DMX Album: “Great Depression [Clean]”

I first heard DMX rap on a track with Mic Geronimo and Black Rob. It was a remix for Mic Geronimo's song called "Nothin' Move But The Money". Then out of nowhere I started hearing him on various tracks: Mase's "24 Hours To Live" with the LOX, The LOX's "Money, Power & Respect", and on LL Cool J's "4,3,2,1". Once I heard DMX's "Get At Me Dog", I knew that he had unlimited potential. His solo debut CD, "It's Dark And Hell Is Hot" was released and the CD got a resurgence once the 3rd single, the Swizz Beats produced, "Ruff Ryders' Anthem" was released. That song alone put DMX on the map for good. "It's Dark..." became a classic and I enjoyed the way that the CD flowed well together with my favorite songs being "Get At Me Dog", "How's It Going Down", "Crime Story", "Let Me Fly" and "Ruff Ryders' Anthem". Then to top this off, 6 months later DMX dropped his 2nd CD, "Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood". The 1st single was "Slippin" and that song was a good choice for the 1st single and was definitely one of my favorites from this CD. While the CD had its bright spots you could tell that the CD was rushed and the tracks were more commercial in some senses than his debut was. However, the CD should still be in your collection because of songs like "Ain't No Way", "We Don't Give A ____" w/Styles from The LOX, "No Love For Me" w/Drag-On and one of the best posse cuts of all time with the LOX, Jay Z and DMX called "Blackout". This will probably be the first and the last time that you will ever see this collaboration and the track is still hot in the year 2001. His 3rd CD, "...And Then There Was X also received mixed results and was a shade under "Flesh Of My Flesh.." and nowhere near "It's Dark...". Once again though, if you are a DMX fan you should still have it in your collection if you are a fan because of "One More Road To Cross", "What's My Name", "The Proffesional", "Here We Go Again", and "DXL (Hard White)" w/The LOX and Drag-On. Songs like "Party Up" were just too much for me. I couldn't get down with that commercial vibe at all, although "What They Want" w/Sisqo was the jam. DMX's fourth installment is "The Great Depression". He starts off, with what sounds like a poem, with "Sometimes". From there, DMX gives us 4 straight bangers: "School Street", the 2nd single, "Who We Be", "Trina Moe" and the 1st single "We Right Here". This is definitely the best sequence of the CD. "Who We Be" has DMX rapping the best that I have heard him in a minute and the a&r should be given a gold medal for releasing this as a single. "Trina Moe", in my opinion is one of the best songs on the CD as DMX gets you hyped up while he is kicking hardcore rhymes at the same time. "School Street" does the same thing as well. It actually sounds like DMX took some time with this release. "Shorty Was The Bomb" has DMX at his best once again. This is a nice story that DMX presents with this track. Other noteworthy tracks include the tribute to his late grandmother, "I Miss You" w/Faith Evans, "You Could Be Blind" w/Mashonda" and "A Minute For Your Son". The last two tracks were the only two tracks Swizz Beats produced on the CD. As an added bonus you also get some bonus material after "A Minute With Your Son" ends that include freestyles from the rappers that are on DMX's Bloodline Records and tracks featuring Big Stan, Drag-On and Mic Geronimo. I also saw where I have seen atleast two reviewers say that DMX's "Bloodline Anthem" is better than the "Ruff Ryders' Anthem". I don't mean to be mean but these people need to stick their head in a tub of hot coffee and wake up for real. The "Bloodline Anthem" is the only song that I can't even bear to listen to and it gets an immediate fast forward. DMX fans and fans of current rap music will be impressed with this CD. DMX is not the best lyrically but he always has a way with words and presentation.

Before The Great Depression even came out, the man known as Dark Man X had already all 3 of his albums debut at #1 on the Billboard charts and had many hit songs. Two years later after "...And Then There Was X" came out, DMX is back with his new album, "The Great Depression." Now you read reviews and most say that DMX has fallen off after "It's Dark and Hell It Hot" but the truth is, he hasn't. Even though X has changed his style maybe a little, doesn't mean he has fallin' off completly. Even one has their bad points. Anyways, the best song are:

"School Street" (7/10), "Who We Be" (10/10), "Trina Moe" (8/10), "We Right Here" (9/10), "Bloodline Anthem" (8/10), "Shorty Was Da Bomb" (8/10), Damien III (10/10, definate Banga!), "I Miss You" (10/10), "I'ma Bang" (9/10), "You Could Be Blind" (8/10)

So out 17 tracks (really 15, 2 skits), 10 songs are very good and up. I suggest you ignore that hates and get this album cause X's hasn't fell off at all since "It's Dark and Hell It Hot."

Highly addictive but not from the first time! Being a hardcore fan of good hiphop it's all that can be expected by Earl Simmons aka DMX, it all started on how he got himself of the streets and into stardom and now with two major films under his belt it seems there is no stopping the DarkMan. This album will not bring back memories of his masterpieces from the previous album, this one is all about his richies, dissing of other rappers who can't mc and all the ladies he has (...) in recent times... i bet you're thinking - we've heard it all before...- you haven't not like this.! DMX's manipulation of words adds his signature to all of the tracks, just try listening to track 3 "who we be" and resist going "ey yoooo" everytime he says it. The dangers of having sex without a condom in track 7 "shorty was the bomb" and even the mellow song reminiscing about his love for his grandma in track 10 "i miss you" featuring the ever so lovely Faith Evans.

