According to reports, a biopic chronicling DMX’s life is in the works. But that isn’t the only project honoring the late rapper slated to drop.
According to Billboard, a second posthumous album from DMX is on the way. The eight track body of work, titled Let Us Pray: Chapter X, supposedly will be released on December 13.
While Exodus was produced by Swizz Beats, Warryn Campbell will take over the role for Let Us Pray: Chapter X. In a statement, Campbell talked about the album.
“Working on Let Us Pray: Chapter X has been one of the most fulfilling experiences for me as a creative,” he said. “When you hear the voice of DMX, it inspires instant creativity and what better way to showcase who X really was than through prayer.”
Tracklist
1. “Favor” featuring Killer Mike, Mary Mary, & RoyzNoyz Orchestra
2. “Bear With Me” featuring LeCrae
3. “One Life To Do It” featuring MC Lyte & RoyzNoyz Orchestra
4. “Until I’m Gone” featuring Snoop Dogg, Terrace Martin, and Lena Byrd Miles
5. “Favor” (Instrumental)
6. “Bear With Me” (Instrumental)
7. “One Life To Do It” (Instrumental)
8. “Until I’m Gone” (Instrumental)
Let Us Pray: Chapter X is due out 12/13 via Def Jam/UMe. Find more information here.
After being mentioned in Kendrick Lamar’s latest track, an untitled release referred to colloquially as “Watch The Party Die,”Lecrae has seen some renewed interest in his music. The Christian rapper with two decades of experience dropped his latest single, “Lift Me Up,” featuring singer BEAM. The track is the first since “Die For The Party,” his response to Kendrick’s track. Of course, there is some irony in BEAM’s involvement. Kendrick mentioned him by name twice, first on “euphoria” and again on “6:16 In LA,” where he asserts that the talented singer is one of Drake’s writers.
As far as the track is concerned, “Lift Me Up” is not as dense as some of Lecrae’s other work. The beat, co-produced by BEAM, is light with some 808s. Moreover, the real focus of the track is on BEAM’s vocal performance. Lecrae’s verses are short and to the point, rapping about struggles he’s experienced in his personal life. He questions if God will be there to help “lift him up.” “When it all goes dark, lift me up, lift me up, lift me up,” BEAM repeats on the hook, reinforcing the themes of Lecrae’s verses. Lecrae has not announced much about his forthcoming album except that he’s working on one. It is not clear if this will be on the album or if it’s a one-off to tide fans over until he’s ready to share more details about what he’s been working on. Until more announcements come, check out the new song below.
Yeah, so blinded Give out so much love, I don’t know where to find it What I’m feelin’ right now, I can’t definе it Overwhelmed ovеr things I’m reminded Yeah, livin’ underneath So much pain, I go through life with no relief Sunday morning, lift my head to find my peace
To borrow a phrase from Uproxx cover star Latto, get in the booth. Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s heated track-for-track beef surely inspired a lot of spin-off records. Yesterday (September 14), the latest arrived courteous of Lecrae.
On Kendrick Lamar’s “Watch The Party Die” song, he named dropped the Christian rapper, asking: “What would Lecrae do?” Now fans know exactly how Lecrae would’ve handled the feud thanks to his response record, “Ain’t Watch The Party Die,” which was shared to Instagram.
“I was wrestlin’ like, should I write a verse? / The culture got enough clout-chasin’ vultures out here / Tryna prove they worth, they need attention / They can’t imagine me not tryna make myself look bigger off of this Kendrick mention / I can’t imagine his position / Before I got on my mission I was a party victim,” raps Lecrae.
Throughout the record, Lecrae advocates for unification. But he was sure to address the narrative that he turned his nose up at secular hip-hop artists after a clip of his Deep End with Lecrae podcast went viral.
“I use my trauma, my single mama, to justify commas to pay the devils wages / That probably went over they heads / Basically what I said is I was government fed / Bred for doin’ time in the feds, but Jesus bled / Instead of puttin’ dents in they head, He turned His / My cup runneth over with nonsense / They hearts grow colder, they love to do evil, they burn they conscience / I want the dealer’s head who gave my cousin fentanyl / Labels exploitin’ rappin’ addicts, man, I’m sick of y’all / My daddy ran with Compton Crips, my uncles Piru / Stuck in the middle of this madness, what should I choose? / I should be choosin’ between Howard and Hampton / I love the people that I ran with but look at the damage / You want me put you on, but I know you still with the scammin’,” raps Lecrae.
