Ryde or Die, Vol. 1

1	Ryde Or Die 4:01
2	Down Bottom 4:55
3	What You Want 4:21
4	Jigga My Nigga 4:39
5	Takin' Money (Skit) 0:40
6	Dope Money 4:23
7	I'm a Ruff Ryder 5:10
8	Bugout 1:19
9	Kiss of Death 3:43
10	The Hood 3:51
11	Platinum Plus 3:39
12	Buff Ryders (Skit) 0:33
13	Do That Shit 3:51
14	Piña Colada 4:11
15	Some X Shit 4:47

Barnes & Noble

With their amped-up intensity and bark-along lyrics, rappers like DMX and Jay-Z have made their thuggish East Coast hip-hop the most explosive sound in mainstream rap, and on this all-star blowout they celebrate their supremacy. RYDE OR DIE VOL. 1 features a galaxy of top-of-the-line playas and jiggas -- DMX, Jay-Z, Atlanta super-producer Jermaine Dupri, Juvenile, Mase, Big Pun, LOX -- ridin' high and sippin' Cristal on tracks full of shoot-'em-up fantasies and locker-room rhymes. Producers Swizz Beatz provide bombastic tracks so heavy Tipper Gore could rock a mic on top of them, and the Ruff Ryders respond with choruses like, "Do you niggas bust your guns?/Hell yeah we bust our guns!" It's not exactly groundbreaking, and cuts like "Jigga My Nigga," for all their bluster, are decidedly lackluster. But this shouldn't detract from lead dog DMX's genuinely frothy hollers on "Bug Out" and "Some X Shit," or Eve's showing of girl power on the cyber-salsa flavored "What You Want." Any fan of anyone involved shouldn't miss it. Jon Dolan

All Music Guide

Ruff Ryders, the production team behind DMX's first two platinum-plus albums, made their bid for superstardom with Ryde or Die, Vol. 1. The trio appeared to be following the blueprint of No Limit's Master P: they've formed their own label, assembled a cast of wide-ranging acts under its umbrella, and surrounded them with a variety of productions by Ruff Ryders associates like Swizz Beatz and DJ Clue? Ryde or Die, Vol. 1 features tracks from established names like the LOX, Jay-Z, Jermaine Dupri, Big Pun, Mase, and DMX himself, plus new signees to the label like Eve and Drag-On. Though several of the track productions are excellent (including the New Orleans horns of "Down Bottom," featuring native-born Juvenile, and the salsa rhythms on "What Ya Want"), the album suffers elsewhere by trying to be everything to everyone. It's got a few hardcore tracks, a few bounce tracks, and a few midtempo R&B tracks, but it's far too scattershot and never jells as it should (two complaints often lodged against No Limit albums). The team saves their best productions for DMX spotlights: the minute-long "Bugout" and the title track. John Bush