DMX
December 18, 1970 — April 9, 2021
DMX — Earl Simmons — was a Yonkers, New York rapper whose barked sermons, raw spiritual hunger, and overwhelming physical presence on record made him one of the defining voices in late-1990s hip-hop. He was a man of intense contradictions: a devoted Christian and a convicted felon, a tender father and a self-destructive addict, a philosopher about the streets and a man the streets kept claiming.
Yonkers to the Top
Born Earl Simmons on December 18, 1970, in Mount Vernon, New York, and raised in Yonkers, he endured a turbulent childhood marked by an abusive stepfather and stretches of homelessness. He found rap as a teenager, developing a distinctive barking style in freestyle battles. After years of building a reputation in New York underground hip-hop, he signed to Def Jam and released It's Dark and Hell Is Hot in May 1998. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 251,000 copies in its first week. That same year, he released Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood in December, which also debuted at number one — making DMX the first artist to have his first two albums both debut at the top of the chart in the same calendar year.
The Bark, the Prayer, and the Dogs
DMX's signature was rawness. His albums opened with prayers. His songs mixed "Ruff Ryders' Anthem" aggression with "Slippin'" vulnerability — a song about falling into drug use so candid it became an anthem for anyone who had ever felt themselves losing ground. He extended his stardom into film: Belly (1998), Romeo Must Die (2000), Exit Wounds (2001). His dogs — he owned many pit bulls throughout his life — became part of his mythology, a symbol of loyalty and ferocity that mirrored how he saw himself. Between 1998 and 2003 he released five consecutive albums that all debuted at number one, a feat unmatched in rap history at the time.
Did You Know?
In 2003, DMX published a memoir titled E.A.R.L.: The Autobiography of DMX, in which he wrote openly about his childhood trauma, his crack addiction (he said a mentor gave him a crack-laced blunt when he was 14 without telling him what it was), and his view of his multiple selves — Earl the person and DMX the performer — as different entities. He returned repeatedly to Christian faith, leading prayer services at concerts and recording gospel-influenced tracks throughout his career, even as he cycled through legal troubles and relapses.
Loss and Legacy
DMX suffered a drug overdose on April 2, 2021, went into cardiac arrest, and was placed on life support. He died on April 9, 2021, at age 50. The outpouring of grief was immediate and immense — fans gathered outside White Plains Hospital in New York, playing his music. His life was one of the most compelling and painful in pop music: a man who sold over 74 million records worldwide, who could fill Madison Square Garden, and who could not escape the addiction that entered his body before he was old enough to choose. He remained, to the end, one of the most riveting performers and personalities hip-hop ever produced.