Songfacts®:

• In "No Sunshine," DMX clearly takes from Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine," but it's not really accurate to call this song a version of that older one. Thematically and musically, it deviates sharply.
  
  Where Withers' song is about love, DMX' is about gun-fighting on the streets. The chorus to Withers' song goes:
  
  Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
  It's not warm when she's away
  Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
  And she's always gone too long
  Anytime she goes away
  
  DMX's chorus, meanwhile, goes:
  
  Ain't no sunshine when it's on
  Only darkness every day
  Ain't no sunshine when it's on
  Cuz when its on, ya niggaz gonna be gone
  Every time cuz we don't play
  
  "No Sunshine" is basically DMX threatening his enemies, warning that they better stay mindful when dealing with him. This sort of song was especially popular in the 1990s and early 2000s on the gangsta rap scene. DMX's street cred was well known, though he eventually turned to Christianity and changed his life around.
• The song appeared on the soundtrack for Exit Wounds and was also the theme song for that film. DMX starred in the movie alongside Steven Seagal.
• This was the signature walkout song of Anderson "The Spider" Silva, one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time.