DMX Dies at 50

This past week the hip-hop community has lost one of beloved rappers and songwriters, Earl Simmons, at the age of 50 and if you don’t know who he is, then you may know him better for his other name, Dark Man X or DMX.

DMX came into the hip hop scene back in the early 90s selling mixtape and soon after that he was signed to Ruffhouse Records and started to make a name for himself. DMX started to get more fame as he was on a lot of guest appearances with the likes of Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Ja Rule, The Lox, and more. In 1998 he released his first LP “It’s Dark and Hell is Hot” and the album was a huge hit. Soon after he was released other hit albums like “Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood,” “…And Then There Was X,” and “Year of the Dog…Again.”

During his height of success, he was doing films in Hollywood. His first film was “Belly,” and soon after that he was doing other films such as “Romeo Must Die,” Exit Wounds,” “Cradle 2 the Grave,” and his last two films “Fast and Fierce: Death Race,” and “Chronicle of a Serial Killer.” After “Year of the Dog…Again” he took a six-year break and came back with “Undisputed” in 2012 and his last album “Redemption of the Beast” in 2015.

Sadly this past week he was rushed to the hospital due to a heart attack and a few days later he passed away. Please take some time and listen to some of his work and you will see how special he was to the hip-hop community.