DMX Albums (6)
'Year of the Dog...Again'
Release Date 7/28/2006
Tracks 15
Label Smi Col
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What The Critics Say
DMX released his sixth album three weeks after the first episode of his BET reality program, DMX: Soul of a Man. If the first five albums and the string of well-publicized run-ins with the law didn't make it obvious that the man is a live wire of nerves and predictable unpredictability, the program exacerbated his larger-than-life persona while also making him seem more human. As for Year of the Dog...Again? It's more of the same old, same old: a lot of anger, torment, and put-downs over rallying and drama-filled productions from Swizz Beatz, Dame Grease, Scott Storch, and a handful of others. The status quo from track to track is as fatiguing here as it was on The Great Depression and, as usual, the targets of DMX's barbs and the specifics of his troubles are often vague -- it's possible he assumes the listener either tracks his every breath or will relate if the lyrics are open-ended, but it's even more likely that he's venting in an uncalculated way. The low point of the album is "Baby Motha," where he complains about being stuck with a woman (because they had a kid together) he doesn't like and then rails against the same woman (?) who has the audacity to split (with their kid) when things get tough -- so, regardless of what happens, he is screwed, and he even gets Janyce to sing one of the most self-flagellating hooks imaginable. With little to differentiate it from his past work, and with his life seeming more like an unbreakable cycle than a journey, the album will be of lasting value only to those who can't get enough of the MC's unflinching outrageousness. That said, it's hard to disregard him completely when he comes up with compelling tracks like "Lord Give Me a Sign" and remains powerful enough to drown out Swizz Beatz's interjections on juiced tracks like "We in Here" and "Come Thru (Move)." ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
It's often said that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, and that maxim certainly holds true for the self-professed Grand Champ of canines, DMX, on his album of the same name. For his fifth album in six years, the veteran rapper reprises many of the same themes and motifs that had made his previous efforts so popular among hardcore rap fans and influential among his East Coast peers. As usual, he barks at his unnamed adversaries over hard-hitting Ruff Ryder beats, flexes his rhetorical muscle with his ever-confrontational rhyme style, advocates valor and faith while disdaining materialism, and frames his world within a polarized context, drawing a bold line between "dogs" and "cats." By this point, the scenario should be familiar to those who've followed DMX this far into his career; in many ways, his albums are mirror images of each other, in terms of drama, production, ideology, sequencing, and thankfully, to an extent, quality. However, the initial impact that DMX made with his tremendous and industry-changing debut, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998), lessened with each successive follow-up, and Grand Champ is no exception. It's a well-crafted and thought-out album but feels like a sequel, and as such, it serves its purpose: to satisfy fans and move units. The anthemic lead single, "Where the Hood At," is precisely modeled after previous DMX rallying calls like "Ruff Rider Anthem," "What's My Name?," and "Who We Be." Likewise, "Get It on the Floor" is a trademark Swizz Beatz club-banger -- and a remarkable one at that, perhaps one-upping even "Party Up (Up in Here)." Grand Champ closes sentimentally: "Don't Gotta Go Home" is a fractured-relationship duet with Monica that's prime urban crossover material; "A'Yo Kato" is a heartfelt ode to a lost dog with a shuffling, almost Latin beat by Swizz Beatz; and "Thank You" is a rousing gospel-rap tune featuring Patti LaBelle that's surprisingly effective and closes the album with magnificent flair (if not for the obligatory bonus track). Yet it's a long road to this sentimental closing run; for every one of the aforementioned highlights, there's at least one, if not two, run-of-the-mill tracks that warrant no more than a couple listens. Not quite the big comeback DMX needed at this point in his quietly sagging rap career, Grand Champ regardless has its share of highlights. Longtime fans may decide to drop off at about this point, if they hadn't already, while those content with the usual -- or new to DMX -- should find plenty to savor on Grand Champ. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
'The Great Depression'
Release Date 9/25/2001
Tracks 17
Label Uptown/Universal
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What The Critics Say
