What's My Name by DMX

Album: ...And Then There Was X (1999)

Charted: 67

License This Song

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

"I'm not a nice person," DMX raps on "What's My Name," where he comes out hard against the haters and pretenders. He was actually known to be very nice to most people he knew, especially his friends and family. But you didn't want to set him off, unleashing the pugnacious side of him that emerged in his music.

The song was recorded in Miami, where DMX was having a lot of fun in his off hours. "When I get in the studio it's a whole 'nother situation," he said.
Just as there are outlaw country songs about heartbreak, there are hardcore rap songs about anger. In this way, DMX and Hank Williams had something in common. "Sometimes people want to feel worse," he told GQ regarding this song. "You don't always want to feel better. However you want to feel, there should be a song that helps you feel that way. Who wants to be happy all the time? You'll get taken advantage of all the time."
DMX wasn't the first to have a hit song with this title; Snoop Dogg went to #8 with his "What's My Name?" in 1993. In 2010, Rihanna and Drake teamed up for a #1 hit with the same title.
Producer Irv Gotti came up with the beat for this one when the album was almost finished; DMX knew when he heard it that it would have to make the set. DMX had beats coming at him from a handful of very talented producers around this time, notably Swizz Beatz and Dame Grease.
This was the lead single from DMX' third album, ...And Then There Was X. The LP debuted at #1 in America on January 8, 2000, giving him three #1 albums in the span of 18 months. His next two albums also topped the chart.
The video was directed by Little X, who also did Drake's "Started From The Bottom" and Rihanna's "Pon De Replay." It shows DMX at the center of an arena stage with two pit bulls squaring off, ready to fight. DMX loved dogs, but was also accused of abusing them; in 2008 he was arrested for animal cruelty when police found 12 dogs on his property and the buried remains of three others.
Jay-Z makes a cameo in the video when DMX namechecks him in the line, "yappin' 'bout they be holdin' figures as big as Jigga's."

Comments: 1

Lorraine from NjI watch MTV and just the video Whats My Name. MTV should not this video. It is sickening. It clearly shows two pit bulls ready to fight to the death in an arena with a crowd of people watching. Everyone knows these animals are trained to kill or seriously maim his “opponent”. How could MTV show this.

see more comments

More Songfacts:

Black WaterThe Doobie Brothers

The Doobie Brothers' swampy #1 hit "Black Water" is about the Mississippi River, evoking the rafting adventures Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn.

Radio Free EuropeR.E.M.

Michael Stipe hadn't finished the lyrics when R.E.M. recorded "Radio Free Europe." He calls the vocal "complete babbling."

Midnight RiderThe Allman Brothers Band

A roadie for the Allman Brothers came up with the line "The road goes on forever" for "Midnight Rider," and got a songwriting credit for his contribution.

Pretty VacantSex Pistols

The riff for The Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant" was pinched from a very unpunk song, the ABBA ballad "S.O.S."

FireJimi Hendrix

Thirty years after Jimi Hendrix played "Fire" at Woodstock, Red Hot Chili Peppers played it at Woodstock '99, but this time the unruly crowd actually set fires and looted.

Blinded By The LightBruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen wrote "Blinded By The Light," which was a #1 hit for Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The "Madman Drummers" line is a reference to Springsteen's first E-Street drummer, Vinnie "Mad dog" Lopez.