Music Review: Aaliyah & DMX "Come Back In One Piece"

Aaliyah & DMX

Come Back In One Piece

Album: Romeo Must Die soundtrack

Year:  2000

    DMX ignores Aaliyah’s concerns and does what he wants in the  disrespectful  “Come Back In One Piece.”

          Blustering synths open the single, setting a posturing tone.  First, DMX says he’s a tough guy and he has to have a girlfriend to who will support him.He explains that there isn’t any changing him. It may involve cheating on her or outright disappearing. She’ll just have to understand. Even if she tells him no, he’s not going to hear it. He’s going to go anyway. (“There we go, okay, okay/Don't do me Greasy, okay/Uh, ay yo/You know what a dog needs/Do you really know what a dog needs?/Uh a dog needs a grrr!/What? What? A dog needs a grrr!/Come on/Not just any uh but a real uh/That's gonna hold that dog down/Arf! Arf!/Baby I am what I am, I'm gon' be who I be/Everything from chasing a cat to p***** on a tree/Let me see what I gotta to see/Do what I gotta to do/Dog for life but keep it true/Every once in a while I'll break out the backyard to roam/And get reckless/
But I still know that home is home/And when I get there I'mma sit there/Take a s*** there put my d*** there/Do I handle my business?/S*** yeah/I'mma run till I bust my gun and empty the clip/Never come home, I gotta go just gimme the whip/I ain't got time for the lip/Just open the fence/Let me go I'll come back/I ain't got time to convince/Ever since I was a pup/I've been stuck with the street s***/Keep the heat s***/F*** it n**** gotta eat/I past on a weak s***/If it's out there I want it/All at one time/So when it's my time I've done it.”)

        Aaliyah tries to reason with him. She realizes he would do anything for her. However, she gets scared he might get himself killed. She asks for him to call her and let her know he’s all right. She lies awake at night, thinking something might’ve happened to him. She reiterates that she wants the best for him. (“I know you'll kill for me/You'll die you me/I know you like to rip and run the streets/But I get nervous sometimes/Oh baby I can't help to think/You might not make it home to eat/I barely sleep/Could you pick up a phone and call me at home?/And let me know you ain't in some heat/And don't go crying, you're grown//You know I'm looking out for you/Cause you be looking out for me, me, me.”)

        In the chorus, she asks him to be careful. (“Yo you can go with your dogs/If you make this promise to me/You make it back in one piece/So you can go with your dogs/If you make this promise to me/You make it back in one piece/'Fore you go betting it all/If you make this promise to me/You make it back in one piece/I know you up in it all/If you make this promise to me/You make it back in one piece.”)

        She appeals to his ego, letting him know she’s there for him. (“And oh boy I know you got to do what you do, ooh-ooh/You're making moves, I'm makin' moves yo we cool/(What? What? What?)/Lay on your paws I got your back if you fall, hey-hey/Nothing's to big, nothing's to small just go ball, yeah.”)

         DMX cares about his neighborhood. He stays out all day and night. He gives her a weak line to appease her and assures that he’s hers. (“Uh dog tags around my neck the streets are mine/I might leave the heat behind/Cause in the streets I'm fine/That's why n***** sleep till nine/Out by ten back by ten./Sleep till nine do it again/If you love something let it go/If it comes back to you it yours/If it doesn't f*** it you'll never know/You got me I got you, uh/Dog with a dog, ride till we die/If it's on then it's on.”)

        The chorus is sung again to end the single.  

      DMX’s pushy, callous rap is controlling, pulling every string of his girlfriend to get her to be quiet. He may say he cares about her. However, his real love is going out and causing trouble.

        Aaliyah’s amiable, faltering vocals hold back her fear, worried about setting him off. She’s not allowed to make a decision in the relationship at all. Her only purpose is to tell him what he wants to hear.

   The misogynistic  “Come Back In One Piece” silences a woman’s opinion, turning her into a doormat.

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