X Gon Give It To You

DMX. PHOTO: By hurricanehank / SHUTTERSTOCK

Troubled And Complex As He Was Talented But When It Came To The Message, DMX Never Missed A Beat

The streets were hungry for what rapper/actor DMX had to offer by the time his first album, “It’s Dark and Hell is Hot,” dropped in 1998. It sold double platinum (4.8 million copies). Then he did it again less than six months later with “Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood” which also went double platinum (3.5 million copies). Artists don’t typically roll out two double platinum albums in a single year. There’s only one other rap artist who’s ever done it – Tupac Shakur – which puts DMX in very exclusive company.  But he was just getting started. Over his career, the rapper went on to produce eight studio albums, 46 singles and 24 music videos. As a charismatic actor, DMX either starred or appeared in over 15 feature films and television projects. And on the way, he led a culture and style movement, Ruff Ryders, still being felt by millions around the world today.

So, it was a blow to the entertainment world when DMX died April 9 at age 50.

It’s not so much that DMX created something new. Instead, he took it back to the raw truth and the grimy, gritty power that hip-hop originally was. Rap had drifted away from the hard, naked, two-fisted battle cry with a beat that it was in the days when Rakim gripped the mic. But X had his own groove. His voice and lyrics came through speakers like a wrecking ball. The sound demanded anyone within earshot to bow down or get beat down and those who loved rap loved it. It was defiance and determination that would not be denied the right to exist. As X would put it, all dogs gotta eat and one way or another, they gonna eat.

 X’s life epitomized the exact realities and passions that the music originally intended. In and out of juvenile facilities from the age of 14, Earl Simmons (DMX), was misdiagnosed, pushed aside at all but forgotten when in fact he was highly intelligent and gifted. Like thousands of young black males, he was counted out before he even got started and he knew the system wanted it that way.

He had his own issues. In the early days, he could do a robbery as well as write a verse. And later on, he could miss a gig or deliver a magnetic onscreen performance. Drug use was a constant.  But what made X a fixed icon with audiences was how real he was about every facet of who he was: good, bad or indifferent. He was like the family member that spent years abusing every drug known to man but who would spit pearls of wisdom at just the right times - if you listened. X would drop profound messages with prophetic grace and made regular reference to God as his source of strength (he included a prayer on every CD he did and was known to pray onstage during the closing of his shows). Even with four platinum-selling albums (with ‘Flesh’ going triple platinum) and, at one time the net worth of some $10 million to go with it, DMX remained approachable, always willing to give money to someone in need. Like some Michael Landon/Johnathan Smith character, X’s legend is full of tales of mopping floors at a diner, prepping food at a highway restaurant or holding court on the street with fans. It was never about the bling for the Mount Vernon, New York born artist – a trait that set him apart from his contemporaries and endeared him with his audience.

History will embrace DMX as a hip hop legend. Alongside Biggie, Tupac and Jay-Z, X will hold a place as one of the greatest lyricists the genre has ever produced. But his presence, his dazzling talent juxtaposed against his personal pain and challenges, also speaks to American culture and the black male experience within it. His indomitable will allowed X to rise in spite of the world he was born into, not because of it. And before he was through, he offered far better blessings – and music – for us to hold onto.