So far I've heard most of the album, and it's very good. That's My Dog, Letter to my Son, Walking in the Rain, Hood Blues, and Take Control are all dope to me. I haven't listened to Dog's Out, Money Money Money, Hold Me Down and Skyscrapers yet.


Two biggest issues so far....Bath Salts sounded very disappointing from all three on first listen (maybe more listens it'll grow on me) and fuck, Westside is IRRITATING with the tired adlibs on Hood Blues.

Initial thoughts after two times through...

I agree that the Jay and Nas joint was weak due to both coming with subpar verses.

Nas is vintage on Walking In The Rain though

Could’ve done without the Snoop joint just because the sample is a bit overdone.

Love the opener with The Lox

Not sure about the Money joint.

Hold Me Down and Skyscrapers are cool

Not sure why that skit is added

Hood Blues is dope but I have been saying the same thing as you in regards to how unacceptably annoying Westside’s adlibs are. I don’t know if there’s a respected hip-hop artist I HATE more than that dude. Thing is that his verse would’ve been dope without the sound effects. Somebody in his crew needs to check him on that shit for real.

Letter To My Son is great! Wish there was a second verse but it’s a great way to close out the album.

Overall I like it. It does a great job of giving you that vintage late 90s vibe yet still sounding fresh.

agreed with most of what you said, except i didn't like Skyscrapers at all and wish Alicia wasn't on the album, but Swizz wife is gonna be on it....

Wow. I hate all of her hip hop collaborations(except one, obviously). If she was on this album I may have had to pass on the whole joint.

I guess she was never RR but was from Yonkers so I thought it would be a dope touch to his final album.

http://youtu.be/qttRY_y6ixI

But can’t help but feel bummed out that X isn’t here for it. Will definitely listen again and at least a few of these I’ll put on a 2021 playlist.

Normalize making fun of off-beat rappers until they stop rapping.

definitely comes of as a posthumous release. I know Swizz said it was done before he died, but this is mad light on DMX. Reminds me of Biggies 'Born Again' if it was massively cut down. 'Hood Blues' sounds much better in context, it had me a little scared when I first heard it. I'm a fan of all those guys, but it didn't quite seem to gel as a single. Overall very happy with the release

But couldn't due to health and timing issues

He is outshone by every guest, something that rarely happened before, regardless of the lyrical prowess of others. His mic presence and the energy he brought was second to none.

He sounds like someone who was out of shape and trying to get himself back into it. The NEXT album would have been something to behold.

RIP X.

They really dropped the ball with this album. Only streams, no physicals, and only sold 35k first week.