Grand Champ

Last updated

Grand Champ
Dmxgrandchamp.jpg
Studio album by
DMX
ReleasedSeptember 16, 2003
Genre East Coast hip hop
Length74:40
Label
Producer
DMX chronology
The Great Depression
(2001)
Grand Champ
(2003)
Year of the Dog… Again
(2006)
Singles from Grand Champ
  1. "Where the Hood At?"
    Released: August 5, 2003 [1]
  2. "Get It on the Floor"
    Released: December 30, 2003 [2]

Grand Champ is the fifth studio album by American rapper DMX. It was released on September 16, 2003 by The Island Def Jam Music Group, Def Jam Recordings, and Ruff Ryders Entertainment. The album was produced by multiple producers, including Swizz Beatz, Dame Grease, Kanye West, and No I.D. It features guest appearances from 50 Cent, Cam'ron, Eve, Styles P, Monica, and Jadakiss, among others.

Contents

Grand Champ was supported by two singles: "Where the Hood At?" and "Get It on the Floor". Despite receiving generally mixed reviews from music critics, the album was a commercial success. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 312,000 copies in its first week. [3]

Singles

The album was supported by two singles. The first single, "Where the Hood At?" was released on August 5, 2003. [4] The single peaked at number 68 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 24 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts respectively. [5] [6] The single also peaked at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his second top 20 song on that chart. [7] The second single, "Get It on the Floor" was released on December 30, 2003. [8] The song was produced by and features a guest appearance by Swizz Beatz. The single failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 but managed to peak at number 57 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number 34 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his fifth UK top 40. [9] [10]

Other songs

On the international version of the album "X Gon' Give It to Ya" was added as a bonus track. The single was originally released on December 10, 2002. [11] It served as the theme song for the 2003 film "Cradle 2 the Grave" which DMX also starred in. The song peaked at number 60 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 23 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts respectively. [12] [13] The song also peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his only UK top-ten hit. [14]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 58/100 [15]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [16]
Blender Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [15]
E! Online C+ [15]
Entertainment Weekly C− [17]
Playlouder Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [18]
PopMatters Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [15] [19]
RapReviews7/10 [20]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [21]
Vibe Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [22]
USA Today Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [23]

Grand Champ received generally mixed 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 58, based on twelve reviews. [15] Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic praised DMX's effort stating that, "It's a well-crafted and thought-out album but feels like a sequel, and as such, it serves its purpose: to satisfy fans and move units." But Birchmeier also stated that it was "Not quite the big comeback DMX needed at this point in his quietly sagging rap career." In addition, he stated that, "Longtime fans may decide to drop off at about this point, if they hadn't already, while those content with the usual—or new to DMX—should find plenty to savor on Grand Champ." Birchmeier ultimately give the album a 3.5 star rating out of 5. [24]

Commercial performance

Grand Champ debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 312,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen Soundscan. [3] This became DMX's fifth and final US number one debut on the chart. [3] In its second week, the album dropped to number seven on the chart, selling an additional 150,000 copies. [25] On November 7, 2003, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments and sales of over one million copies in the US. [26] As of October 2009, the album has sold 1,204,000 copies in the United States. [27] To date, it is DMX's final album to achieve a certification from the RIAA.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. [28]

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Dog Intro" (featuring Bashir Fadai)
Darold "Pop" Trotter3:32
2."My Life" (featuring Chinky)
  • Simmons
  • John Parker
  • Talia Burgess
Dart La3:09
3."Where the Hood At?"
Tuneheadz4:46
4."Dogs Out" Kanye West 4:03
5."Get It on the Floor" (featuring Swizz Beatz)
Swizz Beatz4:22
6."Come Prepared" (Skit) 
  • Joaquin "Waah" Dean
  • Jay "Icepick" Jackson
0:35
7."Shot Down" (featuring 50 Cent and Styles P)
DJ Salam Wreck3:42
8."Bring the Noize"
  • Simmons
  • Crum
  • Serrano
Tuneheadz3:30
9."Untouchable" (featuring Syleena Johnson, Cross, Infa-Red, Sheek and Drag-On)
6:05
10."Fuck Y'all" Ron Browz 3:43
11."Ruff Radio" (Skit) 
  • Joaquin "Waah" Dean
  • Jay "Icepick" Jackson
0:43
12."We're Back" (featuring Eve and Jadakiss)
Tuneheadz4:25
13."Ruff Radio 2" (Skit) 
  • Joaquin "Waah" Dean
  • Jay "Icepick" Jackson
0:18
14."Rob All Night (If I'm Gonna Rob)"
Rockwilder 3:27
15."We Go Hard" (featuring Cam'ron)
No I.D. 3:36
16."We 'Bout to Blow" (featuring Big Stan)
Dame Grease 3:31
17."The Rain"
DJ Scratch 3:27
18."Gotta Go" (Skit) 
  • Joaquin "Waah" Dean
  • Jay "Icepick" Jackson
1:07
19."Don't Gotta Go Home" (featuring Monica)
  • Antoine Macon
  • Ryan Bowser
  • Simmons
  • Antoine "Bam" Macon
  • Ryan Bowser
  • Mr. Devine [b]
  • Victor Flowers [b]
4:17
20."A'Yo Kato" (featuring Magic and Val)
  • Simmons
  • Dean
  • Floyd Massey
  • Valerie Rangel
Swizz Beatz3:46
21."Thank You" (featuring Patti LaBelle)
  • Simmons
  • Ron Holden
  • Niem Washington
  • DMX
  • Ron H
  • Nemo
  • Gerald Flowers [b]
  • Victor Flowers [b]
  • Reggie Flowers [b]
3:01
22."Prayer V"SimmonsDMX1:47
23."On Top" (featuring Big Stan)
  • Simmons
  • Jermaine Russ
  • Joyner
Mac G3:34
24."X Gon' Give It to Ya" (International Bonus Track)
  • Simmons
  • Shatek King
Shatek3:38

Notes

Sample credits [28]

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [51] Platinum100,000^
Germany (BVMI) [52] Gold100,000
United Kingdom (BPI) [53] Gold187,401 [54]
United States (RIAA) [26] Platinum1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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