DMX’s New Album Will Feature Griselda

For nearly 5 years, rumors have been swirling about the next DMX album. In May of 2016, Swizz Beatz set social media ablaze, when he posted that Dark Man X was clean, focused and working with himself, Kanye West and Dr. Dre. Nearly a year later to the day, in an interview with DJ Whoo Kid, Swizz doubled down on his previous statements. Swizz told Whoo Kid that he and X had been seriously working and that he could not wait to share the music they had been working on with the world. Six months later, Swizz backed up his words with actual music, premiering the song “Bain Is Back.” Shortly thereafter, during a beat battle with Just Blaze that would portend Swizz’s mega Verzuz franchise with Timbaland, Swizz played a never before released song featuring DMX, JAY-Z, Jadakiss and Nas.

Following that momentous drop, the artist born Earl Simmons released new music with longtime collaborator Dame Grease, which featured X rapping over trap beats. However, just as things seemed in full motion, DMX had a major setback. The artist who has struggled with substance abuse for decades checked himself into rehab in April of 2017. This was following a series of live performances that had further solidified that the Dog was back. Even after that, Swizz continued to give interviews talking about why DMX’s new album would change the game.

Despite a few live appearances and guest features on songs like “King Kong” with Forever M.C., Royce 5’9 and Kxng Crooked, things effectively ground to a halt when the Ruff Ryder was sentenced to a year in prison in the Spring of 2018. Even after his return, things were relatively quiet…until now.

In a forthcoming episode of N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN’s Drink Champs podcast, DMX, himself, spoke about his new album and confirmed that it is still very much in motion. He also went into detail about some of the artists who would be featured on the project.

In addition to the late Pop Smoke, X mentioned a name that is sure to get Heads spinnin’…Griselda. The collective of Westside Gunn, Conway The Machine and Benny The Butcher has proven to be one of the most formidable in Rap over the last 2 years. After building their own movement in Buffalo, NY, as detailed in this interview with Ambrosia For Heads, the Griselda crew skyrocketed after signing with Eminem’s Shady Records in 2017. Since then, they have worked with countless legends, including DJ Premier, Slick Rick, The LOX, Method Man and many more. Now, DMX is part of their discography and the collab is sure to be…hot.

Hopefully, X’s album manifests for real this time. Tune in to Drink Champs to hear him discuss that, training his dog to do ad libs during his freestyles and more.