fortunately it happened and I have my six children. We always emphasized ethics and principles, it was always the main thing we wanted them to have. I bring the little ones myself and and and and we were very, very close if you saw Darren you saw Joaquín it's almost as if they were inseparable my father was Muslim so we had discipline it's like a discipline that prepares you for the things that are going to come in the future. life when you think about the structure in a lawless environment that is what the nation of Islam does.

Did it transform many men into disciples of discipline? The United States does not make a promise to anyone. You have to sound his voice. We didn't go to public schools. We went to Moss schools. We had this headscarf and the suits. and my brothers always wore suits and had their hair cut short, you know, we knew everything not to do: not smoke, not drink, not use drugs, which suited me pretty well because I never smoked or drank in my life. Muslims are worth millions. Businesses include supermarkets, fish markets and a few hundred other businesses. I started importing fish for the nation of Islam, then I opened my own business.

You know, my father was a businessman. He taught me a lesson at a young age. At eight in the morning I went to his office on 125th Street I said dad I need some money I want to get something to eat he said why are you asking me that I said because you are my father he said go to the freezer take the shrimp, get the fish and go try to sell it. I go out and sell these shrimp and fish and before you know it I got three four hundred dollars. He said that's yours now, so that work ethic was instilled in us.

I always work hard, work hard. hard work hard work pays off a lazy man works twice if you want it you better go get it his style of music is rap, that is, spoken words over a very rhythmic musical background. They all grew up in the south bronx and what they call the jungle we were all in the bronx so we were born into hip-hop we grew up a block from central avenue so cedric avenue was monumentalized with us with great pain that's where he lived there who she is definitely the pioneer of hip-hop and it all started right under our noses my room and dee's room were right above the cold and painful room he had speakers almost as big as her room they lasted me right in bed when I could work have a party everyone was there dee and I were six and seven years old, we used to take the boxes from Cool Hurts' house and put them in his truck to go do these sets in the fair park at the end of the block, we could play with DJs, we would go there and break dance, so we were listening to music all the time when You're young, you don't even realize if you're rich or poor, but me and why I just had fun at a young age when my friends got divorced, which threw everyone for a loop because we were so used to it. having that unity and they taught us structure and discipline, my mother didn't

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y accept Islam 100 wholeheartedly at that time, my father was completely Muslim, he didn't get into trouble, so they clashed and then Albert, in the front corner from the store, he fired with all his might. merchandise and he didn't have insurance, so that also led to the breakup.

We had a lot of changes in our life and it became a little difficult. My father did what he could to support her, but at the same time she had six children, so we eat a lot I knew I had to keep my strength for them I couldn't show them weakness but there will be days when you eat, there will be days when you don't. you will eat and they knew those days Very good, we used to eat rice sandwiches with sugar, butter and rice with mayonnaise. You know, a lot of people know this. Unfortunately, I lost my job, therefore, I lost my apartment and that's when it all started.

At some point, my mother couldn't. to take care of six children independently so we had to separate the three oldest stayed with me siobhan and darren and joaquin went to philadelphia with my mother they separated when my mother died at that time I stayed in new jersey and darren joaquin stayed He went to live with my father and yonkers you go to yonkers and then you end up in mont vernon, then you end up in manhattan and when you go to each of these areas you meet new kids and it turns out that we know a lot of kids, but a lot of the bad kids were muslims, but as we grew up we weren't in the Muslim household so we ended up running into some bad kids and eventually you'll take that course and they'd be like, oh listen, I'm going to go. to show you how to get this money and you say, okay, where are we going to get this money?

They robbed it, they got the money we left, I guess someone was there and saw me so they want to come and get me and then they lock me up around 13 14 or whatever for a robbery and then they send me to fight. You have to grow overnight. because the child then walks out the door your mother is not there your brothers are not there no one is there now you can know who you really are I wrote a letter and told him all the things that you should keep in mind because I was already in jail, he would be Like, don't cry, you know, don't let them take your sneakers, it's a sign of weakness, I mean, give me your sneakers and you give them to me, then you're going to give me everything all the time.

You're there, you might as well fight for me, finish it, I learned that I wasn't going to fall for anything, I wasn't going to be just another puppet, I did my three four years and then I got out, it was 1986. I was 17 years old. Me and I went to Marvel and New York and started high school here again. They kicked us out as usual. Calm down, what's happening? Hello everyone, from jail, back to the streets. From prison, you have no income or anything. money and nothing, you go back to the streets, you just put it back into the same environment to get the same results.

