The death of DMX last month was a shock to the music industry that created a ripple effect of pain and heartbreak throughout the hip-hop world. That pain was expected to be alleviated with the arrival of his new posthumous album EXODUS, a project he was working on months before his untimely passing, but now it looks like not everyone was tuning in for the new music as expected.
EXODUS came with a lot to offer, featuring a hefty amount of features and production handled almost entirely by X's former partner in the booth, Swizz Beatz. However, even with names like Jay-Z, Nas, Alicia Keys, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Usher and even U2 frontman Bono attached to the project, reliable music chart source Hits Daily Double reports that EXODUS is only projected to move around 28-32k copies in its first week with about 12-14k of those being pure sales.
To put that number into better perspective, the album is expected to bow out in fourth place amongst the top-selling albums this week. EXODUS follows behind the Anniversary Edition of Goodbye & Good Riddance by fellow late emcee Juice WRLD (28-32k; 1-2k), pop queen Taylor Swift's December 2020 album evermore (110-130k; 100-120k) and current pop princess-on-the-rise Olivia Rodrigo, who's on top for a second week with SOUR (150-170k; 15-20k).
An explanation for the low number can be for a handful of reasons. On one hand, the album's release date (May 28) comes only 49 days after DMX was officially pronounced dead on April 9. For some fans that feels a bit too soon, but given the fact that he was working on this project before his death doesn't make it entirely feel like it was rushed to coincide with his passing. Still, it does make you wonder if things might have turned out differently on the sales side if they waited at least until the official start to summer 2021 to give people more time to mourn.
Did you listen to DMX's posthumously-released new album, EXODUS? Hear it now on all streaming platforms or anywhere you purchase music, and let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.
Take a look at his new music video for "Hood Blues" featuring the guys of Griselda below as well:
