X Gon' Give It To Ya

By 2003, DMX was a superstar, with four #1 albums and a growing list of movie credits. But he was still hungry, and still coming hard. In this song, he lets his fans know he's still connect to the streets, and he's gon' give it to ya. "I got a huge weight on my shoulders," he told GQ regarding this song. "I'm responsible for my music, and I don't take that responsibility lightly."

DMX wrote this song while filming the movie Cradle 2 The Grave, which he starred in opposite Jet Li. One of the producers on the film, Joel Silver, also worked with DMX on the 2001 movie Exit Wounds and was a huge fan of the rapper. Silver set up a shuttle bus that would take DMX and his crew to a nearby studio after filming so he could work on his fifth album, Grand Champ. One night when they were working on "X Gon' Give It To Ya," Silver heard the song and decided he had to have it for the movie. DMX made him a deal: he could use the song in the film, but in exchange, DMX got an executive producer credit on the soundtrack. DMX contributed two additional songs to the soundtrack, which sold over 500,000 copies.

Like many DMX songs, this one is filled with his signature "what!" repeated after some of his lines. He built his reputation on live performance, where he stirred up the crowd with this kind of interaction. When he started recording, he brought it to the studio.