Exodus 1:7

While the boastful rapitty raps are par for the course for an artist of DMX’s tenure, he shines even brighter on the more broodingly beautiful “Walking In The Rain,” which features another appearance from Nas.

By chronicling the redemptive rise and bittersweet resolution of DMX's plot-twist ridden third act, Exodus not only fulfills the tall order of giving a long-overlooked great a fitting send off. It's also the sound of hip-hop's Job finding meaning in his suffering — and, thankfully, peace thereafter.

“Exodus” has a distinctly grown-up quality, with thoughts of nostalgia and fatherhood. ... DMX sounds remarkably driven on “Exodus” — a man with life, not death, heavy on his mind.

You’re left with the impression that DMX was a true rap great who was on the verge of potent rediscovery, of claiming his place as a key factor in the growth of a new hip-hop generation. But you’re also left desolate that this simply wasn’t to be.

Exodus provides a more fitting finale to a truncated career than the last album to bear DMX’s name, 2015’s Redemption of the Beast, released apparently without his knowledge by a shady-sounding minor label he had signed to when the majors no longer wanted to know. That release told you everything about what can happen when a troubled rapper falls out of favour; Exodus tells you something about his talent.

Though Swizz did vary the sound of the production, the album’s overall sound could’ve benefitted from a P.K. or Dame Grease beat. “Exodus” isn’t DMX’s worst album, but for a comeback album, a now-posthumous one at that, it should’ve been better.

A solid collection, but the shadow cast over the project by DMX's death highlights some of the inconsistencies and adds a heaviness and sense of unfinishedness that's palpable throughout.

Landing somewhere between a posthumous tribute and a completed album, Exodus feels like a view of DMX as a product instead of DMX as an artist.

Less a cohesive body of work and more a collection of tracks, ‘Exodus’ feels a little unfinished at times, because of a lack of verses from X and the occasional filler record. Nonetheless, it’s a wonderful tribute record loaded with stellar individual moments, and serves as a beautiful reminder of why the world fell in love with DMX in the first place.