Last August, he revealed he was working on his first album in years with the help of frequent collaborator Swizz Beatz. The following month, in October of 2019, the 50-year-old rapper entered into a drug rehab program. Prior to the pandemic, he had been touring semi-regularly.įollowing a one-year stint in jail on tax evasion charges in 2018, X signed a new deal with Def Jam in September of 2019, reuniting with the label that he initially signed his first major label deal with in 1998. The lauded rap veteran had seemingly been doing better and getting even more in touch with his spiritual roots in recent years. X, born Earl Simmons, has infamously struggled with drug use throughout his adult life and has spoken openly about it in his music from the beginning of his career. XXL has reached out to DMX's record label for comment on the situation. The hip-hop community is sending up well wishes for X on social media including artists like Rick Ross, T.I., Joell Ortiz and more. Sources say the rapper may be "brain dead" or in a "vegetative state." rapper is in the hospital with a dire prognosis after overdosing and suffering a heart attack at his home last night (April 2) around 11 p.m. On Saturday (April 3), TMZ reported that the legendary Yonkers, N.Y. I am a part of music,” he said.DMX is reportedly in "grave condition" following a recent drug overdose. I’d been doin’ the beatbox before that, but that’s when I started writin’ seriously,” he told the outlet.Īnd DMX beautifully summed up the meaning of music when he chatted with New York’s News 4 back in 2015. If you hear the words to that song, you’d know how it predicted my life to me. “A woman lived on the ground floor and she always played music really loud. He named Bill Withers and said Atlantic Starr’s “Silver Shadow” predicted his life. But music helped him cope.ĭMX spoke to Rolling Stone about his love for Michael Jackson and other artists whose music made him feel.
Later, he went on to live with his beloved grandmother, whom he referred to as the one person who really loved him unconditionally. It was one of many institutions where he spent time. He spoke about his mother physically abusing him and in his Behind the Music documentary, shared how she dropped him off at a group home called Children’s Village. Picture: Mark Davis/Getty Images DMX first rose to fame with his 1998 album It’s Dark and Hell is Hot, which debuted at number one and sold more. RELATED: DMX Shares Wild Story of Rapping for Lyor Cohen With Wired Jaw DMX was open about his difficult childhood and music’s impactĭMX’s living situation as a kid wasn’t always stable. DMX at the Coachella music festival in 2015. I’ve been a Michael Jackson fan,” he added. Earl Simmons (DecemApril 9, 2021), better known by his stage name DMX (Dark Man X), was an American rapper from Yonkers, New York and actor signed to Ruff Ryders Entertainment. I actually shed tears right then and there. “I remember as soon as I heard it, I was like, ‘You’ve got to be f*cking kidding me. He praised Jackson as a musical genius and talked about what his music meant to him. DMX explained they had a record player at the group home and he “played the grooves off that record.” “I was in an institution called Andrews Children’s Home and I packed everything because I was going away, and my friend was like, ‘Here, take this with you.’ And it was Michael Jackson,” he said. He spoke about how it was the first album he ever owned and the special meaning of it during a 2012 interview with The BoomBox. One of his favorite singers was Michael Jackson, and there are plenty of videos on the internet with him dancing and singing to the King of Pop’s songs.Ī recent Instagram video shared by DMX’s fiancee Desiree Lindstrom shows him rocking along to “This Place Hotel (aka Heartbreak Hotel)” in a car.īut among his favorite of Jackson’s albums was the classic Off the Wall. Not only was DMX a talented artist, but also a huge music fan. DMX performs at the DGK Agenda Party at Cafe Sevilla on Januin Long Beach, California | Jerod Harris/WireImage/Getty Images Michael Jackson ‘Off the Wall’ album was special to DMX