DMX is one moody cat; err dog. You get a sense of his psyche simply from
reading the titles of his past hit albums: "It's Dark and Hell is Hot",
"Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood" and so on. Even the record label
imprint DMX owns carries the gruesome name of Bloodline. Can this man escape
his dreams and demons? There's only one way for DMX to rise up from the
depths in his own mind, and that's to share his pain with us through rap. We
are the psychiatrist, sitting patiently next to his couch, saying, "Go on
Earl. Tell me more about your grief. I'm here to listen."Appropriately enough, DMX treats us to a spoken word introduction called "Sometimes" which conjures up a therapy session in progress. "Sometimes I look at what I've become and cry/Sometimes I get on that BULLSHIT and be ready to die!" But despite the rain of the pain, DMX is still surviving, and he's got sixteen more tracks of anguish to share with us. The first full song is "School Street," a grimy banger produced by Dame Grease (he of "Live on Lenox" fame). This track is not a musical or lyrical revelation - it's more of an extended shoutout to all his homies and friends he grew up with or misses because they passed on.
The following track "Who We Be" is the second single off the album, and succeeds because of it's very simplicity. Melvin Armstead's simple, repetitive, and bass heavy beat steps in twos from bar to bar, which DMX fills with what sounds eeriely like a narrative of his own struggles.
Big Dan
CLOSE ~