Video Breakdown: DMX’s “What’s My Name”

What do you take when you put one of the rawest and most intense hip-hop artists of his generation, while he’s at the top of his game and at the peak of his success and then proceed to throw a mega video budget behind him and a post modern aesthetic? You get the visuals for DMX’s "What’s My Name". Directed by Little X aka Julien Christian Lutz or X as he now likes to be called, the video is an experience in grandiosity and stunning visual hip-hop style. It’s only fitting that Lutz was mentored by the father of the hip-hop video spectacle, the one and only Hype Williams.



Despite the fact that the video has no discernible narrative, it manages to stand apart as a classic video in the MTV hip-hop lexicon. In fact, the lack of a narrative doesn’t take away from its merit one bit but instead serves to its advantage. The visual spectacle of seeing hundreds of people in some sort Thunderdome-like arena dancing while the walls light up in unison with the beat more than makes up for any lack of story in the video. It also helps that DMX’s intense performance is enough of a spectale and his acting abilities are less than stellar. Have you ever seen "Romeo Must Die"? Thanks X, but no thanks.

Lil’ X did, however, learn well from his mentor Hype in his poignant use of colors and it is obvious that he was mentored by a former painter and graffiti artist in Williams. The video is a performance video, but it is an extremely well-done performance video. The colors and lighting are deliberately and carefully chosen to match the schemes and the personality of DMX, with blood red and dark blue tones. X is appropriately dressed in an all red leather sweatsuit that he rips off himself midway through the song during his fitful string of rapping. The breakneck speed of the editing and cuts also perfectly fit the tempo and energy of the song. X even manages to fit in a mock (let’s hope) dogfight; fitting for the only rapper who truly barks and growls with the ferocity of a pitbull. While all this is happening DMX continues rapping and overall appearing very menacing. To top everything off at the end of the video X unceremoniously destroys a sound system with a sledgehammer. Rottweilers, leather sweatsuits, the destruction of sound equipment with a sledgehammer? I don’t think there could be a better representation of what DMX is about than this four minute video by the (at the time) young up and comer Lil’ X.