Anyone who watched the VMAs saw Amber Rose’s baby bump. Did that cause the delay of Wiz Khalifa’s O.N.I.F.C.? Who knows, but it’s not coming in September, that’s for sure. Another attendee at the Awards was Nicki Minaj. On the red carpet, Nicki announced that another Pink Friday is getting revamped: Pink Friday Roman Reloaded: The Re-Up. That should be coming in November, but no concrete info is available yet. Meanwhile, Game changed his album title. This may come as old news to some, but new to others. The album is now titled Jesus Piece, changed from F.I.V.E: Fear Is Victory’s Evolution since 50 Cent and Trey Songz have albums with “5” in them. Lastly, if you were hoping for a Black Hippy album, we have bad news. Each member has reported that there will be no collective project in order to focus on their individual projects. So that’s that.
Check HipHopDX’s Release Dates page for all your Hip Hop album needs.
September 11
DMX – Undisputed
September 18
DJ Drama – Quality Street Music
Ne-Yo – R.E.D.
Skyzoo – A Dream Deferred
Kreayshawn – Somethin’ Bout Kreay
Homeboy Sandman – First Of a Living Breed
Brother Ali – Mourning In America & Dreaming In Color
G.O.O.D. Music – Cruel Summer
Nutso – Behind These Bars EP
Tech N9ne – E.B.A.H.
Double A.B. & Dub Sonata – Media Showers
September 25
Lupe Fiasco – Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1
Murs and Fashawn – The Generation
Danny! – Payback
October 2
Bobby V – Dusk Till Dawn
MellowHype (Hodgy Beats and Left Brain) – Numbers
Prodigy – The Bumpy Johnson Album
October 9
Trash Talk – 119
Machine Gun Kelly – Lace Up
Xzibit – Napalm
October 16
Pac Div – GMB
Brandy – Two Eleven
Various Artists – A3C Volume 2
October 22
Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid, m.A.A.d City
October 23
Prodigy and The Alchemist – Turf Wars
Vinnie Paz – God Of the Serengeti
October 30
Meek Mill – Dreams & Nightmares
MHz Legacy – Megacy
Journalist 103 (The Left) Reporting Live
October 31
A$AP Rocky – LongLiveA$AP
November 6
Lil Fame (M.O.P.) & Termanology – Fizzyology
November 13
50 Cent – Street King Immortal
Big Boi – Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors
Freeway – Diamond In The Ruff
Roc Marciano – Reloaded
November 27
Lone Ninja – Rogue Agent
Neako – These Are the Times
Cue somebody bitching about Black Hippy being in the title and not dropping an album… Fucking retards.
Nov. 6 – Saigon – Bread and Circuses
Ten years ago Undisputed would have been the perfect title for a DMX album. Even with a style that was undeniably rough, raw, and unapologetic, it was impossible to escape his music, no matter where you were. With hits like Party Up, Ruff Ryders Anthem, and Who We Be, hes one of the few artists in hip hop that has been as equally embraced by the streets as he was commercially. Hes the only artist in music history to release five consecutive albums that debuted at number one overall on the Billboard chartsthats number one across all genres not just hip hop. He was even able to parlay all of his music success and fame into feature roles in a number of blockbuster films too, including Belly and Romeo Must Die.
But, its been six years since DMXs last studio album, and 9 since hes had any serious commercial success. While hes only released a handful of standalone singles and a few mix tapes since then all of which have met some severe criticism on the greater hip hop landscape hes been far from absent in the media. Granted, hes always had a well-documented history of legal issues and drug use, but once his star started to fade, he became a lightning rod for strange press.
In 2004, he was arrested for impersonating an FBI officer at an airport, while in possession of a substantial amount of cocaine. Hes been locked up more frequently than the average person gets traffic tickets. Hes gone on several seemingly lucid, on-camera rants regarding the Illuminatis control over hip hop. Hes even shown serious intentions of making the transition from gangsta rapper to evangelical preacher
With a history like that, its safe to say that DMX while undeniably one of hip hops legitimate legends is a complex, and at times, troubled individual. While this writer isnt a licensed psychologist, and wouldnt venture to use any of these words himself, crazy, insane, or unstable could arguably be used to describe him. With that in mind, his about to drop 7th studio album, Undisputed, is probably what many would expect. Its bi-polar, a bit schizophrenic, and ridiculously inconsistent.
Thematically, the Undisputed album is literally all over the place. At times, we get serious introspection and insight from an artist that has experienced all of the good that fame brings, but probably more importantly, the bad. On these tracks, most notably I Get Scared and Slippin Again, DMX comes with a much more subdued style than usual, from both a production and lyrical standpoint complete with him singing a duet on the hook of the former. Its a new look for him, but after all of the time and issues that have passed since weve seen new material from him, its a good one. In fact, these two songs might be the two strongest tracks on the project. They feel transparent, honest, and theyre a rare, unimpeded glimpse into the mind of one of the industrys most interesting personalities.
However, the other angles he takes, even when he tries to recapture some of his old, raw energy, are a little less impressive. In the past, when DMX wanted to make a party record, it seemed like he could effortlessly yell for 4 minutes, and come out with gold (actually platinum). He was never a technically impressive hype rapper that could cram multisyllabic rhymes where they shouldnt be able to fit, but his raspy voice and knack for timing made for great music. Now, when he tries to come with a hard flow, he seems to stumble over himself more often than not. Its almost sad to see, and at its worst, its downright painful.
