DMX Biography

DMX (also known as Dark Man X) was a hard core rapper from the East Coast school, known for his aggressively brutal raps. After his death in 2021, The New York Times called him a “muscular and intense” figure, known for a “remarkable and combative stage presence” and “albums that reflected his gritty past and featured a gruff and unmistakable lyrical style.”

DMX’s 1998 single “Get At Me Dog” was a top-40 hit that pushed him into the upper tier of popular rappers and revived the strength of the Def Jam record label. The same year his debut album It’s Dark, and Hell is Hot went to #1 on the Billboard charts.

He followed that album with Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood (1999) and …And Then There Was X (2000), both of which debuted at the no. 1 spot on the charts.

DMX also recorded with the Ruff Ryders, a loose conglomeration of hip-hop all-stars. DMX then veered into acting and appeared in Romeo Must Die (2000, with Jet Li), Exit Wounds (2001, with Steven Seagal) and Never Die Alone (2004, with Michael Ealy).

In 2006 DMX (sometimes called “Dog”) was in the spotlight again, with a new album (Year of the Dog, Again, on the SonyBMG label) and a reality series on the BET cable network, DMX: Soul of a Man.

DMX published a memoir, E.A.R.L.: The Autobiography of DMX, in 2003, in which he described a youth filled with struggle and forays into drug use, car theft and robbery. True to his persona, DMX had many run-ins with the law even after becoming famous, being arrested at various times for weapons possession, assault, fraud, driving under the influence, and cruelty to animals. In his last big hassle, he was sentenced to a year in prison for tax evasion in 2018.

DMX died at age 50 in 2021 after reportedly suffering a heart attack induced by a drug overdose.