According to ace producer, Swizz Beatz, Exodus the eight studio album from the late DMX is an absolute masterpiece.
In an interview with Complex music, Swizz Beatz spoke about finishing the album after DMX’s untimely death and his legacy.
He added that even though he’s been tasked with finishing the album, 100 percent of the album was made while X was still alive.
The duo and close friends started work on the project after the epic Verzuz battle between DMX and Snoop Dogg in July 2020.
Swizz Beatz said
“When he went on Verzuz, he saw the love people still have for him today. Imagine, you don’t have no music out, and you’re not on the level where you’re used to being on. Of course, when people see you in the street, they show you love, but you don’t really know what that means. But when he went on Verzuz, he saw all his albums going back to No. 1 and breaking records and entering the streaming game and artists calling him to work with him. Maybe it just gave him an energy that was the official launch of this project, because we stayed in the studio and recorded the whole album right after that Verzuz.”
Exodus is the first DMX studio album that has been released in nine years. It will also have the most guest features of any album from the late rapper. Some of the featured acts include Griselda, the Lox, Usher, Alicia Keys, Bono, Jay Z and Nas.
ALSO READ: DMX: 5 Facts About the Late Rapper
On how long it took to make the album
The producer said,
“It was two months. DMX doesn’t take long to make records. As a producer, you have to know who your artist is, right? So for me to get things done with my brother, I knew we had to be in the studio at noon, and let him have the rest of his day at like 4:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m. X doesn’t work well when it’s feeling like work. He works well when it’s fun and creative and easy. So, that’s our formula. I come in here, play certain things. “You like this? No?” He’ll start writing or he’ll have some things written already. And we don’t even really talk like that. The music speaks for itself.”
You can read the complete interview with Complex here