In fact, I Dont Dance (ft. MGK) might be the worst song in DMXs entire catalog, and that isnt an exaggeration. The would-be club friendly techno-inspired beat is definitely a gigantic step below most modern production, and DMXs gravelly flow sounds ridiculous over it. Add in a rather uninspired, clich ridden MGK verse, and the recipe for disaster is complete. Unfortunately, itll likely be the song on the album that gets the most attention, and its very similar in concept to the other party records on this one.
The third and last subject and style that DMX takes on, and extremely noticeably so, is his faith. Despite his frequent mentions of drugs, sex, and violence on several tracks, DMX also takes a very strong, almost seemingly fundamental Christian stance on significant portion the album. Theres even a two-minute long prayer that marks the mid-point of the project. Depending on who you are personally, youll probably love these tracks, glance over them without much thought, or think theyre ridiculously out of place. Thats entirely your prerogative, and without judging them on content, they are admittedly a bit behind when it comes technical rhyming ability and production. There definitely isnt a Lord Give Me a Sign on this one though, which impressively blurred the lines between popular hip hop and gospel back when DMX released it in 2006.
Overall, Undisputed, is an admirable effort from one of hip hops most esteemed, important, and interesting artists. As strange as it sounds, DMX is at his best here when he holds himself back a little and opens up about his personal struggles. Unfortunately, he only does that on a small handful tracks. Throughout the rest of the project we get some interesting, yet technically deficient religious songs, and some misguided attempts at some of the high-energy party anthems he became famous for.
With that said, the Undisputed album wont return Mr. Simmons back to the days when he was a staple in every situation that called for some raw, loud music. To be honest, it might even mark the end of those days for DMX. But, there are a few songs that might be rotation worthy for many, and a few moments that hint that he might be far from done in hip hop. If youre a big DMX fan already, or late 90s/early 00s rap in general, this ones worth the price of admission, if only to check in with a living legend. If notthere isnt going to be much here for you at all. However, if youre a younger hip hop head and havent heard much of DMXs stuff from back in the day, use this as an opportunity to go educate yourself just go through his old albums first.
Rating 2.5/5
^ waste of time lmao
Good review, terrible placement. Smh what a waste.
OMG! Sky’s A Dream Deferred out October 2!
he killed it on the 9th wonder album.. Speakers on Blast off live from the tape deck was my shit last summer
JesusPiece and Good Kid mAAd city!
How the fuck is Nicki dropping another album ? them YM bench riders must be mad as hell.
3 albums in 2 years.
so this post is fucking pointless NO FUCKING NEW DATES
they do this every week
Rap Release Dates: Nicki Minaj, Game, Wiz Khalifa, Black Hippy
MY ASS
It’s updating you on the news… Somebody called your evidence of being a retard below.
25th gonna be a sweet day.
yeah that and Oct 22
What the hell happened to Ludaversal?
hiphopdx arre you fucking dumb or what WU-BLOCK OCTOBER 9 RELEASE DATE get on that you post it before but you never put it on your release dates list c’mon OCTOBER 9 WU-BLOCK WU-BLOCK OCT 9 so get on that
Nicki minaj needs to come up with a new album title.. that’s almost as bad as the carter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and so on
albums in YMCM records just like mixtape every week new album trasshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
fuck YMCB bullshit
BIG BOI >>> 50 CENT
well……yeah. lol
bet food and liquor doesn’t happen this week.
I’M LOOKING OUT FOR THAT NEW FASHAWN!!!
Neyo is lame as Fuck.
the title makes it sound like they had a Black Hippy album release date. fuckers lol
Ja Rule also released PIL 2, 6 mil sold so far.
Ja Rule released pil 2 too… Y’all need to check that out
Ja Rule PIL 2 real art.
Ja Rule is discussed in every thread because he’s the hottest nigga in the world and one of the most relevant niggaz in the game. PIL 2 6 mil sold.
Ja Rule pain is love 2, 6 mil sold.
dude you dickride Ja more than ashanti
Ja Rule is a legend, he needs to be on here, PIL 2!
Ja rule pain is love 2.
ja Rule makes real music, pain is love 2.
Ja Rule is the best nigga in the world, PIL 2!
Ja Rule PIL 2!
ja Rule shits on everyone with PIL 2.
The ILLZ – The Darkest Hour (November 13th)
7evenThirty, Heavens Computer September 25, 2012 on Mello Music Group
Black Hippy ain’t coming out with an album cuz of how bad Laughterhouse flopped. smh
I love how creative Nicki Minaj’s album titles are.
She never fails to come up with something original and unexpected.
P.O.S We Don’t Even Live Here? October?
People complaining about Lil Wayne naming his albums The Carters 1, 2, 3 and 4… If shit aint broke, don’t fix it. It’s only consistent and hey as far as I see it’s not like it’s not a great series of albums, with plenty of progression. Also his name is Dwayne Carter…. I fucking wonder why he calls his albums The Carter…
Nicki Minaj, her first album, was pop, mainstream and successful, her second album flopped like hell but that one song is still popular as shit. She doesn’t need to change the album name, kids will still buy it. Plus if she changes it half her target audience wont be able to remember what her albums names are smh.
Ummm there’s no Game release date here…..