Listen to Lecrae’s song “Ain’t Watch The Party Die” above.
Hip-hop has been in a frenzy this week ever since Jay-Z and Roc Nation announced Kendrick Lamar as the Super Bowl Halftime show headliner in New Orleans next year – a slot that many suspected would’ve been handed to Lil Wayne. Weezy, an unequivocal legend, has been the flagbearer for NOLA for the entirety of his career. However, he hasn’t had the same motion as Kendrick Lamar in the past few months in terms of mainstream attention. On the heels of defeating Drake in their back-and-forth, Dot confirmed that he would be headlining the Super Bowl in an announcement video that seemingly stepped on the idea of a second round, something that Drake has hinted at since early August, at least. However, even though the Pop Out was deemed a victory lap, Kendrick’s mission statement appears to be much larger than simply toppling one of the most commercially successful artists of all time.
On Wednesday night, Kendrick Lamar surprised the masses by releasing his new untitled single on Instagram, tentatively titled “Watch The Party Die.” It’s a 180 from “Not Like Us,” the upbeat West Coast anthem carried throughout the summer. This one is much more somber in tone with its drumless soul sample and deadpan delivery, where Kendrick addresses the culture, similar to other installments in the “The Heart” series. He seemingly steps on Drake’s grave one last time, shuts down the media and influencers whose bias is reflected in their reporting and agenda, and expresses not just disdain but a vitriolic hatred towards the hip-hop industry as a whole. In some senses, he’s envisioning what hip-hop and humanity look like after a destroy-and-rebuild process. Clearly, there are others in hip-hop who he acknowledges as those who could similarly help lead this movement, specifically LeCrae and Dee-1.
Released on September 11 when the VMAs began, Kendrick Lamar’s latest single marked his first song since dropping “Not Like Us” earlier this year. The record finds Kendrick reflecting on the feud (“This shit done got too wicked to apologize/ It’s different, get him whacked and disqualified” and “Just walked that man down, that’ll do everyone a solid.”) He also reflects on the state of the media, targeting unnamed individuals that people believe to be Akademiks, Gillie Da Kid, Cam’ron and Gillie (“Influencers talked down ’cause I’m not with the basic shit/ But they don’t hate me, they hate the man that I represent/ The type of man that never dickride ’cause I want a favor” and “I think it’s time to watch the party die/ Street niggas and the corporate guys, the rappers that report the lies/ I need they families mortified.”)
The song tackles the music industry at large, retreading and expanding on concepts mentioned in songs like “Euphoria” and “Not Like Us” (“It’s time to get these devils out the way, heavy metals on my sword… Say hello to your future fate, the culture bred with carnivores” and “They wonder why I’m not enthused to drop/ The more visible you get, the more your spiritual is tried”). Considering that “Euphoria” marked the first release post-TDE from Kendrick Lamar where he explicitly states, “F*ck the industry,” “Watch The Party Die” is less of a nail-in-the-coffin of his feud with Drake and more of a new beginning to this new chapter in his career, one that appears rooted in his frustrations with the exploitation and commodification of the culture.
“I Wonder What Lecrae Would Do?“
The song’s third verse contains two shout-outs to Lecrae, a Christian rapper who often doesn’t get his flowers due to the content of his music. “I wonder what LeCrae would do? F*ck these n***as up or show ‘em just what prayer do?” Kendrick asks at the top of the verse, repeating the first part towards the end of the verse. This particular shout-out isn’t a coincidence in this chapter of Kendrick’s career, especially considering the lyrical themes on Dot’s new single.
In a 2023 interview, Lecrae revealed that his relationship with Kendrick dates back to The Kendrick Lamar EP. On the project, the rapper has a song titled “The Faith,” where he opens up about his issues with his belief in God. Kendrick Lamar was hardly a name back then, but when Lecrae heard the song, he reached out.
“I had more Twitter followers than him at the time, so I DM’d him, and I was like, ‘Bro, I heard this song. What are you wrestling with?’ I said, ‘Cause maybe I can send you some stuff,’” LeCrae recounted on the YTH Nation Podcast. Kendrick explained that he had several questions about his faith. “And we started going back and forth, and we just developed a relationship. From there, it just became a dope relationship where I never wanted to abuse it or be like ‘Yeah, let’s do music together’ but it was more like, let’s be friends.’”
