DMX: Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

With the platinum success last year of his debut, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, DMX completed his transformation from underground upstart to top dog.On his second album, he has a reputation to maintain, and DMX (a.k.a. EarlSimmons) shines, delivering a deep, intimate record that sounds like it waswritten in a confession booth.

A lot of rappers dwell on life's trials and tribulations, but DMX makes youfeel them. "To live is to suffer, and to survive is to find meaning in thesuffering," he offers on the intro to "Slippin'." Underscored by a melancholyGrover Washington Jr. loop, he recounts his lost youth: "Goin' too fast, itwouldn't last, but, yo, I couldn't tell/Group homes and institutions prepareda nigga's ass for jail."

Maybe it's the fact that DMX combines the raw, raspy voice of Method Man withJay-Z's staccato delivery that makes him so listenable. Maybe it's his novelway of conveying a message, as in "The Omen," a Paradise Lost-styledialogue between DMX and the devil, complete with eerie organ riffs andskeletal drum programming. Unfortunately, D's money is wasted here on MarilynManson, who whispers an inane chorus ("The snakes, the rats, the cat and thedog/How you gonna live when you're in the fog?"). But DMX's obsession withbaring his soul crystallizes perfectly on one of the album's highlights,"Ready to Meet Him," as spiritual a rap as they get. Another constant is theinventive beats and musicality displayed by the Ruff Ryders production team,anchored by Swizz Beatz, who will be a force to be reckoned with in days tocome. With Flesh of My Flesh Blood of My Blood, DMX is developing achampion pedigree. (RS 805)

S.H. FERNANDO JR.