...And Then There Was X Phoenix AZ

...And Then There Was X

DMX

Ruff Ryders / Def Jam Records, 1999

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 01/09/2000

Admission: I am definitely out of touch with the world of rapmusic. I used to be pretty well schooled in it - at least for awhite guy, anyway - when I did reviews for my college's newspaper.I learned the joys of groups like Da Youngstas, N.W.A and Run-DMC;I also got to hear lesser-known artists like Overweight Pooch, JCD& The Dawg Lb. and Ron C.

But once I graduated and entered the real world, I had to severmy ties to the labels I worked with - and I continually fell behindwith the new crop of artists that came along. Granted, over theyears I've become a fan of artists like Snoop Doggy Dogg (sorry,Snoop, that's how I'll always know you as), Eminem and TupacShakur.

Now, after listening to DMX's third release ...And Then There Was X, I can say that there's an excellentchance I'll be going to pick up his other discs real soon. SOundinglike a man caught between the desire to be respectable and theharsh reality of street life, DMX impresses on this disc and showsthat gangsta rap is by no means dead.

Two things one immediately notices about DMX. First, he dares tosing on the choruses to his raps. While he might not have thegreatest singing voice (yeah, like I should talk), you have to admire him for taking that kindof a risk with his art. Sure, you hear more rappers doing it thesedays, but somehow I think it enhances DMX's work.