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DMX - Year Of The Dog...AgainAlbum Review by:
Jason Fleurant
Friday, July 28, 2006
 They say every dog has his day, but don’t tell Earl Simmons because Dark Man X wants the whole year. It goes without need of mention that DMX has gone through some huge ups and downs over the past few years. In and out of trouble with the law to most recently leaving Def Jam to return where it all started at Sony. Now that the Dog has found his way home, it seems he’s ready to take a bite out of the game.
From the intro where it sounds like Swizz Beats is hyping the crowd with chants of “when I say DM you say X” you knew you were in for something special. A new man with some grievances to get off his chest X lashes out over the blazing Swizz produced “We In Here”. Letting foes and new jacks alike know that this is not a game “sh!t ain’t the same/ cats done changed the game/ f*ck it, all ya’ll ni**gas is lame/ what’s my mother-f*cking name/ 20 million sold, while ya’ll struggling to go gold!” or “cats ain’t killin’ nothing but a few minutes”. Even Def Jam gets hit with the bark that bites in the third verse “and for the record, what you gonna do to fill up my spot/ I ain’t gon front, that Pon De Replay sh!t was kinda hot/ NOT! How you gonna jack a Will Smith beat/ it’s like you tryin’ to jack me from the streets” pretty much taunting the suites overseeing the label.
DMX lacks no boldness and lets the world know who is running sh!t over the furious bumping’ track “I Run This Sh!t” featuring Big Stan. Bussa Bus comes through with the heat that’ll melt your speakers. The bass alone on “Come Thru” could blow the doors off Batman’s whip (and you know Bats keeps his whip game tight). X and Busta demolish competition with lines like Busta’s “you ni**as thinking you tough/ like you ate a can of spinach/ until we mashin’ you faggots/ and making you change your image.” X not trying to get out done brings some heat literally “and you know how the desert do a ni**ga/ break you down quick/ residue a ni**a”. Someone warn the fire department its getting hot.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get better, Ruff Ryder’s finest step up to the plate, Barry Bonding the track “It’s Personal”. Sad to say while X delivers a decent verse when compare to the flame tossing Styles P. and Jadakiss he‘s outshined. There’s enough heat to make the Human Torch sweat as Styles laces the groove with “and who the f*ck asked you to rhyme./ I’m the Ghost, when I come around/ they throwin up the hazardous sign/ and you ain’t around chemicals/ just around generals/ who spend past time blazin the nine.” Jada gets his shine on to “that’s why I keep the hawk ready to eat‘em/ I guess I’m ready to meet‘em/ a fair game, but I’m ready to cheat'em”.
We start traveling down X’s “softer side” when we reach 'Dog Love' a more gritty street thug love anthem where Janyce and the lovely Amerie combine to make a beautiful hook. X supplies what could be a hot summertime video in the making, but its kind of disturbing about his growling. Then again it’s X so what else would we expect. 'Baby Motha' seems to be saying what every man thinks about in the relationship between himself and the mother of their seed. It’s never peaches and cream.
The spiritual, introspective tracks come in the later portion of the album. 'Blown Away' featuring Jinx and Janyce seems to play out as more of a confession of X past sins rather than bragging. “The older cat robbed m/ when I was like 10/ if anybody wanted to help it should have been then, but they didn’t and all it did is release a beast/ and I’ma feast on whatever I come across in the streets.” These are the moments when Dark Man X is at his best. Tracks like the remorseful 'Goodbye' and the uplifting 'Lord Give Me A Sign' are powerful displays of the soul of a struggling man. Yes, he is an complex creature, a man batting his own inner demons, a underdog. But that’s why we love and support him, because you can’t keep a good Dog down. The album is near flawless, and while I don’t very much like the structure, I love the core. Every Dog has it’s day, but this may very well maybe The Year Of The Dog...Again.
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