YEAR of the Dog Again is the latest offering from one of hip-hop's long time servants.
DMX has been making records since 1998 but this, his latest album, offers nothing new.
This is the major fault of an album that sounds familiar in theme and execution to DMX's past three releases.
Tracks such as Come Thru (Move) and the single We in Here are the only true highlights on a poor album which fails to generate the adrenaline or intensity felt on his earlier records.
His long-term producer Swizz Beatz has been the brain behind DMX's muscle his whole career, and his lesser input, (overseeing only four tracks) results in a mundane affair with poor, unimaginative lyrics to boot.
For the smash-mouth rapper who in the past could always be called dynamic, the batteries in DMX's chest may just have run out of juice.
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