Xzibit Reveals DMX’s ‘Party Up’ Was a Fiery Retort to Kurupt’s Diss Track

Back in 2000, DMX struck gold with "Party Up (Up in Here)." Now Xzibit tells us on DJ HED's show that this club hit packed a hidden punch - it was a shot back at Kurupt's earlier diss track.

Xzibit spilled the news to Billboard. The track soared up the charts, hitting spot 27 on the Hot 100. It performed even better on the R&B/Hip-Hop and Rhythmic charts, breaking into their top 10.

The clash started with both artists' past ties to Foxy Brown. Kurupt struck first in 1999. His track "Calling Out Names" took direct shots at DMX with the lines: "And I'mma start callin' y'all b-h n-s by name/ Mothaf–k D, Mothaf–k M, only X I know is Xzibit or RBX, extraordinary/ Tryna snatch my b–h/ You can have the b–h."

DMX fired back with stealth. His chart-topping "Party Up (Up in Here)" slipped in sharp comebacks like "You wack, you twisted, your girl's a ho/ You broke, the kid ain't yours and everybody know." 

Swizz Beatz worked his magic on this December 1999 track for DMX's album ...And Then There Was X.

Years later, Kurupt came clean to HipHopDX in an exclusive interview. "My thing was personal. I was engaged to Foxy Brown. DMX and Foxy did their little thing, and I got offended. As you can hear it, Kurupt said it. Not the East, not the West. None of this got anything to do with it," he expressed, emphasizing that his track was never meant to start an East Coast/ West Coast beef.

"It's between me and these particular individuals that I felt disrespected me at the time," he added. However, time healed these wounds. A chance airport meeting led to them squashing their differences. "That n***a is a good n***a. We had a good talk, had a couple shots. It was real cool," Kurupt said about their final make-up.

This summer, you can expect fresh DMX sounds from beyond. A posthumous album, DMX Features, will be the first release since the artist's passing.