The Great Depression (DMX album)

The Great Depression is the fourth studio album by American rapper DMX. It was released on October 23, 2001 by Ruff Ryders Entertainment and Def Jam Recordings. The production on the album was handled by multiple producers including Just Blaze, Dame Grease, Black Key and DMX himself. The album also features guest appearances by Stephanie Mills, Faith Evans and Mashonda.

The Great Depression
Studio album by DMX
Released	October 23, 2001
Recorded	July 2000–July 2001
Genre	Hardcore hip hop
Length	72:02
Label	Ruff Ryders Def Jam
Producer	Darrin & Joaquin Dean (exec.) DMX (also exec.) Latarche Nas Collins (co-exec.) Just Blaze Swizz Beatz Dame Grease PK Black Key Kidd Kold
DMX chronology
...And Then There Was X (1999) The Great Depression (2001) Grand Champ (2003)
Singles from The Great Depression
"We Right Here" Released: August 14, 2001 "Who We Be" Released: September 25, 2001 "I Miss You" Released: January 15, 2002

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(62/100)[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[3]
Los Angeles Times	[4]
NME	[5]
PopMatters	[1][6]
Q	[1]
RapReviews	(6.5/10)[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Spin	(6/10)[1]
USA Today	[9]

The Great Depression was supported by three singles: "We Right Here", "Who We Be" and "I Miss You". The album demonstrated his continually strong allegiance with the Ruff Ryders. The album received generally mixed to positive reviews from music critics and was a commercial success. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 440,000 copies in the first week.^[10] It became certified platinum in December of that same year.^[11]

Singles

The Great Depression was supported by three singles. The first single, "We Right Here" was released on August 14, 2001. The single failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 but managed to peak at number 17 on the US Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart.^[12] The single also peaked at number 43 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number eight on the US Hot Rap Songs charts respectively.^[13][14] The second single, "Who We Be" was released on September 25, 2001. Unlike the previous single, it peaked at number 60 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[15] The single also peaked at number 16 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number ten on the US Hot Rap Songs charts.^[16][17] The third single, "I Miss You" was released on January 15, 2002. The single peaked at number 86 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[18] It also peaked at number 37 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.^[19]

Critical reception

The Great Depression received generally mixed to positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 62, based on ten reviews.^[1]

Commercial performance

The Great Depression debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 440,000 copies in its first week.^[10] This became DMX's fourth US number one debut on the chart.^[10] In its second week, the album dropped to number three on the chart, selling an additional 214,000 copies.^[20] On December 14, 2001, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of over one million copies in the US.^[21] As of October 2009, the album has sold 1,862,000 copies in the United States.^[22]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.^[23]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Sometimes"	Earl Simmons	DMX	1:06
2.	"School Street"	Simmons Damon Blackman	Dame Grease	3:01
3.	"Who We Be" (featuring Dustin Adams)	Simmons Mickey Davis	Black Key Melvin "Hip" Armstead (co.)	4:47
4.	"Trina Moe"	Simmons Blackman	Dame Grease	4:02
5.	"We Right Here"	Simmons Davis	Black Key	4:27
6.	"Bloodline Anthem"	Simmons Brian Collins	DMX Kidd Kold	4:25
7.	"Shorty Was da Bomb"	Simmons Blackman	Dame Grease	5:12
8.	"Damien III"	Simmons Anthony Fields	P.K.	3:21
9.	"When I'm Nothing" (featuring Stephanie Mills)	Simmons Blackman James Mtume Reggie Lucas	DMX Dame Grease Black Key (co.)	4:33
10.	"I Miss You" (featuring Faith Evans)	Simmons Collins	Kidd Kold	4:40
11.	"Number 11"	Simmons Fields	P.K.	4:25
12.	"Pull Up" (Skit)	Thom Bell Phil Hurtt	DMX	0:20
13.	"I'ma Bang"	Simmons Justin Smith	Just Blaze	5:03
14.	"Pull Out" (Skit)	Bell Hurtt	DMX	0:24
15.	"You Could Be Blind" (featuring Mashonda)	Simmons Kasseem Dean	Swizz Beatz	4:34
16.	"The Prayer IV"	Simmons	DMX	1:42
17.	"A Minute for Your Son"	Simmons Dean	Swizz Beatz	16:55

Notes^[23]

• "Who We Be" contains additional vocals by Dustin Adams.
• "Bloodline Anthem contains additional vocals by Dia.

Sample credits^[23]

• "When I'm Nothing" contains a sample of "Whatcha Gonna Do (with My Lovin')", written by James Mtume and Reggie Lucas, and performed by Stephanie Mills.
• "Pull Up" (Skit) and "Pull Out" (Skit) contain samples of "I'll Be Around (Whenever You Want Me)", written by Thom Bell and Phil Hurtt, and performed by The Spinners.

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for The Great Depression Chart (2001) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[24] 99 Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)[25] 16 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[26] 1 Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[27] 1 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[28] 25 European Top 100 Albums (Music & Media)[29] 29 French Albums (SNEP)[30] 69 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[31] 10 Irish Albums (IRMA)[32] 26 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[33] 38 Scottish Albums (OCC)[34] 36 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] 60 UK Albums (OCC)[36] 20 UK R&B Albums (OCC)[37] 2 US Billboard 200[38] 1 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[39] 1

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for The Great Depression Chart (2001) Position Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[40] 71 Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[41] 16 Canadian Rap Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[42] 7 US Billboard 200[43] 109 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[44] 60 Chart (2002) Position Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[45] 43 Canadian Rap Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[46] 22 US Billboard 200[47] 86 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[48] 39

Certifications

Certifications for The Great Depression

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[49]	Platinum	100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[50]	Gold	100,000*
United States (RIAA)[21]	Platinum	1,000,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.