DMX Is Back in the Top 10 of an Airplay Chart With His First Rock Hit

The late DMX returns to the top 10 of a Billboard airplay chart for the first time in over 20 years, and with his first entry on a rock ranking.

Five Finger Death Punch’s “This Is the Way,” which includes vocals by DMX credited in a featured role, lifts 11-10 on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart dated May 4.

”This Is the Way” is a mash-up between DMX’s “The Way It’s Gonna Be,” released in 2009, and Five Finger Death Punch’s “Judgement Day,” from the band’s 2022 LP AfterLife. The collaboration is on the deluxe reissue of AfterLife, released in April. In its original form, the set debuted at No. 1 on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart in September 2022 and has earned 266,000 equivalent album units to date.

The track is DMX’s first to hit the top 10 of an airplay list since 2001, when “Who We Be” peaked at No. 9 on Rap Airplay, ending a break of over 22 years. He logged six top 10s on Rap Airplay, including the six-week No. 1 “Party Up (Up in Here)” in 2000.

DMX died on April 9, 2021, of a heart attack.

As for Five Finger Death Punch, “This Is the Way” is the five-piece’s 30th top 10 on Mainstream Rock Airplay, third most in the chart’s four-decade history, behind only Foo Fighters and Shinedown. Of those 30 top 10s, 14 have reached No. 1 – all in a row leading up to “This Is the Way,” an active streak that marks the longest consecutive run of leaders in the chart’s archives.

Most Top 10s, Mainstream Rock Airplay:
32, Foo Fighters
31, Shinedown
30, Five Finger Death Punch
29, Godsmack
28, Metallica
28, Tom Petty (solo and with the Heartbreakers)
27, Disturbed
26, Papa Roach
26, Van Halen

“This Is the Way” concurrently jumps 28-23 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 1.6 million audience impressions, up 37%, April 19-25, according to Luminate.

Previously, “This Is the Way” ruled the Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart dated April 20 – DMX’s first leader on any rock ranking and Five Finger Death Punch’s record-extending 17th on the survey. It rises 6-5 on the multimetric Hot Hard Rock Songs tally dated May 4; in addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 1 million official U.S. streams and sold 1,000.