| And Then There Was X | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by DMX | ||||
| Released | December 21, 1999 | |||
| Recorded | 1999 | |||
| Genre | Hardcore hip-hop | |||
| Length | 60:14 | |||
| Label | Ruff Ryders, Def Jam | |||
| Producer | Dee & Waah Dean (exec.) Swizz Beatz, PK, Dame Grease, Irv Gotti, Nokio, DJ Shok |
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| DMX chronology | ||||
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…And Then There Was X is the third album by American rapper DMX, released December 21, 1999 on Ruff Ryders Entertainment and Def Jam Recordings.
Contents |
The first single of the album, the club song 'What's My Name' was released, which received much airplay on urban radio and television. It reached #67 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The second single was the party anthem "Party Up (Up in Here)", which helped increased album sales. The album also featured more meaningful, introspective tracks such as "Fame" and "Here We Go Again", two heartfelt accounts of emotional dispute with his fictional protege, 'Shorty', who he quotes as 'fucking up big time', forcing X to leave him to fend by himself in the streets.
Typical DMX tracks include the obligatory ladies track, "What These Bitches Want", featuring smooth vocals from R&B star Sisqó. The song was released as a third single in its edited form as "What You Want", to moderate radio airplay and a high-budget video from director Hype Williams. Also, the standard X aggressive joints include "Don't You Ever", "Coming For Ya" and "The Professional", wherein DMX documents a criminal's activities throughout the city.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (A-)[2] |
| Q | [3] |
| RapReviews | (7/10)[4] |
| Rolling Stone | [5] |
| The Source | [6] |
| USA Today | [7] |
Although not credited as his best work, …And Then There Was X was well received by fans and critics alike, however, to some criticisms, the production style geared towards a more commercial and radio-friendly sound; a stark contrast to his previous work, which involved strong gothic and religious undertones (mainly connections between hell and his bad-deeds), boasting bloody and gruesome images over his album covers e.g. Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood cover.
The album sold very well selling roughly 698,000 units in its first week and went on to be certified 6x Platinum making it DMX's best-selling album to date. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard chart , firmly ranking DMX within hip hop's only artist to have their first three albums enter the Billboard Top 200 Chart at the #1 spot.
…And Then There Was X was also released as a "clean" version that replaces explicit drug content and profanity with sound effects. Strangely, no violence was edited out except for gunshot sound effects in the background of some tracks and some content on the track "The Professional". Skits were also completely removed from the censored version, including the intro track. However, the track "Party Up (Up in Here)" appearing on this album is less censored then the radio/video edit.
The songs "Angel", "D-X-L (Hard White)" and the bonus track "Good Girls, Bad Guys" featured in the 2001 film Exit Wounds.
"Prayer III" was used in John Cena's entrance vignette at WrestleMania XXVII.
| # | Title | Producer(s) | Featured Guest(s) | Time | Sample(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Kennel" (skit) | 0:36 | |||
| 2 | "One More Road to Cross" | Swizz Beatz | 4:20 | ||
| 3 | "The Professional" | P. Killer Trackz | 3:35 | ||
| 4 | "Fame" | Dame Grease | 3:37 | ||
| 5 | "A Lot to Learn" (skit) | 0:39 | |||
| 6 | "Here We Go Again" | DJ Shok | 3:52 | ||
| 7 | "Party Up" | Swizz Beatz | 4:28 | ||
| 8 | "Make a Move" | P. Killer Trackz | 3:33 | ||
| 9 | "What These Bitches Want" | Nokio | Sisqó | 4:13 | |
| 10 | "What's My Name?" | Self Service & Irv Gotti | 3:52 | ||
| 11 | "More 2 a Song" | P. Killer Trackz | 3:42 | ||
| 12 | "Don't You Ever" | Swizz Beatz | 3:48 | ||
| 13 | "The Shakedown" (skit) | 0:35 | |||
| 14 | "D-X-L (Hard White)" | Dame Grease | The L.O.X. & Drag-On | 4:21 | |
| 15 | "Comin' for Ya" | Swizz Beatz | 4:02 | ||
| 16 | "Prayer III" | 1:59 | |||
| 17 | "Angel" | Irv Gotti | Regina Belle | 5:07 | |
| 18 | "Good Girls, Bad Guys" (Bonus Track) | P. Killer Trackz & Charly (Shuga Bear) Charles | Dyme | 3:55 | • Contains an interpolation of "Call Me" (R. Mutler) |
| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums Chart | 6 |
| German Albums Chart | 46 |
| Netherlands Albums Chart | 64 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 1 |
| Preceded by All the Way… A Decade of Song by Celine Dion |
Billboard 200 number-one album January 8–14, 2000 |
Succeeded by Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter by Jay-Z |
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