Even more interesting about this podcast segment is that Lecrae said he turned down a feature from Kendrick before. “He actually asked to do music with me first and I was like, ‘Nah, let’s chill because I don’t want you to ever feel like I’m only in this for what you have going on,’” he said.
A more minor component to consider in Kendrick’s shout-out is how Lecrae framed the Compton native’s place in the culture compared to Drake. In an interview clip from Mr. Jay Hill Network that has circulated recently, Lecrae explained, “Ghostwriters aside, [Drake]’s a great rapper…but Drake is a fan of the culture. Kendrick is a product of the culture. It’s a difference.”
“I Wanna Be Empathetic, My Heart Like Dee-1”
Similar to Lecrae, Dee-1’s Christian values have often been at the fore of his artistic output. The New Orleans-based rapper, interestingly enough, gained fame with the release of his single, “Jay, 50, and Weezy,” a song calling out three of the biggest rappers of the time for the messages they put out in his music. Ultimately, the song led to a deal with RCA Inspiration.
While the Super Bowl announcement has turned into a nonsensical Kendrick vs. Lil Wayne debate, it’s important to note that Dee-1’s had his issues with Cash Money and Weezy in the past. A project he was supposed to be put out titled Separated At Birth was heavily inspired by Lil Wayne and Cash Money but the NOLA-based label blocked it from dropping, as explained on Sway’s Universe.
His issues with the music industry made headlines earlier this year after criticizing rappers like Rick Ross, Meek Mill, and Jim Jones for the content in their music. Urging each of them to “do better,” he took particular issue with the content in Meek and Ross’s Too Good To Be True project. Dee-1 suggested that it was hypocritical of Meek to rap about murder and violence while simultaneously being a the face of prison reform. “But this man glorifying getting people killed as of a week ago!’ Like, what are you doing, bro? Lil’ Snoop really got killed, that broke your heart. You wear him around your neck,” he said. “Why are you glorifying the same thing? The rap game, the hip-hop industry is great at cooking up some delicious poison. I don’t call you out because I got a problem with you, man.”
Ultimately, it turned into a back-and-forth between himself and the aforementioned artists including vague alleged threats from the Dipset member. Still, Dee-1 made it clear that he never had any personal issues with any of the parties he called out. That became especially clear when he refused to make light of Rick Ross’s altercation in Canada and praised Meek for his unfiltered take on the reality of the streets when he wrote, “Being gangsta will get you hurt put in jail or killed… Being smart will get you out of poverty and your family and friends living better.”
The brief shout-out captured hip-hop fans attention, especially as an anticipation for a new wave of Christian rap makes a path for itself. Both LeCrae and Dee-1 kept their responses brief at first. The former wrote, “Love you Dot….Always here,” along with a prayer hand emoji. Dee-1 offered a more extensive response over the past few days since the song was released.
“i appreciate the shoutout brother. @kendricklamar More than you’ll ever know. A shift is happening. The time is now!” Dee-1 wrote on Twitter after the song was released. However, he went on to address some of the backlash he faced over siding with Kendrick over Wayne in the Super Bowl debacle, particularly because he’s a New Orleans native. But in an interview with TMZ, Dee-1 recalled a conversation he was having at the time the song dropped. “I’m not afraid to go against the whole culture. I love New Orleans, but I love God more than I love New Orleans. What I stand on has nothing to do with loyalty to my city, loyalty to the hip-hop industry. All this stuff is fickle, and it comes underneath my loyalty to my creator.”
i appreciate the shoutout brother. @kendricklamar More than you’ll ever know.
If you’ve followed Kendrick’s career, these flashes of his spirituality have been scattered across his discography. good kid, m.A.A.d city opens up with his childhood friends reciting a prayer and repenting for their sins, and comes first circle by the end of “Sing About Me/Dying Of Thirst” when a woman (voiced by Maya Angelou, per BET) helps lead “Sinner’s Prayer.” The religious allusions and imagery continued throughout projects like To Pimp A Butterfly, DAMN., and Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. However, Kendrick appears to be more outward with his faith and using it as a guide to spark change. So when Kendrick rapped, “I wanna be empathetic, my like Dee-1 but I will–,” it demonstrates the Pulitzer Prize winner’s quandary: gear up for another aggression or use spirituality and faith to rise above the conflict for a bigger purpose.
More than you’ll ever know. A shift is happening. The time is now!” Dee-1 wrote on Twitter after the song was released. However, he went on to address 