The Great Depression

by

DMX

Edit

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.

I brought DMX's "The Great Depression" back when it was first released.But with the exceptions of the ruffneck anthem "School Street" and the amped-up singles "Who We Be" and "We Right Here",

I didn't really play this album much.It wasn't that I disliked

the X man's lastest effort but I don't know...I guess,it didn't move me much.

Fast forward,three months later,"The Great Depression" gets more and more love with each listen.

I'm really feeling the sincere "I Miss You"(featuring Faith Evans),a tribute to DMX's late grandmother,Mary Ellis Holloway now that I saw the video.I really like the fact that super-macho X gets sentimental and lets his true feelings flow.That's rare in the tough guy creditibility-obessed world of hip hop and I respect X for doing that.

But,let's get things straight,all of "Great Depession" isn't a weepy affair.

The cautionary sex tale "Shorty's Was The Bomb" and rocked out

"Bloodline Anthem" are among the strongest cuts here as well as

Stephanie Mills-featured '70s-inspired "When I'm Nothing" and

the scary-sounding horror movie-like narrative "Damien III".

And you can't have a DMX album without his "Prayer" installment.

And "Depression" has one a deep,thoughtful one just like the

previous three did.

Now I can't front,back when X was emerging as a star with his first two 1998 albums("It's Dark And Hell Is Hot" and "Flesh Of My Flesh,Blood Of My Blood"),I wasn't exactly a DMX fan.

I thought of him,as a hollering 2Pac clone but one day in 1999

after seeing him do a MTV interview,my opinion shifted.The same guy that I believed to be a low-intellect Pac was actually a enigmatic,intellegent,thoughtful man who trying to pick up the pieces of his life.Deep stuff.

Oh,I'm sorry,Amazonians,for adding that little part at the end but I had to say that.But back to the album:"The Great Depression" might have to grow on you a bit but after a while,

you'll feel it.

(To anyone,who read this review and liked it,Thank you so much!)