It is spreading throughout the country. a drug so pure and so strong that it might as well be called crack of doom crack, the most addictive form of Cocaine is now sweeping New York, everyone was on it, so that was the product to sell if you wanted to make money . It is a product that was in demand 24 hours a day. Dee would probably have a new day shift. I'll really have a good shift. It's like a grocery store, actually it's like a grocery store. We get all the money, we count later 3,000 5,000 a day and then we go back out and do it again tomorrow.

I always worried about them. I wanted to finish high school quickly. to be able to get an apartment and get the minutes so they can get off the streets the neighbors in their driveways were caught in the crossfire of random shootings by three alleged drug dealers five men are shot the drugs that motivate them in that life You can definitely get into situations at any time, anything can happen at any time, you have to pay attention, gunshots are killing all kinds of things, well you take your chances walking out the door, we had an incident, a couple of guys got involved.

They were speeding in the wrong lane, we regulated them. A couple of days go by, I'm on third avenue, I'm chilling at the pool with friends, this guy said, hey, listen, what would you do if someone shot you? I said, I don't know what you do, he said, well, now. You know, bully. I can't hit you if you zig zag I said yeah zig zag that sounds cool it's really cute so I leave and when I get halfway down the block a guy jumps down the stairs with a mask and a gun so I give them a simple honey say here this is what you want it's a robbery these guys don't say anything so it clicks and it gets stuck so I run good well he's fast and he's trying to kill me I started to zigzag the gun goes off I'm here I can I don't believe it, I just got shot, I ran back to the pool and said, I just got shot, then the guy said, man, stop playing, they said they thought I was joking, so I lay down on the ground, I said, call a taxi and me I went to the hospital, they called me and said: do you have a son, Watkins?

I told him yes, well, he's in emergency, he's fine, but they shot him. I go to sleep and wake up. You know, they say you can't, nothing they can do. the bullet so they put a bullet in my heart the doctor said it would be more dangerous to operate than not to and they did the right thing don't touch it if it doesn't bother you don't bother so it was um it was a wake up call after that I still I was on the street working but I started looking for new ventures because we were playing tic-tac-toe with this situation he was putting our lives at stake and that's when I saw that heavy d and puffy and c.l smooth came out of my neighborhood in mont vernon and they were kids from all the way they actually had

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doing something legit, making money in mount vernon, what's out there america, it's time for your mtv raps, my man is super big. and the overweight lover bon diddly diddly d yes, my man's name is heavy d what's up heavy we saw them go from riding on skateboards and bicycles to riding in containers and bentleys and on television I'm here throwing bricks at the penitentiary what are we doing bad bad d he was one of the coolest guys in the world at his business, very respectful, couldn't get him to say bad words on the record, although I can drink a coke, hell no, I don't smoke any coke, he knew how to do songs that would stand the test of time, you know, we keep our heads on the streets, you know, most of our crew was still, you know, like you know, we're still in the ghettos and all that madness is heavy.

Dee's brother was, you know, hanging out with us and we were running. One day on the streets of Martin Vernon, New York, at Third and Third, Heavy Deep, he stopped at a dumpster. He had a small entourage with him and I asked him, "All of you in the music industry are doing really great things." With Uptown Records, how do we get in the game? We want to get off these streets. I said, listen, if you find an artist you believe in, bring them to me. I could make a deal with you because I'm looking for artists anyway in That time I was standing there with Tiny and then I said, "I've got that artist." I know I know him.

He said he has to be that artist. You have to be a golden artist, a successful artist. I said I got it. Everyone looked at me. like i was crazy i had a cassette darkman We were able to go around asking for some photos a couple of people told me where it was, I know, okay, cool, we went, we went there, lobster number three goes out in the morning, that's where they parked that. This is the ghetto I'm going to stop, I'm going to take a step back,interview with dmx, take three marks, when, why I stopped, friend of the enemy, I didn't know, you know, dmx, uh, I don't know why, but you know I did a lot of dirt.

He was a little surprised because he had never seen anything like that before, so I said, "That's my man." he wants you to work with him, sell me, I'll be back at 11 in the morning and they told me that for longer, yeah listen to it, whatever I said, well we're different people here, you know what I'm saying. We do not keep our word. I didn't fire him. I didn't put much into it either so I showed him the window and then I could touch where I stayed the next day at 11 o'clock this was like this right at the window and it's like the voice illuminates them he was like oh no one saved a word like This one I said that's what we, the rollers, came out, we vibed, it was done at that time, he was rushing in the streets and Siobhan, she was with her family in Atlanta, so it was just me and dmx, but dmx was really an artist difficult to deal with, he had thefts, he had situations. people you know come to get him times I brought people with my dog ​​I was about 40 pounds, little pit bull, I got them tattooed on my back, what was the time when we both had warrants for us?

