Hitmaka says he was initially unaware of DMX’s addiction struggles.
The Chicago producer addressed the topic during a recent appearance on Math Hoffa’s My Expert Opinion podcast. Hitmaka, who signed to X’s Bloodline Records in 2021, spoke about his departure from the imprint and one of his last interactions with the label boss.
Hitmaka, who was known as Iceberg at the time, recalled a recording session in which DMX drank two fifths of Remy Grand Cru by himself. He said at one point during the night, the entire crew left the studio only to later realize X had forgotten his car keys. However, X wasn’t going to let the incident get in the way of his sleep.
“The n***a was so in his bag, and he’s such a dog, the n***a was like, ‘Leave me the fuck alone real quick,’” Hitmaka said. “The n***a laid down and started crying like a dog, and just went to sleep on a corner by his car—on the sidewalk or whatever. And n***as was like, ‘You don’t wake up the dog when he’s sleeping.’ Boy, we stayed out there for like five hours while that n***a just slept by his Benz.”
Hitmaka went on to say that the moment didn’t tarnish his image of X, whom he considered an idol. If anything, the incident further proved just how respected X was.
“This is DMX. He’s a dog. He’s the dog,” he said. “They deadass serious said that, ‘You do not wake up the dog when he’s sleeping.’ We sat out there and waited for that n***a to wake up.”
Hitmaka was then asked about X’s crack addiction, which would come to light in the following years.
“I never knew. Never seen it,” Hitmaka said, adding he only saw X consume alcohol and weed. “You know he used to have his ‘blood,’ he called it ‘blood.’ This back when n***as still drinking Alize. He’d mix the Remy with the Alize in a water bottle and call that shit ‘blood.’”
DMX died in April 2021 at age 50, after reportedly suffering a cocaine-induced heart attack. In the years before his death, X spoke candidly about his drug addiction, saying it began at age 14 when a mentor tricked him into smoking a blunt laced with crack.
You can hear Hitmaka’s story in the video above.
Elsewhere in the interview, Hitmaka spoke about his mom sending him to a teen boot camp, which resulted in his departure from Bloodline. He also recalled DMX giving him a dog, as well as the time he would’ve lost his virginity had the girl not ditched him for X.
