When DMX criticized Jay-Z this week - ranting and raving in a video about how Jay-Z is "motivated by money" and has "no heart behind his music" - my eyes began to roll.

From 1998 to about 2003, it was much easier to take DMX seriously: Five studio albums topped the Billboard 200; his biting lyrics and anger-laced delivery were unmistakable; his look - haunted and daunting at once - sent shivers through your skin. Indeed, the born-and-bred Yonkers rapper was a force to be reckoned with.

But enter 2008, a year within which DMX's life seemed to take a nasty and confusing turn, made up of reported hospitalizations, rape accusations, drug possession and identity theft charges, animal cruelty charges and more. The music world began wondering where the music had gone, and if DMX had decided on pursuing the world's largest rap sheet instead.

Taking all that into consideration, his apparent bitterness towards Jay-Z for building a career that could have been his seems like wasteful energy. Fans can argue forever about who the better rapper is, who has more street cred, and I wouldn't be shocked to hear that DMX comes away victorious. But Jay-Z became a superstar mainly through drawing the line between his former thug life and the life he leads now - one of strong business sense, street sense, and knowing when to be the class act. This is where DMX, unfortunately, falls short.

Who knows, maybe DMX's next album will mark a newfound bright spot in his existence, where the thoughts and feelings he's lived by - and been tortured by - are expressed in his most creative and classy of manners. Let's hope, because from the looks of him now, the man still lacks a little polish.

- By Darren Ratner