DMX Enlists Griselda Trio for Posthumous Single “Hood Blues”

New York rapper DMX released a new single Tuesday, over a month after his untimely passing on April 9. The single, “Hood Blues,” features Westside Gunn, Benny the Butcher and Conway the Machine of the Buffalo-based rap label Griselda Records. DMX’s first album since his passing, Exodus, arrives May 28 via Def Jam.

The track is an aggressive slow-burn, with the iconic growls and sound effects provided by Westside Gunn and DMX bubbling into a classically New York display of lyricism and camaraderie. The song also features the iconic “Shady Blues” sample by Lee Mason & His Orchestra, a song that has also been previously reworked by fellow New Yorkers 50 Cent and Sean Price.

Exodus, which has been in the works since 2013, will be the rapper’s first release since 2012’s Undisputed. The album is slated to feature some of hip-hop’s most legendary voices such as Jay-Z, Nas and Snoop Dogg.

In a conversation with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, executive producer Swizz Beats said:

The only tribute was the Moneybagg track. Everything else X was present and happy for. We had the conversation, and I told him, I said, yo, I know you don’t like a lot of features, but I think it’s time that people should see that other people love you as well and you’re respected by serious, serious artists. Although you’re humble, although you don’t really have features, let’s have fun with it, come out the gate. Then the next album, we can get back to how you want to do it, but let’s have some fun. Let’s give them something they can’t expect.