Product Description

No other rapper exerts quite as much energy as Def Jam heavyweight DMX. With his adrenaline-pumped hip-hop anthems, Yonkers native DMX has taken the hip-hop industry by storm. Histhird album, AND THEN THERE WAS X came only one year after his highly-anticipated second album, FLESH OF MY FLESH..., which came only six months after his multi-platinum debut, IT'S DARK AND HELL IS HOT. With this series of rapid-fire releases, DMX was able to remain on the cutting edge of rap.
"What's My Name?" perhaps most clearly demonstrates the power of the Ruff Ryder frontman. The other Swizz Beatz-producedtracks bring forth more of the same flavour. His rough-edged lyrics and spitfire delivery will leave his "dogs" foamingat the mouth for more. Though X is backed by one of hip-hop's most prominent crews (the Ruff Ryders), the platinum pit bull proves he can hold his own and then some.

Track Listing

1. The Kennel
2. One More Road To Cross
3. The Professional
4. Fame
5. A Lot To Learn
6. Here We Go Again
7. Party Up
8. Make A Move
9. What These Bitches Want - Sisqo, DMX
10. What's My Name
11. More 2 A Song
12. Don't You Ever
13. The Shakedown
14. D-X-L (Hard White)
15. Comin' For Ya
16. Prayer III
17. Angel - DMX, Regina Bell
18. Good Girls, Bad Guys - DMX, Dyme

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16386 in Music
• Released on: 1999-12-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Running time: 61 minutes

From Amazon.com
Hip-hop is a genre notorious for careers that fizzle after strong debuts, a lack of artistic development, and for years to pass between albums. On his third album in just two years, DMX breaks these- -and nearly every other--"rule" of the game: the pre-eminent thug rapper of his time, he includes sensitive, religious poetry in his liner notes; though he sticks with the formula that's served him so well in the past DMX is a talented songwriter, and his compositions get more interesting--and more subtle--on X; and though he could get nearly any guest star he'd want, DMX eschews even his Ruff Ryder posse pals (except for "D-X-L", which features the Lox and Drag-On) on 11 guest-less tracks. Ryders uber-producer Swizz Beatz shows up for 4 strong tracks but is nearly matched by Irv Gotti and a pair of largely unknown Ruff Ryders house producers, Shok and P. Killer Trakz. In fact, the only thing conventional about the album is the first track--the eminently skippable, obligatory introductory skit. Start with track two and enjoy. --Randy Silver

Customer Reviews

Good street album
I had been a fan of X for some time, and this album shows him at his best-very gangsta flow and i like the beats.
His unique voice, which has recently been copied by Ja Rule, really suits this album and like any other X album it is quite dark.
For Fans of-Early Ja Rule (Venni Vetti Vecci)

I was flicking through the music channels...
I was flicking through the music channels one day and i saw a rapper which i had never seen before called DMX. It turned out that the hardcore New Yorken rapper was one of the biggest selling rap artists in the US. Once i had heard the song the whole way through the song was called "what's my name" and it came form his album called "And then there was X", and i must admit the song has got to be the best rap song i've ever heard.
It turned out that DMX had released two previous albums, the first called "It's datk and hell is hot" and the second called "Flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood". Dmx is a member of the famous rap group named Ruff Ryders, and so i thought why don't i get one of his albums, and purchased it the next day. When i listened to it is was brilliant, each song was different and fresh.They all have the classy beats which ruff ryders, and swiss beats mix so well.
I have to say that my favourite songs are
"One more road to cross"
"Party up in here"
"What these bit*hes want form a ni**a"
"What's my name"
Each of his songs show pure hip hop excellence and i would definitely recommend this to any rap lover.(RAP FOREVER)

ADIOS!!!!!!!!!!!1

Sorry but, No
Alongside Method Man, I reckon DMX ranks as one of the best MC's on the planet: He's a lyrical master, has a distinctively gruff voice and has a fiery aggressive attitude. His lyrical mastery is present on this album with real dark themes and ingenious phrasing: But what is up with the music?!! It totally ruins half the album! The tracks in question are 'One More Road to Cross', 'Party Up', 'More 2 a Song', 'Dont You Ever' and 'Comin For Ya', as the music sounds like circus/carnival music with a really upbeat tempo and really loud buzzing base lines and loads of whistles and snares. In particular the backing beat of 'Comin For Ya' reminds me of pantomime music. I don't know what Swizz Beatz was thinking, after doing some excellent work on the last album, not to mention the Ruff Ryders anthem, this rubbish is then produced, totally detracting from the rapping and making you skip half the tracks. I'm not dissing DMX, I'd never diss DMX 'cos he's the man, and I really wanted to like this album after his first two excellent offerings, but when you dont even listen to half the album because it makes you cringe it really makes you question whether you should have bought it in the first place. Overall, DMX = Superb, Music = Whack.