Though it's a hard album which is what we always expect, maybe DMX could do without his new prodigees "Bloodline" , he overshadows all of them, they can't hold it down, infact everytime he shouts bloodline i just cover my ears. Where's Drag-on or Eve or any of the Ruff Ryders family? I highly doubt that "bloodline" can step in Darkman's shoes.

A good listen and definetly a good buy. Is it time for a Greatest Hits album and a movie career for Dmx? It just might be!

I challenge anyone to put up any other Hip Hop legend's first four CDs next to DMX's and they will lose. The Great Depression was X's fourth classic CD proving that he's the best hip hop artist of all time and the true voice of the streets. His gritty message, slick revenge narratives, honest spirituality, unrelenting fascination with street ingenuity, all come out on the Great Depression. His piece about his grandmother was touching. Everyone knows that Who WE Be is the greatest Thug narrative ever written. DMX is the best Hip Hop artist of all time and I challenge anyone to show me four CDs that can compare to his first 4. This is not to say that I didn't like his 5th effort but he was a victim of his own success and so Grand Champion wasn't a classic like the first four so everyone was hating on him. But still it was tight. The Great Depression was his last classic CD. Grand Champ had a lot of anger and frustration but this time without the ingenuity and creativity you saw on the first 4.

DMX's 4th release entitled "The Great Depression" was one of the more successful commericial hip-hop album releases of the year 2001 (a few others being Ja Rule's "Pain is Love", Jay-Z's "The Blueprint", and to a slightly lesser extent billboard-chart-wise, Ludacris's sophomore release "Word Of Mouf").

I got this album and I enjoyed it for some time. The main thing I liked about it was the lyrics. While I connot say that DMX is a complex rhymer on par with the like of Nas, Canibus, or Eminem, I can say that the actual words are very hard-hitting. Lyrically, "The Great Depression" contains the subject-matter that has become his trademark: Frequent graphic violence, intermittent religious introspection, self-asorbed regard to his physical status, his general views of success, his peers that support him, his enemies, and encounters with sexually immoral women.

Production-wise, this album is above-average. The beats such as the rock-influenced "Bloodhound Anthem" and the first single "We Right Here" are memorable, and a few others I have not mentioned are great. If you are more into the complex beat-stylings of the RZA, True Master, and DJ Premier, chances are you probably won't be terribly impressed*. No production seems overtly out-of-place, so it shouln't bother you if you favor lyrics over beats.

*Usually, you should not listen to a DMX album for beats.

Standouts: The second single "Who We Be" has a simplistic but intense delivery and subject-matter about the streets of the ghetto. The beat has very loud samples, and there are eerie voices in the backround. "We Right Here" has a complex beat, that forces X to adopt a style that works. It's quite interesting. The subject-matter is a mix of braggadacio and hard-edged reality. The production is rather catchy, with a repeating synthesizer and a hard drum-loop. "Shorty Was The Bomb" succeeds mainly because it has X doing something different, and not being overly serious. In this track, he storytells about a woman he got pregnant. While this topic and story was already covered by Ice Cube some years before we even knew about DMX, it's funny and a diversion from his decidely more formulaic hardcore material. "Damien 3" is conversation track apparently following up other Damien tracks from his previous albums (which I have yet to hear). In case you didn't already know, 'Damien' is a euphamism/alias for the devil's son, and "Damien" as portrayed here is a person from X's hood who envies his success. X impersonates, and you may need to hear the first tracks from his previous albums to understand*. The aforementioned "Bloodhound Anthem" succeeds mainly because of the production. Although the guitars in the backround may turn some people off, it blends well with the "live-band" sound. X's spits vicious here. The other single "I Miss You" with additional vocals from Faith Evans is a heartfelt retrospective dedicated to his late grandmother. The mellow sound fits well with the emotional lyrics, and it's always nice to hear Faith Evans. The Just-Blaze production in "Imma Bang" is rock-influenced but comes off as something you might hear in a martial arts film. Again, X spits harsh and takes down rivals just as harsh.

*For reference, there is nothing related to the Damien songs on DMX's third release "And Then there Was X". Furthermore, in DMX's entire song catalogue, there is no "Damien 2". On his sophomore album "Flesh of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood" the track that follows up "Damien" from "It's Dark And Hell Is Hot" is called "The Omen" (in reference to the popular 1970s horror film of the same title about a couple who unsuspectingly adopts the Devil's son, named Damien), a track that serves as a duet between X and shock-rocker Marilyn Manson.

About 30 seconds after the last song "A Minute For Your Son" ends, there is bonus material with some of DMX's proteges. If you are a fan of the whole Ruff Ryders camp, chances are you will enjoy these guys as well. It goes on for 12 minutes.

I recommend this album for hardcore fans of DMX. If you enjoyed "The Great Depression", I also recommend Black Rob's "Life Story", Prodigy's "H.N.I.C", and Fat Joe's "J.O.S.E".

Overall rating: 3.9 stars (rounded to 4)