DMX Reportedly Signs New Deal With Def Jam

DMX previously dropped five albums while signed to the label in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

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Image via Getty/Prince Williams

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DMX is reportedly back with Def Jam.

AllHipHop and XXL report that the rapper has inked a new deal with the label. Swizz Beatz also shared the news of DMX’s alleged re-signing during an interview with The Breakfast Club.

“It's going to be a good year for him, god willing,” Swizzy said. “I just want it to happen so he can go to where he been supposed to have went.”

Swizz recognized that X has been out of the public’s eye because “he wasn’t in his right form,” but says fans are still loyal.

“He missed a lot of time, but you know what, those people still show up to them shows,” Swizz added. “He does something different with them.”

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, X was one of Def Jam’s biggest artists. He dropped five albums while signed to the label, including his classic LPS It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot and Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, both in 1998.

After being released from a West Virginia prison in January—where he was serving a one-year prison sentence for tax evasion—the rap veteran has been performing at concerts and working with longtime collaborator Swizz. X recently jumped on the Swizz-produced track “Just in Case,” which also features Rick Ross. The song serves as the opening theme for Epix’s forthcoming series Godfather of Harlem.

Complex has reached out to a Def Jam rep for comment.

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