An image of DMX at his funeral in New York on April 24, 2021. – John Lamparski / Sipa USA / SIPA
The music industry won’t have waited very long to release new DMX tracks. A posthumous album will be released on May 28, its producer, Swizz Beatz announced on Monday, less than two months after the American rapper’s death from a heart attack at the age of 50.
This eighth official opus is entitled Exodus and will only include unreleased tracks, said the producer, specifying that it would be distributed by the Def Jam Recordings label. Exodus is the first name of one of DMX’s sons, who had 15 children from several different wives.
“My brother X was one of the purest and rarest souls I have ever met,” Swizz Beatz wrote in the release. He notably produced one of the first DMX “beats” for the flagship track. Ruff Ryders’ Anthem, released in 1998.
Violent and dark titles
Having become famous at the end of the 1990s, DMX is a harsh-style rapper, whose lyrics mix violence and darkness, with a very recognizable deep and raspy voice. Between 1998 and 2003, Earl Simmons, real name, placed five albums at the top of sales in the United States, including It’s Dark and Hell is Hot, which remained in the US rankings for 101 weeks.