Actually, I don't need a gun, he had the dog that wants to be bitten, I'd rather be shot. he would go into projects and just make people stand against the wall he would take it off he would run into people's pockets all kinds of crazy stuff with a dog the gun is only as powerful as the person behind it i have taken the guns out of his hands to people before the dog it's like he's like a bullet that will chase you, catch you, really, he was always a big problem, he had a lot of ups and downs, he got into a lot of fights, in a lot of situations, but x is who. you want them to be, you know, if you want to be bad, you can get the bad acts, you want to be cool, you can get the cool He's the kid, he's a good kid, he means, well, he wants to do good, he wants to please people.

I would describe Earl's childhood as very representative of what it meant to be black and male in a really disadvantaged and poor situation in New York City. This is all. right here man lady good school street man school street projects it was uh it was horrible I mean I sold drugs in it but it was hard the elevators smelled like urine the steps smell like urine a fight would break out cops , what a call, you had your hard time. guys downstairs selling drugs, you had your robbers walking across from time to time, literally, the school street was the home of the brave, you had to be brave to live, you saw people being robbed in the lobby, they robbed the postman like every first of the month mike the mailman would maybe go back to work right away earl's childhood was very hard his mother was a teenage mother and you know she didn't know the best way to discipline him dmx's mother took out a lot of frustration on him Due to the fact that my brother had left the relationship I wasn't shy by any means, but I don't think he was confident, you couldn't be too confident and you know in my situation, confidence will beat you up, an espresso will knock you in the face. rear.

I worked, I started to notice that Dmx came to my house with marks on his face and things like that and my mother noticed it too. I think I did something wrong. I had to stay in my room all summer. I could only go out to like myself. using the bathroom I could see the kids playing in the back what I did I liked all my school work I did it all over again then I read every book in my room um it had a zipper, the moving part of a zipper and that was a fire truck for me my imagination was just yes, I expanded it there is always a gift in every bad situation you just have to be strong enough to be willing to look for it he asked me one day when I have a mother I told him yes he said love your mother my mother didn't love me you know my grandmother is my mother she loved me and saw a light in me she would lie to me she saw the fact that I had the potential to be someone's grandmother she is my mother her name is mary Holloway dmx he was often hungry so when he came home it was party time because he didn't have the chance to eat as much while he was in the process with his mother, I mean that's the reason why he behaved a lot when you were a child, you don't get attention from your mother and then your father is not there, of course you will behave in some way.

I was a smart child. I don't know if I was a good student. I got into fights in class. In fact, I like to challenge teachers. Sometimes sitting down makes me feel angry because I was told what to do when Earl's mom couldn't take it anymore. She just started sending him to these group homes for juveniles, where you know they're half educational institutions and half penal institutions and one of the schools that the Count's mother sent him to was a children's village, so the procedure is that you go there to an interview and then they take you home and then you know you get ready to come. back I was under the impression that she was just looking around, she wasn't going to stay, my mother comes back from the other side of the room, okay, I'll see you in three months and I told her and she left, you know?

In my mind I think you can't leave me, I mean we came, we came here and I'm super, I'm going home and then she left right then and there, I learned to put away, hide, bury whatever was bothering me. and the story, I think now another side of this was born, the side that allowed me to protect myself, don't worry, I have you now, this is Crowley's cabin, this is where Earl lived for two years. Music was Earl's lifeline. He was so passionate that it would help him express himself well. I saw the Big Box Heavy 83.

I was good at it at the time. Hip hop was new. You just had to do something: the beatbox dance, the electric boogie or you like a video. ' or you just had to do something that's what everyone was doing. Earl would always want to come home after leaving these juvenile institutions, but there really was no home for him to return to his mother if she had met more children when he was growing up and becoming a young teenager, but she was never able to welcome him back. back, he thought that wherever he could find a team, he would know someone's house, someone's couch in a car, he would come to my house, but it was a few nights. where dmx would just hang out on the streets, hit boxing and fight people around yaakas.

I teamed up with a guy named Ready Ron and he rapped and I just beatboxed. Ready Rahm was this, you know, one of the lsmcs and yonkers. at the time he was the first male model i ever had he was the first person i ever saw roll a joint it was rolled up ready to light up yeah i never hit it and as soon as i blew out the smoke i thought oh hey what was it i think He was what you would call a woolly guy who was lacing a cigarette with crack. You said it was just weird, like why would you do that?

