02 May 2021

Dmx Life and Legacy

Early Days

Earl Simmons a.k.a DMX was born December 18, 1970 (April 9, 2020) to Arnett Simmons and Joe Barker. Earl (DMX) childhood was a tough one; his child hood was full of betrayal, abuse, neglect, and anger. DMX dealt with being abused by his mother and her various boyfriends, Living on the streets, Being sent to group homes by his mother, lashing out at teachers and a student, along with other tragedies. DMX father wasn’t around much either, he moved to Philadelphia.

Birth of DMX

At age 14 DMX beginning living on the streets, to escape the abuse of his mother. A short while after his mother sent him to a group home again. Doing his stay this time he bonded with other students over their love for hip hop music. This is where his journey towards the world of music began; his friends encourage him to continue writing when they heard him perform for them. Once Earl went back home he met a man by the name of Ready Ron, a local rapper. Ron was impressed by Earl beat boxing skills and asked him to be his partner, and there the name DMX was born (which came from an instrument he used in the boys group home, Oberheim DMX drum machine).

Success & Legacy

In 1984 at age 14 DMX started performing (beat boxing) with Ready Ron, from there his career bloomed. 1991-1996 DMX got to work, writing his own lyrics and performing at different places, one being a recreational center for the youth. He worked on building on his fan base by selling mixtapes on the streets. In 1992 DMX was signed to Columbia Records side label Ruff Riders. Along the path to greatness he performed with many other great artists such as, Jay Z, JaRule, LL Cool J, Mases, and many more, taking his career to another level of success. DMX had albums like Anthem, Flesh of my flesh blood of my blood, and there was X. All debuting at number 1 on the billboards, these are just some of his albums that hit number 1.

DMX worked hard through his years in the music world and movie/TV industry, putting out amazing music people could not only relate to but also vibe to, along with entertaining performances in concerts, television and movies. Some of his most memorial films he played in were 1998 Belly (where he played alongside Nas), 2001 Exit Wounds, and 2004 Top Five, and 2003 Cradle to the grave. In 2019 DMX reunited with his old label Def Jam after issues with his label he left Seven Arts Music (they released his album ‘Redemption of the Beast’ unauthorized which DMX team had to take legal action for).

DMX Goes Home

When DMX was around 14 years old, he smoked a joint with Ready Ron not knowing it was laced with crack cocaine. Causing him to have an off and on battle with the substances. On April 2, 2020 DMX was rushed to the emergency room, due to a heart attack (from the substance). Doing the days in the hospital it was reported that DMX went into a comatose state. On April 9, 2020 DMX was pronounced dead at age 50. DMX has so far been the only rapper to to have his first five studio albums debut at no. 1, and the first to have two of his projects to go platinum in the same year, that is what truly marked him as an legend ( his dedication and work ethic).

On April 24, 2020, DMX funeral was at the Barclay Center. DMX was carried in by a monster truck, on the side written long live DMX, followed by motorcycles and ATVS (many riders was Ruff Riders and others). DMX will be remembered by family, friends, and fans. He will be remembered as an amazing father, friend, artist, actor, and many more amazing things. He is a legend, always working hard through the decades, putting out great works of art. He will be greatly missed. At his funeral his friends, fans and family spoke very highly of him. (Vulture Stated) A long time fan Cynthia Roberts 57 said, “He tells it how it is, and he is a legend. You don’t expect for legends to die but they do. Another fan Manley Williams 40 said, “He’s definitely helped me, through his music it helped me get through certain situations”. Nas also spoke at his funeral. He spoke on a time they did the movie Belly, he described DMX as an icon “His first album didn’t even come out yet, but he knew his journey was starting. Ruff Riders also shared stories of their time together as friends and working together. DMX children shared their thoughts. They said their father is a king, they shared how honored they were to have him as their father. They remembered of the lessons he taught them, how he helped to deepened their love and strengthen them.

Many more shared their love for him and express how he greatly impacted their life.