We lost DMX on Friday.
The extremely unfortunate writing appeared to be on the wall for the better part of a week after news broke that X was in a “vegetative state” following a drug overdose and heart attack.
As the rumors regarding his condition swirled I, like many others, prayed for a miracle. But conversations with The Lord were only part of my DMX-related activity for the week. The other part was reminiscing about the memories Earl Simmons gave us and reflecting on his vast legacy.
I can remember using “Party Up” to sonically illustrate the anger Romeo was feeling on a Romeo & Juliet assignment in my high school English class. Prior to that, I can recall my brother and me rolling through our (suburban) streets blasting Ruff Ryders’ Anthem out of our parent’s Jeep Cherokee (he was in high school, I was in middle school). I loved the song in the moment, yet didn’t fully grasp what I was hearing. Actually, it had less to do with hearing and more to do with experiencing.
Everything about DMX between 1998 and 2000 was perfect. In a landscape dominated by flossing in shiny suits, gold rollies and pyrotechnics (which is fine by the way — hip-hop is a big place), the Ruff Ryders ushered in the counterculture rap was desperately needing.
Sidebar: Think what Griselda did for hip-hop in 2020.
The Ruff Ryders impact overpowered the rap music scene and quickly spilled into culture, as the motorcycles, rottweilers and bandanas resonated with those in the streets that didn’t connect with the pink & purple swag of Dipset, for example. Best of all, these were true emcees. Scooping up The Lox following their exit from Bad Boy validated the group’s lyricism. Drag-On was a young rapper with loads of potential and Eve fortified the group with a rugged female energy that was hardly as pervasive then as it is today.
At the center of it was DMX. More electric than Raiden any time he stepped to the mic; the only thing pouring off of X more than sweat during a live show was charisma. His accomplishments are monumental: notching two Billboard number one albums in the same year and five consecutive number ones to start his career. The story of X battling Jay Z in a Bronx pool hall before either man was famous lives in hip-hop lore. Though only limited footage of that event exists, you got a glimpse of what DMX was like in that setting as he bodied a freestyle cypher with Jigga during the Hard Knock Life tour.
The bars, the way he uses his one-of-a-kind voice to emphasize “STRAIGHT razor”, the crowd’s reaction juxtaposed to X casually hitting the blunt afterward—again, perfection.
When writing pieces like this you begin by gathering your thoughts, then you spend time trying to pinpoint the proper angle to draw in readers. I went through this exercise after DMX died and quickly realized: the angle is there is no angle.
Earl Simmons was the exact same person every day of his adult life. Yes, he came into the game donning the black hat and demanding change. In some ways, he was the rap Johnny Cash. His tormented childhood (abused, arrested, introduced to hard drugs, among other issues) created a deeply emotionally and spiritually vulnerable man. You saw it as he closed out many albums and shows with a prayer, often in tears. It’s why the people felt him the way they did. He spoke for the outsiders and street niggas, while also somehow reaching white kids in Texas born just a few years before his career took off.
I’ve seen stories from multiple people (both famous and non-famous) over the last 36 hours that spoke to their personal encounters with DMX. They all lauded his generosity and his love of hip-hop. We laughed at the way he roasted Drake and Rick Ross, and admired the way he openly grieved the death of Aaliyah.
If X were a basketball player, he’d be Russell Westbrook—passionate, aggressive, uncompromising and loyal. He left it all on the floor every night. It’s incredibly sad to see DMX, still a relatively young man, transition. But 50 DMX years go a lot further than most. Given his unconventional approach to music, fame, family and life, it’s easy to understand how his influence will endure for generations to come. Ironically, Dark Man X leaves this earth having shined so much light on the world.