The legality surrounding this album is questionable. Firstly, the announcement for the album came out of the blue, no singles dropped, no buzz was created at all. Then DMX's team including long time collaborator Swizz Beatz said this album was not the album they'd been working on and that it was unofficial. Next, the label releasing this disputed those claims and said that they had the rights to 52 masters from 2012 they had bought and were within their rights to release this as they did 'Undisputed'. And the latest news is that legal action is impending from DMX's team. Whether the album gets pulled or not, at this stage, doesn't really matter, it's been released, it's in cyberspace, people have purchased it and we have DMX's eighth 'album'. The first thing fans will notice from the track listing is that this includes many tracks that have been on the internet for years. 'Spit that Shit' leaked in 2009, and sounds like leaked quality as do some others. 'Built Like a Bitch' did as well at about the same time. There's a different version of 'On and On' from many years ago [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjDbTonsC24], which has been given a new beat to fit in with the rest of the album. The next song 'Get Up and Try Again' is another from the 2009/2010 leaks from what I can tell. 'Solid' and 'I'm Gonna Win' are found on DMX's 'Mixtape'. 'How's It Goin' Down' is a new one here and isn't the song from 'It's Dark and Hell Is Hot'. 'One More Night' can be heard on the 'Year of the Dog Again' bonus DVD. I'm not sure what this song was going to be for but 'Where You Been' is from about 2008. 'Gonna Get Mine' has a video from 2007 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNj5f7FwGXw,]. Finally, 'Love That Bitch' leaked around 2009/2010 and was featured on a couple of releases. So, if you are a big fan only about four to five of these will be fresh listens. That's the long-winded background to the album. The music itself isn't as interesting. I don't feel like a lot of these would've made a 'real' DMX album. The production at times doesn't gel with the vocals. There's a feeling I get that some of these were kind of 'drafts' and particularly these days with less people spending their hard-earned on music, why you'd bother releasing music big fans would've heard is questionable. There are too many of the same type of songs here, and while the energy is still in the vocals from DMX, the originality and emotion in lyrics and song structure isn't.

This album is slightly marred by the pop-dance songs that many R&B artists are doing these days to get more buzz, but at the same time, some of them aren't bad either. The album begins underwhelmingly with 'Cracks In Mr. Perfect' not hitting any high points for me and is more of a straight R&B tune we've heard in the past from Ne-Yo. 'Lazy Love' then keeps the R&B theme going and is a great tune. It then changes up to the album's single 'Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)'. The first time I heard this I thought, "Ne-Yo what are you doing," but it has grown on me. I don't really dislike any of the dance-pop tracks here, the main problem is that they sound similar. One of the best songs 'Jealous', is among the next couple of tracks. The bridge, hook, production is all spot on. The dance-pop tunes won't be every one's cup of tea, but the standard is higher here than what came before with 'Libra Scale'. Best Tracks: Lazy Love, Jealous, Carry On, My Other Gun

Although most are a level below, the beats are laid back and very reminiscent of A Tribe Called Quest's production, but I just don't like the rapping. Their flows are annoying and makes the songs more boring than they should be for me. I can understand enjoying this album but I haven't got anything much out of either this or their follow up. Best Tracks: Pacifics, What Cool Breezes Do

The production is a product of its time, and for the most part, that isn't a good thing. A number of the beats fit in perfectly with the 'Shiny Suit Era' that many people talk about. 'It Is What It Is' is one of my favourites from the album, so I'm not knocking the beat, but it gives off a strong 'Sky's the Limit' feel from Bad Boy's Biggie. There are some pop moments here, that after his debut is surprising, but when he is offering some more lyrical depth on songs like 'Interview With a Vampire', the beat just isn't interesting. In my opinion this is a similar problem that 'Soul on Ice' has. I mentioned in my review of his debut that while he is known for his lyricism, I don't rate him that highly in other areas of rapping. It's rarely a hard listen, but the high moments aren't high enough. Beats: ★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★ Hooks: ★★★ Best Tracks: Rasassination, Ghetto Fabulous, It Is What It Is, All or Nuthin'

For me, Birdman/Baby has released one good solo album that was, 'Fast Money', the other two and now three are fairly boring albums. Lyrically there is no variety, most of the beats ain't good enough for the lyrics to be one dimensional, and none of the featuring verses are memorable. Nice ride on the cover though. Best Tracks: Intro, Been About Money, Money Machine, 4 My Town (Play Ball), Shinin'