He was 14 years old and I admired you, the first person who was a man. like he always wanted to be in life why would you do that? But he was also the person who suggested I write rhymes. We're here in the lab cooking like chicken fingers. You can see it well. I'm going to hook your fear. Outside the dm, I destroyed the emcee as soon as I saw them, I did a lot of you, walking around Yonkers looking for people to rob, yeah, and if I came across a, you know, rap battle, hey, just as good, just as good, we would go everywhere. the yachts in battle we would go all the projects all the side blocks whoever won the battle he was there dmx took that job seriously like a chess player or a tennis player he wanted to win at all costs divine master of the unknown with the fight before Before he grew up, he was number one without a doubt and whoever said he wasn't, we set up the battles and they didn't lose anyone, usually the person you fought you know later, like you were crazy like if he became a fan and That's when we started saying, "Oh, this guy is going places now because it was just a tape that was going all over Yonkers.

That's how I met DMX in Locust Hill in the morning. There "This is where they walk. This is the beginning. This is where my man and I found it." You know what I'm saying, x was already in the game, you know he was in it, the only problem was that x was under a production deal with jack mcnasty. jack mcnasty was a local guy who started managing local acts all over westchester, new rochelle, white plains yonkers. Mount Vernon when I first heard about Jack, you know it's like you have a flat top, uh, wear polka dots, did you hear the lyrics he just kicked?

Is it out of my mind? Doesn't this know who I am? I really couldn't do it. My business with these contracts is alive, so I had to get him out of that deal. I went to that house. It had a big rock wall that was like his little security guard. We had to enter the house with him before he reached the backyard to exit. the big rock wall of the house, so he did that and then we talked about well, this deal needs to be worked out, someone is going to have a problem here and it's not going to be jack mcnasty, it was dmx's manager, who we had to remove it.

The deal is a bit like being in someone's living room without permission, that's a test, it's just you, them in the dog locked outside, they can't help it, but really he knew he had him under contract and he took him out x1, like this that Jack was fine, we arrived. his agreement and we didn't have to break any bones, nothing, we didn't have to hang him out of any windows, he was good to us and then, you know, we started working when I arrived with x, it was just me and x, I asked Dee. Did he want to get involved?

I really didn't want to do it. He was probably out on the street hustling, so he wasn't thinking about music at the time. My sister Siobhan was in Atlanta working with Uncle Lenny. He had a lot. music clubs, so she was building practical relationships, so I went to her to help me. My uncle Lenny was in the music industry and promoted all kinds of shows with Ashford and Simpson. Patti Labelle, so one day my uncle told me. I'm going to teach you how to make money without having to sell your basically when I arrived in Atlanta I saw a young man asking for help to get off the street, that's how I saw it, that's when the role began to become more defined.

I am the person in the office focused on making contracts and communicating on a commercial level and Joaquín is the ambitious one. I've just started focusing on DMX and working a lot in the field. I take them everywhere to do battles. We were learning the game as we were going. winning the game that's how we were raised we were raised to work we just went oh this is what we're supposed to do oh hang up the supplies oh make a mix tape the tapes were exploding I mean like it's disrespectful I was fighting the tapes of the area and make disrespectful songs and just capture what was going on in the neighborhood, so at that point we started thinking about names, we came up with special effects and you know it wasn't cool.

I was living in Yonkers at the time and they were watching it go by and I'm mesmerized by this movie, I'm just sitting there stuck, they were trying to catch a train, so the train goes and they ride hard and everyone jumps off. his horse to get up there, so I said yes. That's tough then I thought about it They're tough too I said tough Yes I said tough rider She said ride or die I said that's it Getting the radio on in those days was the first step to becoming a star and getting a record deal and Upon receiving the payment, they both understood very quickly that they needed to get that bachelor.

My father and Puffy's father were very close friends. My dad got me hooked. I met him with Puff. He was working with Uptown making it really big there. I like heavy Mary Jodeci. You've seen your face in a couple of videos too, yeah, yeah, yeah, so I went to see Puff, he said, listen, I'm really busy, I can't do much right now, but he hooked me up with Chad Elliott, Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss was producing Jodeci's album at the time, make sure you don't get deflated. I got a call one day from Puff and he said, "You know, Chad, I've got these guys that I know who have an artist and they need some music and one." I decided to meet under the George Washington Bridge at that time there was no office, you know, the meetings were held under the bridge in cars, you know, and I could see that because it was with a purpose, you know, it was with great intensity, he told me. about this guy dmx, you know, from there we decided that I would do a couple of songs, I bought dmx for his house to work on the first one, that single, the first song I did, that was the first step, that was the one you know .