In such a time of confusion, it's eerie that DMX would dub his latest vehicle, "The Great Depression." After all, we are still recovering from the greatest tragedy our generation will hopefully have to endure. While X continues to cater his music to the misguided soul, he does reinvent himself to some extent on "The Great Depression." The end result is a more self-contained X, which minus two Swizz Beatz contributions finds Darkman virtually cutting all ties to his Ruff Ryder Click, and cozying up to a slew of un-established producers who add a new wrinkle to his usually resolute sound. Though the recording move from NY, to Arizona may have initially raised some eyebrows (Anyone remember Public Enemy's "By The Time I Get To Arizona"?). The very same desert sanctuary X sought recording asylum in contains a duality that plays into his strengths, as the desert can be as tranquil as the Dalai Lama, and as savage as a rapid pit bull. X taps into both of those facets with equal ferocity on "The Great Depression"---with varying results. While X attacks street-anthems such as "We Right Here", and the rugged "Who We Be" (tadanh, tadanh, tadanh) like a powder keg ready to detonate. These gully bangers are levied by X's newfound reliance in God; exemplified by the yearning "A Minute For Your Son", and the touching ode to his Grandmother "I Miss You" f/Faith Evans. Fortunately these hard knock life accounts play out better then the misogynistic set-up track "Shorty Was The Bomb", and the bland soul sample ("Whatcha Gonna Do" With My Lovin') that X and Dame Grease lift for the tepid "When I'm Nothing" f/Stephanie Mills. ~ Matt Conaway, All Music Guide
'...And Then There Was X'
Release Date 12/21/1999
Tracks 18
Label Def Jam
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What The Critics Say
Though it's DMX's third album in two years, ...And Then There Was X doesn't show much sign of burnout. True, it's similar to his last, which balanced new-school gangsta tracks ("The Professional," "Make a Move") with a couple that question the inevitable trappings that come with success ("Fame," "One More Road to Cross"). And the productions by Swizz Beats, P. Killer Trackz, and Shok -- all part of Ruff Ryder Productions, Inc. -- are heavily synthesized and occasionally melodramatic, just like both of his previous albums. Even when Swizz Beats' usually reliable productions fall through, DMX brings it all back with his tough rhymes and inventive wordplay. He's still torn between the thug life and spiritual concerns (even including a long prayer in the liner notes), but the most exciting tracks on ...And Then There Was X are good-time joints like "Party Up" and "What's My Name?" ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
'Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood'
Release Date 12/15/1998
Tracks 16
Label Def Jam
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What The Critics Say
On the heels of his multi-platinum debut, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, DMX unleashed his dogs again on an album overflowing with raw energy and spiritual catharsis. The irascible Yonkers MC, 27 at the time of this recording, continues the Ruff Ryder legacy on this follow-up release. DMX's canine split personality flow is like none other, not only rhyming over tracks, but barking expression over explosive beats. Production here -- by Swizz Beatz, PK, DJ Shok, Dame Grease -- is mostly stripped-down, pure high-tech drum machine and synthesizer combinations that are sure to inspire emotional and adrenal responses in listeners. Although DMX is no new jack, he is a part of a no-frills new breed of MCs that hold nothing back on the microphone; emphasis is on emotion rather than on word-bending. Standout cuts include "Blackout," with guest appearances from fellow hip-hop heavyweights the LOX and Jay-Z; "Coming From," a duet with the queen of hip-hop/R&B, Mary J. Blige, which stuns the ears with a haunting piano loop; "The Omen," a bout with the devil featuring the demonic Marilyn Manson on the hook; and the opening cut on side two, "Slippin'," an introspective look inside DMX's struggle to stay on top of his art while dealing with the perils of his reality. This is a very spiritual album, a testimony to one artist's struggle with the manifestations of good and evil. The final cut, "Ready to Meet Him," a conversation between DMX and his god, punctuates this realness. ~ M.F. DiBella, All Music Guide
'It's Dark and Hell Is Hot'
Release Date 5/12/1998
Tracks 19
Label Def Jam
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What The Critics Say
Just as rap music was reaching its toughest, darkest, grimmest period yet, following the assassinations of 2Pac and Biggie in the late '90s, along came DMX and his fellow Ruff Ryders, who embodied the essence of inner-city machismo to a tee, as showcased throughout the tellingly titled It's Dark and Hell Is Hot. Unlike so many other hardcore rappers who are more rhetorical than physical, DMX commands an aggressive aura without even speaking a word. He showcases his chiseled physique on the arresting album cover and trumpets his animalistic nature with frequent barking, growling, and snarling throughout the album. He also collaborates with muscular producers Swizz Beatz and Dame Grease, who specialize in slamming synth-driven beats rather than sample-driven ones. Further unlike so many other hardcore rappers from the time, DMX is meaningful as well as symbolic. He professes an ideology that stresses the inner world -- characterized by such qualities as survival, wisdom, strength, respect, and faith -- rather than the material one that infatuates most rappers of his time. It helpes that his album includes a few mammoth highlights ("Ruff Ryders' Anthem," "Get at Me Dog," "Let Me Fly," and "I Can Feel It") as well as a light, mid-album diversion ("How's It Goin' Down"). The long running length of It's Dark and Hell Is Hot does wear you down after a while, since nearly every song here sans "How's It Goin' Down" hits hard and maintains the album's deadly serious attitude. Even so, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot is a tremendous debut, laying out DMX's complex persona with candor, from his faith in God to his fixation with canine motifs, and doing so with dramatic flair. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
