DMX's 'Exodus' Album Isn't The Billboard Home Run It Was Expected To Be

When an artist dies, typically their catalog sees a massive spike in streaming and music sales. When it was reported MF DOOM passed away in January, his music saw a 870 percent increase in streams, while Juice WRLD’s music was streamed over 40 million times on the day of his death in December 2019.

Although DMX’s music sales and album streams exploded by over 1000 percent following his April 9 passing, it doesn’t appear his new posthumous album Exodus is going to experience that same kind of play.

According to early predictions from Hits Daily Double, Exodus is expected to move between 28,000 to 32,000 total album-equivalent units, with 12,000 to 14,000 of those coming from pure album sales. That still means he could end up in the Billboard 200 Top 10, but it won’t be the No. 1 album some people thought it would be.

Exodus arrived on Friday (May 28) with features from JAY-Z, Nas, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg and The LOX, among others. Even though DMX originally stated Pop Smoke would make a posthumous appearance on the 13-track project, he wound up not making the cut. 

Speaking to The Breakfast Club last week, Swizz explained, “They used the verse already. I know X wouldn’t want an old verse. We fought for it.” He also said the verse was “pulled out of nowhere” then added, “It was two verses and both of them was used. We went to get another verse and it was used.”

Exodus marked DMX’s eighth studio album and first effort since 2012’s Undisputed.