DMX
Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood

Release Date: 1998 | Tracklist

Being a skilled rapper is not a requirement to become successful in rap. As sad as that may sound, it's true. All you really need is hype. DMX, or Dark Man X, is not a particularly good rapper. For the most part, his lyrical themes are tired and uncreative. His flow is jerky and somewhat awkward, and his individual rhymes have almost all been done before. So, what does DMX have? He has hype. He is known as being one of the most imposing and scary rappers out there. He often punctuates his rhymes with guttural growls, and his vocal delivery and tone conjures an image of a tough, cold-blooded thug. He also conveys this in his actual rhymes, devoting over half of the tracks on this album to his anonymous legion of haters. Another thing he does to keep up his image of a killer is the use of comic (and sometimes completely unnecessary) gore. He shows his intentions right up front, his first rap of the first song being "I got blood on my head, and I got no remorse, and I got blood on my dick, because I fucked a corpse." Although DMX may not be a very skilled rapper, every other aspect of this album besides his rhymes are perfect. The atmosphere, the beats, and the vocals. Essentially, this is the epitome of a gangsta rap album.

DMX's rhymes are not spectacular, but they aren't terrible. One unfortunate habit he has is rhyming the same word four or five times in a row. I don't know why he does this, as he certainly has enough skill to come up with different rhymes. But he does it repeatedly throughout the album, and it is somewhat bothering. His individual rhymes aren't good, but they do what they are intended to do: convey his intense aggression and hate. DMX also has several trademark themes in his rhymes, the best known of them being his obsession with dogs. He proclaims that all of his homies are "dogs" and all of his enemies are "cats." It's a creative idea, and it makes for some pretty interesting rhymes throughout the album. DMX does get quite creative with some lyrical topics, despite the majority of them being generic. Definitely the most creative is The Omen. This song is about a conversation between DMX, who is dying, and the Devil. The famous Satanist Marilyn Manson even makes an appearance in this song. The Omen is easily the best and most creative song on the album in terms of DMX's rhymes.

The beats on this album are spectacular in every sense of the world. You will find everything in this album, from complicated classical bass lines in Coming From to a sitar in Ready To Meet Him to a plucked acoustic guitar in No Love For Me. The song Coming From even has interludes throughout the song with a pounding double bass beat. Also, the beats fit DMX's lyrical topics perfectly, but still manage to be creative. On Ain't No Way, the chorus sounds like something out of an old hymnal. An unfortunate theme on most hardcore rap albums is that all of the beats sound nearly identical. Even if they don't have extremely similar beats, the general atmosphere and mood of the songs are similar. Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood definitely never falls into that pattern. You go from an upbeat and party atmosphere on It's All Good to an ethereal and scary atmosphere on The Omen to a reflective and sorrowful mood in Slippin'. All in the space of three songs. Overall, the beats on this album are top notch and nearly flawless.

This album breaks many of the annoying trends that have been set recently in rap. One of these is the near entire lack of skits. There are only two in this 16 song album, and they are all placed in the first three tracks. That means there are thirteen straight tracks with no skits in between, giving this album a flow unlike most modern rap albums. Another annoying trend in rap is the excessive use of guest appearances. For example, over half of the songs on The Sound Of Revenge are collaborations. That's just too many. The rapper who's album it is needs to show that they can carry the load on their own, and DMX demonstrates this. There are only four collaborations on this album, being 1/4 of the total songs. While that may sound like a lot, it's the way that DMX uses these collaborations that is really special. Most rappers just bring in a collaborator to add one verse to their songs. DMX uses his collaborators to actually add something original to his songs, something that he couldn't have added on his own. For example, Mary J. Blige adds an R&B atmosphere to Coming From, something that DMX couldn't have done by himself.

This is an intelligent gangsta rap album by an intelligent rapper who knows how to work around his flaws. DMX knows he can't rap excellently, so he places the focus on the moods and beats of the songs. This is another album in a long chain of excellent DMX albums, and should be enjoyed by all fans of rap.

Recommended
The Omen
Slippin'
We Don't Give a Fuck

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3.8 excellent

Rank: #91 for 1998