They collectively said okay, this should be a single when we walked into the studio and he walked in there and left that verse, the passion, I mean, it just radiated, I mean his energy, you know his pain, but 'cause all the bad things got me they pass to me. I have children but their mothers don't want them to know me. My sisters liked me but nowThey call me Born Loser. It was a great single because the lyrics of Born Loser represent exactly what my ex wanted to say and reflect what he is going through. in my life, what's going on around me, you know, just things that I just want to say, it sounds like oh, he's a loser, you know, I used to have a family, now I'm alone, I'm trying to decide where to choose because he I tried to take my bones, but among those stories you're telling, you're saying the young man went out and made a name for himself, we took that song and released it and got the Rough House Columbia deal, we got this one-time deal if that worked out. released the album, the release date is the 16th, man, in February they released it, we thought that was the end, we thought it was really going to take off, but unfortunately it was the opposite, it didn't become what we thought. he would be a loser, he didn't do well, in fact, I think I'm the only one I heard play to this day.

I never heard anyone play Born Losers before we took it to different places but DMX was brave so whatever labels were I'm afraid to release his music or you know I'm associated with him a big part of me not signing was A word on the street like oh no, but he runs around and does this, robs people, gets high and does it. Drugs, right, but my thing is I'm the best crack, cocaine was his deen, no he was hidden like everyone knew he had a drug problem, that's what put him on that wrong path after x was released from the fight he didn't give him. the appearance of feeling depressed, hurt, sad or worried about anything, I believed in myself, I believed in myself, I knew what I was capable of, they are like faces like during this phase, you will have to overcome something incredible, we come from routine , so I understand what it's like to not have and build something from nothing to something, so even though Born Loser wasn't a hit record, we were able to advance by 50,000 to 75,000, so that deal prepared us to start our recording studio, My father got me hooked.

They found an office in his building, they went in, they bought the dogs and all the work and the neighbors complained. I was a rapper and a producer while I was like, "I need someone like you in the studio we're building, I love you." To execute it I want you to be the base. I was a young producer from Harlem when I came on the block and I actually played like a born loser and I didn't like it. My songs came from homeless people. They were very aggressive and brave. He said: I need that dirty music, these dirty artists.

I had like five six different producers. I got pk dame fat chad elliott and we have them working eight hour shifts so we bought into the 24 streets hustle in the music industry. I had to walk away and I hit the

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with Jodeci and even though I wasn't very happy about it and it was at that moment where I introduced him to the ground, Chad says: listen to this guy, if you have a lot of courage in the one you want, you know you want get in. This music thing, I was in New York DJing and Chad Elliot, who's my roommate, and he said, "You should meet this guy, DMX, he's with these guys, tough riders, and he sat down and kicked, and I said, you produce, and I said, you know." I'm just starting out and I thought I needed a drum machine, that's how I got started with Irv Gotti.

I bought him the first drum machine from him and he DMXed on the next single or made a move. I have to make sure I make the move. and do it soon I had to take the block and do it boom, we arrived so one was hot I thought I would go you know what I'm saying I thought I would go at that time we were doing everything independent so we had to go door to door, you know, go to the djs and going through all the different radio stations and underground stations to make this happen, we took it to wendy williams once, thank you all for listening to the kids and making us number one in the whole country. he took the record he got into his car and when he drove a little he threw it out the window willie williams the man let me fall to the ground x I was very frustrated the streets love me he told everyone that you don't want to play my record I don't care what The streets love me, they're gonna listen to me after the born loser didn't blow up after making moves he didn't blow up he didn't have any money and he didn't have a way to really feed himself sometimes I sold my tapes I made cassette tapes, I mean mixtapes you know, I sell them, you only get a limited amount of money, that his girlfriend Tashira had a baby, he has to feed his baby, you know the streets are still there because you still have to eat me and Earl had our first child when I was 21 and he 22.

We were broke, I mean, I worked, but you know, I robbed a lot of people, there was no money in sight, so a lot of people came. I wanted to keep an eye on DMX because they know the streets eventually wanted one or two dead spots in jail. They locked him up. They locked him up. You'll be here for 90 days and you'll be there for six months. I'll be there because we called those skid bits so he was in and out. I just got arrested. I'm in jail. New charge. It was like the lowest of the low, but he reminded me that he was in my room.

I just took a step. back and I just said: let me let me see where I'm going, how I get there and what I say along the way artist and then He started to rhyme, you just felt his rage, it's about time we took to the streets, we took to the waves, this is going to change the game, it's all going to be a rough ride in the hood you