“Angel” quotes Mark 8:36. “Prayer III” calls on Jesus. However . . .
The rapper also assumes that the Lord is pleased with the messages in his music (“You let me touch so many people and it’s all for the good/I influenced so many children”). Closer to the truth, DMX states, “I’m not a nice person” and “I’m evil.” On “One More Road to Cross,” he brags about robbing a liquor store and shooting a man. As a $20,000 assassin, he sadistically describes techniques he might use to do a job (“The Professional”). In fact, a half-dozen tracks portray violence as bliss and murder as rapture with lines such as “I’ma blow his lung out,” “F— around and you’ll be found in a trunk, b–ch!” and “My pump shottie spilt a n—er’s guts on the door.” Abusive, obscene language adds to the assault with frequent f-words, s-words and misogynistic slang. Vile sexuality includes adultery (“What These B–ches Want”), a rabid search for oral sex (“Party Up”) and anal sex with a “church girl” (“Good Girls, Bad Boys”). Raps also glamorize smoking marijuana and selling crack cocaine.
DMX (short for Dark Man X) adheres to what has become a personally profitable formula: drugs, brutality, perversion and obscenities-all covered with prayer. Commenting on his latest effort, DMX says, “Why switch up? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Oh, it’s broke alright. And if he was really hearing from God, he’d know it.
