In my opinion, DMX has always been a tight rapper. I like that raw and aggressive style of rapping. Most rappers that’s got that kind of style fail to get the flow right, but DMX has always handeled it well. This is DMX’s 4th album
1. Sometimes (Skit)
2. School street
DMX’s giving shoutouts to his homeboys over a really tight beat. A very nice way to start off the album.
3. Who we be
“They don’t know who we be” is the message of this song. DMX’s attacking the raw beats, telling people who they are and what they do. It’s a nice track and DMX’s is doing what he’s doing good.
4. Trina Moe
DMX is sounding like a battle rapper on this track. I guess this track is a diss to some people… He’s not mentioning who tho. The production is cool and the hook is very catchy so all in all “Trina Moe” is a good track.
5. We right here
If I’m not wrong, “We right here” was one of the singles from this album and that’s a good choise. Production isn’t exactly blazing but it’s cool. The way DMX is flowing over it is making it sound much much better than it really is tho. The hook’s catchy too so I can see why they made this a single.
6. Bloodline Anthem
“Bloodline Records” is the record label now formed by DMX. I guess this is meant to be their anthem. The rock influenced beat is cool, DMX’s doing a good job, and the hook is nice too. It’s not one of those super hits tho.
7. Shorty was da bomb
“Shorty was da bomb” is about a girl DMX was with for one night, and then she got pregnant… She’s not doing what he’s telling her to do, she’s telling all her friends that DMX is her baby father etc. It turns out that someone else was the father since she had been pregnant for a longer time than she said, tho. It’s a tight song and DMX is showing that he’s a good story-teller.
8. Damien III
DMX and Damien are discussing all kinds of shit over a tight beat. Things are getting hostile there for a while but at the end of the track they’re cool. Excellent track and one of my favourite tracks on this album.
9. When I’m nothing (Feat. Stepha)
The production on “When I’m nothing” is a combination of 80’s pop and east coast rap today. It’s a cool track but not one of my favourites. I didn’t really like Stepha’s hook.
10. I miss you (Feat. Faith Evans)
As soon as there’s a track about someone missing an other person, is seems like they get Faith Evans on it. DMX is talking about his grandmother who apparently passed away. It seems like his grandmother meant a lot to him and it’s a deep track where he’s talking about the past, and about how things are now. Faith Evan’s singing that it’s gonna be ok… as usual.
11. Number 11
“Number 11” is dedicated to DMX’s enemies. There’s not much more to say about this track than that production is tight, and DMX is raw.
12. Pull up (Skit)
13. Ima bang
When I’m listening to “Ima bang”, I’m remembering how DMX could have been the king of New York right about now. DMX had it all going but he couldn’t keep it up all the way to the top of the N.Y game. On this track he’s showing us why we thought he could be the king of New York in the first place. With an aggressive tight ass flow and a catchy and at the same time raw chorus to a tight rock influenced production, the message I get out of this is that DMX ain’t out of the game just yet…
14. Pull out (Skit)
15. You could be blind (Feat Mas).
“You could be blind” was one of the tracks that got stuck on my mind when I first bumped this album. The bass-guitar loop is really catchy and Mas on the hook is completing DMX’s raw flow with a catchy hook. The only bad thing I can say about this track is that it could have used a little more mixing… but then again I might be wrong.
16. The Prayer IV
DMX is doing the traditional praying-on-his-album shit. Man it’s time to take that shit outta your albums.
17. A minute for your son
This track is basically DMX rapping to God or some shit like that. It seems like he’s putting a track like this on every album… the track is tight but I’m tired of hearing DMX talking to God.
18. BONUS TRACK 1
Dj Kay Slay shouting as if this was a mixtape is starting off the track… that’s a minus. After that some Bloodline Records artists are coming in, possibly freestyling, on old DMX beats.
19. BONUS TRACK 2 (They don’t want no problems)
Since this track isn’t listed on my booklet I’m just gonna guess that it’s called “They don’t want no problem”. It’s once again Bloodline artists but this time DMX is coming in, flowing some over the beats. It’s got a tight beat but it annoys me that they didn’t list these tracks…
20. BONUS TRACK 3
I guess these 3 bonus tracks was to promote Bloodline Records, DMX’s label. The third bonus track is better than the first two but it’s no banger. Sounds like some synth shit they just made in a minute for them to flow over. It’s cool tho – 20 tracks is better than 17.
This album is a tight album, there’s no doubt about that. DMX usually spit raw and aggressive shit, and usually Ruff Ryders are putting out tight beats, so combining them can’t really go wrong… Unless you do it 4 times in the exact same way.
This DMX album was said to be his best album this far… Well it’s not. If this would have been his debut album I’d probably have thought so, but it’s his 4th album and all previous albums have been exactly the same.
You got one track where he’s mad as *****, dissing everyone. You got an other track where he’s talking to god, one party track, one shoutout track, one track about how hard life is etc. It’s all the same.
I’ll grade this album 3 out of 5. There is no way that this album can be below average, but it’s too much like DMX’s old albums. I was hoping that DMX would take it to the next level, but he failed. If you don’t own a DMX album I strongly suggest you get this one, but if you got his past 3 albums you might aswell go buy an other album.