...And Then There Was X

And Then There Was X
Studio album by DMX
Released	December 21, 1999
Recorded	1999
Genre	East Coast hip hop, 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
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Entertainment Weekly (A-) Q Rolling Stone link The Source
DMX chronology
Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood (1998) …And Then There Was X (1999) The Great Depression (2001)

…And Then There Was X is the third album by American rapper DMX, released on December 21, 1999.

The first single of the album, the club banger 'What's My Name' was released, which got heavy rotation on both radio and television. The album sold very well selling roughly 698,000 in its first week and went on to be certified 5x Platinum making it DMX's best-selling album to date. It also reached #1 on the Billboard chart yet again, firmly ranking DMX within hip hop's only artist to have all 3 (eventually, leading up to 5) of their albums reach the #1 spot.

The second single was popular club / party anthem "Party Up (Up in Here)", which increased album sales significantly . The album also featured more meaningful, introspective tracks such as "Fame" and " Here We Go Again", a heartfelt account of an emotional dispute with his protege, 'shorty', who 'fucks 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.

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 eg. Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood cover.

…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.

Track listing

Charts

References