The American rapper DMX, real name Earl Simmons, died Friday April 9 in a hospital in the New York suburbs, where he had been hospitalized in critical condition for a week. He was 50 years old.
DMX, one of the great figures of hip-hop of the late 90s and early 2000s, was hospitalized last Friday after a heart attack at the White Plains hospital in upstate New York. When questioned, his lawyer, Murray Richman, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that he died on Friday around 11 a.m., confirming US media information.
“Earl was a fighter who fought to the end. He loved his family with all his heart, and we treasure the times spent with him (…). His music has inspired countless fans around the world ”his family said in a statement. “DMX was a brilliant artist and an inspiration to millions of people around the world, underlined Def Jam Recordings, record company with which he had released several of his most famous albums, in a separate press release. His message of victory through combat, his search for light to emerge from the darkness, his quest for truth and grace has brought us closer to our own humanity. He was nothing less than a giant (…). His legend will live on forever. “
Rapper TI called him“Cultural icon”, while Missy Elliott spoke of “Heavy loss for the hip-hop family”. “No one gave off so much a feeling of suffering, pain and atomic energy”, rapper Biz Markie tweeted. He represented “Pure adrenaline, lawless genius, total surrender. “” The poet of God “, greeted Nas. ” I love you. “
His family is expected to communicate the organization of his funeral soon. On Monday, several hundred of his fans gathered outside the hospital to pray for his recovery.
Difficult childhood
Born Earl Simmons in Mount Vernon, near New York, DMX spent much of his youth in Yonkers, neighboring New York City, where he was frequently beaten. “I didn’t really have a childhood, he confided to the magazine Rolling Stone in 2000. It was always dark and depressing with us. ” Returning to 2020, in a podcast, on this difficult childhood, he had explained how it then seemed impossible to him to talk about his problems.
He acquired a reputation as a complicated child, known for his outbursts of rage, and spent a good part of his youth in foster homes. From the age of 14, he spent many periods in prison, notably committing a series of burglaries.
In 1984, he began to beatbox, a genre rooted in hip-hop music, which consists of producing a multitude of sounds with his mouth. After a stay in prison, he begins to write his own lyrics and to perform in a neighborhood entertainment center.
Again released from prison in 1988, he devoted himself to rap and began to make and sell mixtapes. Charismatic, constantly bubbling with energy, he spent most of the 1990s making a name for himself on the New York underground scene. It was at the end of this decade that he adopted this deep voice and this threatening style, with exacerbated masculinity, which would make his reputation.
He takes part in rappers’ “battles” in which everyone clashes in an exercise in style, with in particular, in the mid-1990s, a duel that has become famous against another New Yorker, Jay-Z, then in full rise, in a smoky Bronx billiard room.
Success both commercial and critical
DMX finally had its heyday in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with hits like X Gon’Give It To Ya or Party Up.
Author of eight albums, the last in 2015, DMX is today one of the darkest figures of hip-hop, exposing his inner demons in hymns that have earned him both commercial and critical success.
Son premier grand single, Get At Me Dog, starring Def Jam, was released in 1998, from their debut studio album, It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot. The album had climbed to number one in the ranking of Billboard, with a second hit, Ruff Ryders’Anthem, marking the beginning of a commercial success that will last for several years.
Throughout his career, he was often in trouble with the law, with charges of possession of narcotics, cruelty to animals, dangerous driving, non-payment of alimony, or even posing as a federal agent.
In November 2017, he pleaded guilty to tax evasion, admitting to having avoided paying $ 1.7 million in taxes. He was sentenced to one year in prison and to return some $ 2.3 million.
His lawyer had not confirmed information from the specialized site TMZ that the rapper had overdosed. DMX had in particular done a detoxification in 2019, according to TMZ.
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