The Great Depression

DMX opened his fourth album with a church organ and a sermon, then spent the next hour turning that gospel fervor into something darker. The Great Depression arrived on October 23, 2001, through Ruff Ryders Entertainment and Def Jam Recordings, seven months after The Marshall Mathers LP had made him the biggest-selling rapper in the country. The 17-track record leans hard into hardcore hip-hop, with Just Blaze, Dame Grease, Black Key and DMX himself handling production. Guests stay mostly in-house: Stephanie Mills, Faith Evans and Mashonda. The singles told the story of his range, from the bark of "We Right Here" to the reflective "I Miss You." Reviews landed mixed to positive, but the numbers did not care. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 440,000 copies sold in its first week and went platinum that December. [edit]