Summer Jam 1998 in two words? High intensity.
The line up included Busta Rhymes, The LOX, Queen Pen, Next, Big Pun, DMX, and Cam’ron, Mase. Anyone in the building that night can agree, you never wanted to sit down.
Behind the scenes, word has it Big Pun beat up security who were trying to stop him from getting on stage to perform but, you didn’t hear that from me.
In any case, though all the acts had one of a hell of a year, the debut of DMX takes the cake.
He became that first rapper in history to have two of his albums hit number one on the Billboard 200 in the same year (1998).
Darkman X first exploded onto the music scene first with his single “Get At Me Dog” and immediately went gold. The video itself was filmed inside the hottest hip-hop nightclub in NYC at the time, the Tunnel. Just a few months later, DMX released his debut album, It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot, to critical acclaim and it shot to number one on the Billboard 200. Then in December, he dropped a follow-up album, Flesh of My Flesh Blood of My Blood which also sat at the top of the charts moving 670,000 units.
DMX’s style, delivery, and personality were never before seen in the rap game and fans ate it all up. Maybe they related to his love for pit bulls and an affinity for prayers to God? Both influences which can be heard on both albums.
Sprinkle in some acting, and there is no doubt, 1998 was the year of the dog.
Speaking of movies, we all remember his character Tommy aka “Bunz” in the movie, BELLY, a cult classic, that also premiered the same year:
And people everywhere knew never to touch a black man’s radio: (Rush Hour)
Michael Jordan won his sixth and final championship with the Chicago Bulls.
(Photo By Tom Smart/Getty Images)
The pop princess phenom was introduced to the world. Britney Spears hit the screen and her controversial schoolgirl uniform that sent male teens tongues wagging:
TRL (Total Request Live) premiered on MTV ushering in the start of an era in music televesion that only they owned for years to come:
(Photo by Mark Peterson/Corbis via Getty Images)
The wedding song of the ages dropped: (K-Ci and JoJo “All My Life)
Where would be if Google never launched? Where would we find the answers to life?
Women fell in love with a show that depicted the lives four women from NYC who’d have real conversations about life, love and fashion: (Sex and the City)
Photo By: Getty Images / Handout
One sentence, “I did not have sexual relations with that women.” Impeachment proceedings began for former President Bill Clinton and his alleged affair with his former White House intern Monica Lewinsky:
Hearts broke everywhere, and we believed “girl power” could no longer exist after Geri “Ginger Spice” announced she was leaving the Spice Girls: (far right)
(Photo by Tim Roney/Getty Images)
(Photo by JMEnternational/Redferns)
But hearts rebounded with the release of a classic album and the birth of a hip hop legend, L Boogie’s solo project, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill:
And another hip hop classic:
An addiction to the snake game on the Nokia 5110 and having the “option to text” people…which you’d have to do one singular button at a time. We’ve come a long way:
And finally, everyone wanted one of these in their homes. It became a sensation and caused battles in arcades all over the world, not to mention jumpstarted the obsession with dance.
