Songfacts®:

• The song is called "Party Up," but DMX didn't do party songs, and the word "party" never shows up in the lyric. The song finds him on edge, ready to take out anyone unfortunate enough to be in his way. The beat, though, is a club-ready banger, so DMX married it to some of his most savage lyrics. "Give me a beat that people can dance to, I'll spit some s--t you can beat somebody up to," he told GQ. "It's a good combination."
• This was released as a single from DMX' third album, ...And Then There Was X. Like his first two albums - It's Dark and Hell Is Hot and Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, both released in 1998 - it debuted at #1 and quickly went Platinum. But it was a long time coming: He got in the game in the late '80s and had a career setback when his first single, "Born Loser," stiffed when it was released in 1992. On "Party Up," he felt like he still had something to prove and was sending a message to anyone who thought his success might soften him up. "It took me 13 years to get a record deal," he said. "You're going to get more than a couple albums out of me."
• The beat comes courtesy of producer Swizz Beatz, part of the Ruff Ryders team that nurtured DMX. The album was almost done when Swizz came in with the beat. DMX knew it was something special when he heard it, and they made sure to make room for it on the LP. It became one of his most popular songs and a live favorite.
• DMX was a movie star by this point, with appearances in the films Belly, Romeo Must Die, and Boricua's Bond. So the video had to be cinematic, with a suitable action-adventure storyline. Directed by Dave Meyers, it finds DMX at a bank that has just been robbed. Instead of making a run for it, he helps a wounded police officer to safety, but the cops on the scene think he did it. With some some help from friends in high places (a helicopter), he escapes and clears his name.
• "Party Up" has been used in a number of movies. Among them:
  
  Bad Trip (2021)
  Shaft (2019)
  Big Time Adolescence (2019)
  Ghostbusters (2016)
  Central Intelligence (2016)
  Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)
  First Sunday (2008)
  King's Ransom (2005)
  Like Mike (2002)
  How High (2001)
  Hardball (2001)
  Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)
• DMX performed this on Saturday Night Live when he was the musical guest on the February 12, 2000 episode.