The Definition of X: The Pick of the Litter

The Definition of X: The Pick of the Litter
The Definition of X: The Pick of the Litter
Greatest hits album by DMX
Released	June 12, 2007
Recorded	1997–2003
Studio	New Horizon Sounds Studio (Capitol Heights, Maryland); Chung King Studios (New York City); The Hit Factory (New York City); Powerhouse Studios (New York City); Soundtrack Studios (New York City); Hit Factory Criteria (New York City); Enterprise Studios (Burbank, California); Quad Recording Studios (Times Square, New York); Chaton Studios (Scottsdale, Arizona);
Genre	Hardcore hip hop
Length	79:08
Label	Def Jam;
Producer	Black Key; Dame Grease; DJ Scratch; DJ Shok; Irv Gotti; Nokio; P. Killer Trackz; Self; Shatek; Swizz Beatz; Tuneheadz;
DMX chronology

The Definition of X: The Pick of the Litter is the first greatest hits album by American rapper DMX. It was released on June 12, 2007, by Def Jam Recordings. Production was handled by Swizz Beatz, Dame Grease, P. Killer Trackz, Black Key, DJ Shok, DJ Scratch, Irv Gotti, Nokio, Self, Shatek King and Tuneheadz. It features guest appearances from The Lox, Drag-On, Jay-Z, Sisqó and Swizz Beatz.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Stylus	B+^[2]

In the United States, the album debuted at number 26 on the Billboard 200, number 7 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 3 on the Top Rap Albums, selling about 35,000 copies in its first week.^[3] It received a Silver certification by British Phonographic Industry on April 3, 2020, for selling 60,000 units in the UK.

Although the album has both an explicit version and an edited version, on the explicit version on the track "Where the Hood At" some lines are still edited. The track "Slippin" is also the edited version. Also "Prayer III" is actually "Prayer II" from Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Prayer III"	Earl Simmons		2:04
2.	"Ruff Ryders' Anthem"	Simmons Kaseem Dean	Swizz Beatz	3:32
3.	"Get at Me Dog" (featuring Sheek Louch)	Simmons Damon Blackman Anthony Fields Sam Taylor	Dame Grease P. Killer Trackz (add.)	3:05
4.	"Stop Being Greedy"	Simmons Fields Blackman Michael Masser	P. Killer Trackz Dame Grease (add.)	3:36
5.	"How's It Goin' Down"	Simmons Fields	P. Killer Trackz	4:04
6.	"What These Bitches Want" (featuring Sisqó)	Simmons Mark Andrews Tamir Ruffin	Nokio	4:13
7.	"Blackout" (featuring Jay-Z and The Lox)	Simmons Shawn Carter David Styles Jason Phillips Sean Jacobs Dean Sarah Carter	Swizz Beatz	4:55
8.	"What's My Name?"	Simmons Edward Hinson Irving Lorenzo	Self Irv Gotti	3:52
9.	"Where the Hood At?"	Simmons Eriberio Serrano Franklin Crum Antonio Hardy	Tuneheadz	4:46
10.	"Party Up (Up in Here)"	Simmons Dean	Swizz Beatz	4:32
11.	"X Gon' Give It to Ya"	Simmons Shatek King Dean	Shatek	3:37
12.	"It's All Good"	Simmons Dean Taana Gardner	Swizz Beatz	4:18
13.	"Who We Be"	Simmons Michael Davis	Black Key Melvin "Hip" Armstead (co.)	4:48
14.	"The Rain"	Simmons George Spivey Leonard Perry Katie Davis Mallory Cowart	DJ Scratch	3:27
15.	"Here We Go Again"	Simmons Michael Gomez	DJ Shok	3:53
16.	"No Love 4 Me" (featuring Drag-On and Swizz Beatz)	Simmons Melvin Smalls Dean	Swizz Beatz	4:00
17.	"We Right Here"	Simmons M. Davis	Black Key	4:28
18.	"One More Road to Cross"	Simmons Dean	Swizz Beatz	4:20
19.	"Slippin'"	Simmons Gomez Grover Washington Jr.	DJ Shok	5:06
20.	"Prayer" (Skit)	Simmons	Dame Grease	2:32
Total length:				1:19:08

Sample credits

Track 3 contains samples from "Everything Good to You" written by Sam Taylor and performed by B. T. Express
Track 4 contains samples from "My Hero Is a Gun" written by Michael Masser and performed by The Temptations
Track 9 contains samples from "Young Gifted & Black" written and performed by Antonio "Big Daddy Kane" Hardy
Track 12 contains samples from "Heartbeat" written and performed by Taana Gardner
Track 14 contains samples from "Will She Meet the Train in the Rain" written by Leonard Perry, Katie Davis and Mallory Cowart, and performed by Greg Perry
Track 19 contains samples from "Moonstream" written and performed by Grover Washington Jr.

