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The life of the great, Earl “DMX” Simmons:
Earl Simmons was born in Mount Vernon, New York on December 18, 1970, to Joe Barker and Arnett Simmons. He was the second child born. Earl moved with part of his family to the New York City suburb of Yonkers while still a young child.
His relationship with his mother, fraught with physical and emotional torment, was strained even further when a judge ruled that his mother was “incapable” of caring for him.
included being beaten by his mother and her various boyfriends so badly that he lost teeth and sustained numerous bruises and cuts on his face.
By 10, Earl had been expelled from school for fighting and throwing chairs at teachers and was arrested twice for arson and assault.
Once returned to his mother’s home, he would often run away to escape her abuse and rotating door of unsympathetic friends . He would sleep in Salvation Army clothing bins and befriend mangy stray dogs.
And at age 14, a man he trusted who was twice his age, gave him his first taste of drugs. Which was a blunt laced with crack cocaine by the man that he trusted.
Earl looked up to him, but he was shocked after he figured out that he laced the blunt with a crack cocaine which made him feel disappointed by the man that he idolised.
Earl was suffering but no one was listening to his feelings about the things that he is going through.
“I really didn’t have anyone to talk to about it because growing up in the hood, nobody wants to hear that.”
“Nobody even wants to help with talking.”
“I really didn’t have anyone to talk to about it because growing up in the hood, nobody wants to hear that.”
“Nobody even wants to help with talking.”
Earl always looked down on street level drug dealers and found it easier to simply rob the dealers of their earnings at the end of the day. While always close to his uncles and a few close friends he found his true companionship in the many stray dogs that he befriended.
Earl viewed hip hop as an escape from his troubles, he enjoyed beatboxing, turntablism, and eventually, rapping.
When he returned home, Earl met Ready Ron, a local rapper who impressed with Earl beatboxing skills, asked him to become his partner. Earl chose the name "DMX", which came from an instrument he had used at the boys home, the Oberheim DMX drum machine.
After going to prison in 1988 for carjacking, he began taking rapping more seriously, dedicating almost all of his free time to writing lyrics and also meeting and rapping with K Solo while incarcerated.
When DMX was released that summer, he began producing and selling his own mixtapes where he rapped over instrumentals from other songs and sell them on street corners, which helped him build a local fan base all over New York. In 1991, The Source magazine noticed DMX after that.
In 1992, Columbia Records signed DMX to their subsidiary label Ruffhouse, which released his debut single "Born Loser". He released his second single, "Make a Move" in 1994, and made a guest appearance alongside Jay-Z, Ja Rule, and Mic Geronimo.
DMX recorded tracks from September 1996 to January 1998, for his debut album. Then released his first classic debut album in May 1998, called “It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot”. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart in the U.S and sold over five million copies.
In the same year, December 1998, DMX released his second album, “Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood”. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and went multi platinum. Which makes him the only second rapper to have 2 albums debut at No.1 in the same year.
DMX released his third and best selling album “And Then There Was X” on December 21, 1999. It was his third album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. The album was certified 6 times platinum, and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2001 Grammy Awards.
After improving his legal situation, DMX returned to the studio to complete his album, The “Great Depression”. Released October 23, 2001, it was his fourth album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 its commercial and critical success was lower than his previous album.
His fifth album, Grand Champ, once again debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 charts, placing DMX as the only musical artist in history to release five consecutive albums (his entire album catalog at the time) that debuted at number one.
Even tho DMX had fame and money, it didn’t change his personality, you don’t see him in a Lamborghini or wearing a heavy diamonds chains, he was humble and he was doing everything for the people before himself.
For him being the biggest rapper at that time, he was still asking god why he is the chosen one, why he had all these blessings unlike the others, he was in so much pain that a lot of people will never understand.
DMX wasn’t expecting to live that long with all the blessings he had, he was suffering from everything, drugs, family issues, depression. But God chose him to be that person that a millions of people will always love him. But he still lived a good life.
He is the only rapper that can say whatever he wants on his songs and nobody will complain about it, he was unique and special, his presence in hip hop was so important to everyone, but as the dawg said “Let my soul rest, take my breath”
“Just give me one dawg and that’s it, no friends, no family, nothing, only one dawg”
Rest In Peace to the dawg Dark Man X.
Rest In Peace to the dawg Dark Man X.
