Grand Champ
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Grand Champ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||
| Studio album by DMX | |||||
| Released | September 16, 2003 | ||||
| Recorded | 2003 | ||||
| Genre | East Coast Hip Hop, Hardcore Rap | ||||
| Length | 74:40 | ||||
| Label | Def Jam Records, Ruff Ryders | ||||
| Producer | DMX, Darrin Dean, Joaquin Dean, Kanye West, Tuneheadz, Rockwilder, Ron Browz, Swizz Beatz, Dame Grease, PK | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| DMX chronology | |||||
|
|||||
Grand Champ is the fifth album by American rapper DMX, released in 2003. Grand Champ features the popular singles Where the Hood At? and Get it on the Floor. The album sold 312,000 in its first week and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, extending DMX's position as the only artist in history to have 5 albums (and his entire album catalog) debut at #1.
When compared to the artist's previous releases, this was the greatest under-achiever, eventually achieving a rating of Platinum, although it was #1 on the Billboard 200, it's shelf life was relatively short.
Open for discussion is the albums credibility, considered by many fans as 'too formulaic' (featuring all popular hip hop marketing devices, including several guest appearances, a club banger to rope in sales ("Get It On The Floor") a slow, R&B based ballad ("Don't Gotta Go Home"), as well as the constant skits and intervals which did not so regularly appear on his previous albums) and DMX's recurring subject matter, which after 4 albums, is, as fans claim, wearing thin.
The album originally contained a song entitled "Ruled Out", a hard-hitting diss track aimed towards former collaborator and friend Ja Rule, however, Def Jam Records (who coincidentally owns the distributor rights to Rule's 'Murder Inc. Records) were highly displeased by the track and urged for its removal . A previous version of "Fuck Y'all" was also considered to be the lead-off single for 'The Great Depression', but due to the obvious explicit content of the title alone, the song would have substantial problems gaining radio airplay.
On the 'UK Bonus track' edition of the album, the hit single lifted from the '03 film Cradle 2 the Grave, 'X Gon Give It To Ya' is track #24.
"Grand Champ" was also released in an "edited" version that replaces some violence, most drug content, and all profanity with sound effects and in some instances, blanks them out completely leaving only the music. "Grand Champ" is the most highly censored of all of DMX's albums, including "Year of the Dog... Again". The explicit version censors out the words "reloaded" and "slugs" on the track, "Where The Hood At?". Only "slugs" is censored from the edited version however.
The title "Grand Champ" is an explicit reference to American "street" dog fighting. The term "grand champion" refers to a fighting dog that has won at least five bouts with no losses. This is also a likely reference to the fact that "Grand Champ" represents the fifth studio album released by this artist.
This was DMX's final album release on Def Jam Records.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
| # | Title | Producer(s) | Guest artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Dog Intro" | Darold "Pop" Trotter | Bashir Fadai | 3:32 |
| 2 | "My Life" | Dart La | Chinky | 3:09 |
| 3 | "Where The Hood At" | Tuneheadz | 4:46 | |
| 4 | "Dogs Out" | Kanye West | 4:03 | |
| 5 | "Get It On The Floor" | Swizz Beatz | Swizz Beatz | 4:22 |
| 6 | "Come Prepared" (Skit) | Jay "Icepick" Jackson, Joaquin "Waah" Dean | 0:35 | |
| 7 | "Shot Down" | Salaam Wreck | Styles P, 50 Cent | 3:42 |
| 8 | "Bring The Noize" | Tuneheadz | 3:30 | |
| 9 | "Untouchable" | Tony Pizarro | Syleena Johnson,Cross, Infa-Red, Sheek Louch, Drag-On | 6:05 |
| 10 | "Fuck Y'all" | Ron Browz | 3:43 | |
| 11 | "Ruff Radio" (Skit) | Jay "Icepick" Jackson, Joaquin "Waah" Dean | 0:43 | |
| 12 | "We're Back" | Tuneheadz | Eve, Jadakiss | 4:25 |
| 13 | "Ruff Radio 2" (Skit) | Jay "Icepick" Jackson, Joaquin "Waah" Dean | 0:18 | |
| 14 | "Rob All Night (If I'm Gonna Rob)" | Rockwilder | 3:27 | |
| 15 | "We Go Hard" | No I.D. | Cam'Ron | 3:36 |
| 16 | "We 'Bout To Blow" | Dame Grease | Big Stan | 3:31 |
| 17 | "The Rain" | DJ Scratch | 3:27 | |
| 18 | "Gotta Go" (Skit) | Jay "Icepick" Jackson, Joaquin "Waah" Dean | 1:07 | |
| 19 | "Don't Gotta Go Home" | Antoine "Bam" Macon, Ryan Bowser, Mr. Devine, Victor Flowers | Monica | 4:17 |
| 20 | "A'Yo Kato" | Swizz Beatz | Magic, Val | 3:46 |
| 21 | "Thank You" | DMX, Nemo, Ron H, Reggie Flowers, Gerald Flowers, Victor Flowers | Patti LaBelle | 3:01 |
| 22 | "Prayer V" | DMX | 1:47 | |
| 23 | "On Top" (Bonus Track) | Mac G | Big Stan | 3:34 |
[edit] Samples
- "Where The Hood At" contains a sample of "Young, Gifted & Black" as performed by Big Daddy Kane
- "We Go Hard" contains a sample of "Didn't I Fool You" as performed by Ruby Andrews
- "The Rain" contains a sample of "Will She Meet The Train In The Rain" as performed by Greg Perry
[edit] Charts
| Chart (2003) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart | 32 |
| Austrian Albums Chart [1] | 20 |
| Belgium Albums Chart | 38 |
| Canada Albums Chart | 2 |
| French Albums Chart [1] | 16 |
| German Albums Chart [1] | 6 |
| Netherlands Albums Chart | 28 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart [1] | 7 |
| Swedish Albums Chart [1] | 42 |
| Swiss Albums Chart [1] | 10 |
| UK Albums Chart | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 1 |
| United World Chart Top 40 Album | 1 |
[edit] References
| Preceded by Heavier Things by John Mayer |
Billboard 200 number-one album October 4 - October 10, 2003 |
Succeeded by Speakerboxxx/The Love Below by OutKast |
|
||||||||||||||