Notes

Tracks 1, 7, 12, 16 and 19 are from Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood © 1998
- Track 1 is originally titled as "Prayer II: Ready to Meet Him"
Tracks 2, 3, 4, 5 and 20 are from It's Dark and Hell Is Hot © 1998
Tracks 6, 8, 10, 15 and 18 are from ... And Then There Was X © 1999
- Track 6 is listed as "What You Want" on the clean version of the album
Tracks 9 and 14 are from Grand Champ © 2003
Track 11 is from Cradle 2 the Grave © 2003
Tracks 13 and 17 are from The Great Depression © 2001

Personnel

Earl "DMX" Simmons – performer
Sean "Sheek Louch" Jacobs – performer (tracks: 3, 7)
Lovey Ford – backing vocals (track 5)
Schamika Grant – backing vocals (track 5)
Mark "Sisqó" Andrews – performer (track 6)
Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter – performer (track 7)
David "Styles P" Styles – performer (track 7)
Jason "Jadakiss" Phillips – performer (track 7)
Dustin Adams – additional vocals (track 13)
Melvin "Drag-On" Smalls – performer (track 16)
Kaseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean – performer (track 16), producer (tracks: 2, 7, 10, 12, 16, 18)
Tamyra Gray – additional vocals (track 19)
Cliff Branch – keyboards (track 5)
Kenya Miller – programming (track 6)
Damon "Dame Grease" Blackman – producer (tracks: 3, 20), additional producer (track 4)
Anthony "P. Killer Trackz" Fields – producer (tracks: 4, 5), additional producer (track 3)
Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin – producer (track 6)
Edward "Self" Hinson – producer (track 8)
Irving "Irv Gotti" Lorenzo – producer (track 8)
Eriberio Serrano – producer (track 9)
Shatek King – producer (track 11)
Michael "Black Key" Davis – producer (tracks: 13, 17)
George "DJ Scratch" Spivey – producer (track 14)
Michael "DJ Shok" Gomez – producer (tracks: 15, 19)
Melvin "Hip" Armstead – co-producer (track 13)
Justice Johnson – recording (track 2)
Richard Keller – mixing (tracks: 2, 5, 9-12, 15-20), recording (tracks: 7, 12, 16, 19)
D'Anthony Johnson – recording (tracks: 3, 4), mixing (track 3)
Ken "Duro" Ifill – mixing (tracks: 4, 7, 8)
"Prince" Charles Alexander – recording (track 5)
Tony Smalios – mixing (track 6)
Adam Gazzola – recording (tracks: 7, 12, 16, 19), mixing (track 19)
Dragan Čačinović – recording & mixing (tracks: 9, 14)
Chris Theis – recording (tracks: 10, 11, 15, 18)
Jaime Weddle – recording (tracks: 13, 17)
Otto D'Agnolo – recording (tracks: 13, 17)
Brian Stanley – mixing (track 13)
Tony Dawsey – mastering
Dawud West – art direction, design
Jonathan Mannion – photography
Mark Mann – photography
Tara Podolsky – A&R
Leesa D. Brunson – A&R
Antoinette Trotman – management
Ian Allen – management
Nicole Wyskoarko – management
Rob Caiaffa – marketing
Andy Proctor – package production manager

Charts

Chart performance for *The Definition Of X: Pick Of The Litter*
Chart (2007)	Peak position
US Billboard 200^[4]	26
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[5]	7
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)^[6]	3

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)^[7]	Silver	60,000^‡
^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

^ Kellman, Andy. "The Definition of X: The Pick of the Litter - DMX | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
^ Inskeep, Thomas (July 25, 2007). "DMX - The Definition of X: Pick of the Litter - Review - Stylus Magazine". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
^ Hasty, Katie (June 20, 2007). "Toby Keith's 'Big Dog' Heads Straight To No. 1". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
^ "DMX Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
^ "DMX Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
^ "DMX Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
^ "British album certifications – Dmx – The Definition of X - Pick Of The Litter". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved April 10, 2021.

External links

The Definition Of X: Pick Of The Litter at Discogs (list of releases)

[1] Kellman, Andy. "The Definition of X: The Pick of the Litter - DMX | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved April 13, 2021.

[2] Inskeep, Thomas (July 25, 2007). "DMX - The Definition of X: Pick of the Litter - Review - Stylus Magazine". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.

[3] Hasty, Katie (June 20, 2007). "Toby Keith's 'Big Dog' Heads Straight To No. 1". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2021.

[ac_Billboard200_DMX-4] "DMX Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2021.

[ac_BillboardRandBHipHop_DMX-5] "DMX Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2021.

[ac_BillboardRap_DMX-6] "DMX Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2021.

[United_KingdomDmxThe_Definition_of_X_-_Pick_Of_The_LitteralbumCertRef-7] "British album certifications – Dmx – The Definition of X - Pick Of The Litter". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved April 10, 2021.

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