A few days back I had said being in a vegetative state was not a good situation, the truth is it was a matter of time before his death would be announced. Earl Simmons aka DMX finally gave up the ghost at the age of 50. Cause of death has been ascertained to be drugs, drug addiction again is one that is very difficult to curb. He tried to be honest, at least it was reported he occasionally checked himself into rehab, so yes he really tried.
His unique style of rap didn’t seen profitable or marketable at first but once you are affiliated with Def Jam the numbers always always make sense. He released 5 albums under Def Jam and all of them I mean all of them debuted at number one on the Billboard charts making him the first artist to have 5 consecutive discographies sit atop the Billboard charts.
He released 2 albums in 1998; It’s Dark and Hell is Hot and Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood. The first rapper to do so under the same name.
Oh did you know he was an actor too? I won’t even be biased here, all his movies were good except Never Die Alone, so don’t bother except you are curious. Please search for Belly (Nas was in this), Romeo Must Die (Aaliyah was a character in this one), Cradle to the Grave and Exit Wounds if you haven’t seen them. He also appeared on a few TV shows like Moesha, South Park and Eve to mention a few.
I was asked by a friend which of his albums did I like best and by the way he had 8 studio albums but it’s the first five I always reckon with. They were mad bodies of work. So back to the question, my favourite DMX album is And Then There Was X and it was also his top selling album. It pained me he didn’t win a Grammy with this album, he was nominated though for best Rap Single (Party Up) and Best Rap Album both awards were handed to Eminem.
The 4 other albums of his that I love; It’s Dark and Hell is Hot, Flesh of My Flesh Blood of My Blood, The Great Depression and Grand Champ had at least 3 to 4 songs I always put on repeat. Of the movies he acted in, Belly probably is my favourite.
Him dying this way is painful but dying at 50 makes it worse. Since I heard of his admission at the hospital I have listened to his albums everyday and watched some of his interviews. He always spoke his mind and he is very cerebral. What I also loved about him was he always prayed in all of his albums.
Rest in perfect peace Dark Man X, A’yo Kato from your Grand Champ album will be on repeat for days.
GOD forgive him, we all have sinned but X is a good man so please let him in.
CHEERS!!!
