"But to hear him rhyme live, I was like, 'This dude is really ill'."ĭMX's love of dogs was such that he integrated barks and growls into his teeth-baring brand of rap. I didn't know who this kid was," the producer Ski Beatz, who was in attendance, told the site HipHopDX. DMX, at the time, I had never really heard of DMX. In the mid-1990s, he famously battled with Brooklyn's up-and-coming star Jay-Z, who was then primarily an emcee, for hours in a smoky pool hall in the Bronx. It was late in that decade that he grew into the gravelly, raw, menacing style imbued with hypermasculinity that would become his calling card.
The charismatic artist spent most of the 1990s making a name for himself in New York's underground scene, especially in rap battle rings. He began beatboxing in the mid-1980s, starting to write his own lyrics and peddle mixtapes. His message of triumph over struggle, his search for the light out of darkness, his pursuit of truth and grace brought us closer to our own humanity," said Def Jam Recordings, the label with which DMX released some of his most iconic albums, in a statement following his death. "DMX was a brilliant artist and an inspiration to millions around the world.
Though he achieved celebrity for his artistry, DMX continued to have run-ins with the penal system, with charges including drug possession, animal cruelty, reckless driving, failure to pay child support and tax evasion.īut while his criminal record made headlines, it was his blunt, confessional raps delivered with his singular deep-throated growls that left an indelible mark on hip-hop's sound and gained him legions of fans. Simmons was burdened with a reputation as a problem child, and shuffled in and out of homes for troubled boys for much of his youth.Īt 14, he began struggling with addiction and entered a cycle of incarceration, both of which would persist throughout his life. Raised in the New York suburb of Yonkers, the artist endured a grim childhood, growing up in housing projects with his mother and siblings where he suffered abuse. He laid out his inner demons for the masses in gritty, hard-driving anthems with a distinctive poetic rawness that gained him commercial and critical acclaim. The complicated rapper - who reigned over the late 1990s and early 2000s with hits including "X Gon' Give It To Ya" and "Party Up" - was among hip-hop's darkest yet most endearing stars. "He loved his family with all of his heart and we cherish the times we spent with him," the statement read. "Earl was a warrior who fought till the very end," the statement read, saying the rapper died Friday at White Plains Hospital north of New York City, with his loved ones by his side. The rapper's longtime lawyer confirmed DMX's death to AFP, with a statement from his family saying the artist, born Earl Simmons, died after nearly a week on life support following a heart attack. DMX, the hardcore hip-hop star whose raw, snarling raps chronicled the struggles of the American street and his own inner pain, has died.
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