DMX

Earl Simmons (December 18, 1970 – April 9, 2021), known professionally as DMX, was an American rapper, songwriter, and actor. His accolades included an American Music Award, a Billboard Music Award, and six Grammy Award nominations. Regarded as an influential figure in the late 1990s and early 2000s and one of the greats of hip-hop, his music is characterized by his "aggressive" rapping style, with lyrical content varying from hardcore themes to prayers. His violent lyricism helped popularize the horrorcore genre.

DMX began rapping in the late 1990s. After an unsuccessful tenure on Columbia Records, he signed with Ruff Ryders Entertainment in a joint venture with Def Jam Recordings to release his debut studio album, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998), which was met with critical and commercial success—selling 251,000 copies in its first week and spawning the Billboard Hot 100-top 20 single, "Ruff Ryders' Anthem". His second album, Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood (1998), was followed by his third, ... And Then There Was X (1999), which became his best-selling release and was supported by his second top 40 single, "Party Up (Up in Here)". His fourth album, The Great Depression (2001), was followed by his fifth, Grand Champ (2003), which was led by the single "Where the Hood At?" and included the international bonus track "X Gon' Give It to Ya". DMX became the first artist to have their first five albums consecutively debut atop the Billboard 200, and by his death on April 9, 2021, he had sold over 75 million records worldwide.

DMX acted in commercially successful films such as Belly (1998), alongside rapper Nas, Romeo Must Die (2000) and Cradle 2 the Grave (2003), alongside Jet Li, and Exit Wounds (2001), alongside Steven Seagal. In 2006, he starred in the reality television series DMX: Soul of a Man, which was primarily aired on the BET cable television network. In 2003, he published a book of his memoirs titled E.A.R.L.: The Autobiography of DMX.

Early life

Earl Simmons was born on December 18, 1970, in Mount Vernon, New York. He was the son of 19-year-old Arnett Simmons and 18-year-old Joe Barker. Simmons was the middle child of the family; his mother had given birth to a daughter, Bonita, two years prior, and later gave birth to a second daughter, Shayla, and two stillborn sons. His father, Barker, painted watercolor paintings of street scenes to sell at local fairs, having moved to Philadelphia to fulfill his career.

In his childhood years, Simmons first suffered from physical violence at the hands of his mother and was diagnosed with bronchial asthma. He was raised as a Jehovah's Witness. He disassociated himself from the spirituality after he was injured in an accident by a driver. At the age of five, his mother sent him to live with relatives in Yonkers' School Street housing apartments. After suffering from his mother's abuse, he was expelled from a middle school at the age of ten, having been sent to a group home. He then returned to Yonkers at age fifteen, sleeping in empty storage bins and befriending stray dogs. Due to poor grades at Yonkers Middle High School, Simmons was unable to finish his track and field team schedule. Broke, he robbed several students to find food and clothing for himself, as well as a leather collar and harness for his pet dog. He then began carjacking.

Musical career

1985–1995: Career beginnings

His career began in 1985, when he beatboxed for a local rapper named Ready Ron. They would do small shows together where Ron would perform as a rapper, and DMX would beatbox and provide adlibs. After some time, he realized Ron was becoming more prominent on the scene, so he decided to start rapping himself under the name "DMX" inspired by the Oberheim DMX drum machine—he made it an initialism for "Divine Master Of the Unknown" and later "Darkman X". After serving a two-year prison sentence, he began writing his own lyrics and performing at the local recreation center for younger children. In 1988, while in prison for carjacking, he began dedicating more of his free time to writing lyrics and battling other inmates. During this time, he had created a style called "Spellbound" where he spelled each word out letter by letter. He and future rival, K-Solo, engaged in battles. The initial Ruff Ryders group started with a preteen Jadakiss, Swizz Beatz as a child, and DMX. In 1988, Irv Gotti was roommates with producer Chad Elliott who later introduced him in the Schlobohm housing projects in Yonkers to DMX and brothers Joaquin "Waah" and Darrin "Dee" Dean, who had mentioned they were creating a company called Ruff Ryders together. Gotti convinced Waah to buy him a drum machine to produce records for DMX. Elliott and Gotti produced a beat in 1989 called Born Loser which became one of DMX's first music demos.

He later made an appearance on The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show in January 1991, where he provided a freestyle. The Source praised DMX in its Unsigned Hype column that highlighted unsigned hip-hop artists. In 1991, DMX signed a management deal with the then-unknown record label Ruff Ryders Entertainment. Later that year, Columbia Records signed DMX to its subsidiary labels Chaos Records and Ruffhouse Records, which released his major debut single "Born Loser" in 1993. Failing to meet commercial projections and not reaching any music charts, he was then terminated from his contract with Ruffhouse and became an independent artist. In January 1994, Death Row Records attempted to sign the rapper in a joint venture with Ruff Ryders, although this never materialized.

1996–1997: Building hype and signing to Def Jam

After two years of struggling in the industry, his friend and associate, Irv Gotti, became the president of A&R at Def Jam Recordings. After showcasing for then-president Lyor Cohen, DMX was signed to Def Jam Recordings in May 1997.

1998–2000: Debut album and commercial success

DMX recorded tracks from April 1997 to January 1998 for his debut album. During this time, his guest appearances on Mase's singles "24 Hrs. to Live" and "Take What's Yours", The Lox's single "Money, Power & Respect", and Def Jam labelmate LL Cool J's single "4, 3, 2, 1" created a strong buzz for his upcoming album. In February 1998, he released his debut major-label single "Get at Me Dog" on Def Jam Recordings. The single received an RIAA certification of gold. His first major-label album It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, which included the single "Ruff Ryders' Anthem", was then released in May 1998. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart in the U.S. and sold over six million copies. In December 1998, he released his album Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and went multi-platinum. DMX became the only rapper alive to have his first two consecutive number-one Billboard 200 albums within a one-year period (seven months by calculation) and the first since Tupac Shakur; DMX's record would later be surpassed two different times in 2020 by YoungBoy Never Broke Again, who made the number one position with two albums in six months (a month down by proxy, making it the fastest) and also had three number one albums in ten months between 2019 and 2020, also beating another Billboard record by DMX involving a quantity of number one rap albums within a year.

He released his third album ... And Then There Was X, on December 21, 1999. It was his third album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. Its most popular single, "Party Up (Up in Here)", became his first top ten hit on the R&B charts, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 2001 Grammy Awards. The album was certified six-times Platinum, and was also nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2001 Grammy Awards. In 2000, DMX also made a cameo appearance in the Sum 41 music video for "Makes No Difference".

In late 2000, he joined other Hip Hop and Nu Metal artists on the Anger Management Tour. Appearing alongside Limp Bizkit, Godsmack and Sinnistar for the second half of the tour from November 24 to December 19, 2000.

2001–2004: Return to music

After improving his legal situation, DMX returned to the studio to complete his fourth album, The Great Depression. With its release on October 23, 2001, it was his fourth album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, featuring the singles "Who We Be", "We Right Here", and "I Miss You". Despite the album's triple platinum certification, its commercial and critical success was lower than his previous album. His fifth album, Grand Champ, released in September 2003, once again debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming his final album in his lifetime to do so. It sold over four million in the U.S., including the singles "Where the Hood At?" and "Get It on the Floor". After its release, he informed the public that he planned to retire, intending for Grand Champ to be his final album.