DMX

American actor and rapper Earl Simmons, born December 18, 1970, and died on April 9 2021. He started rapping in the early 1990s . He released the album debut It's Dark and Hell is Hot in 1998, which received both critical acclaim and commercial success. He sold over 251,000 copies within the first week of release. [5][66 DMX released his top-selling album, ... And Then There Was X in 1999, which included the smash single "Party Up (Up in Here)". His singles from 2003 "Where the Hood At?" and "X Going to Give It to Ya" were also commercially successful. He was also the first artist to be No.1 on the Billboard 200 chart five consecutive times. [7] Overall, DMX sold over 74 million albums worldwide. 8. DMX has appeared in films like Belly, Romeo Must Die and Exit Wounds. He was the lead character in DMX: Soul of a Man in the reality TV show. It was mostly telecast on the BET cable television network Never Die Alone. He published E.A.R.L., his memoirs in 2003. The Autobiography of DMX. 9. DMX began his career in the music business at age 14 as a beatboxer in Ready Ron. After a stint in prison He began writing his own lyrics and performing at the local recreation center that was for children younger than he. In 1988, when he was in prison for carjacking, he began dedicating the majority of his free time writing lyrics , as well as performing with K-Solo. He was released in the summer of 1988, and then began to produce and sell his own mixtapes. In these mixes, the rapper rapped on songs from other artists and then sold them on street corners. This helped him establish his own fan base in New York. Percee P as well as DMX performed on The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show 1991, on which they improvised. [15In the year 15 DMX was soon to release a demo cassette featuring "Spellbound" along with "Critical Condition", Three Little Pigs", The Original Author of Spellbound, and "Unstoppable Force" later in the year. It featured a style similar to Big Daddy Kane and Rakim and was distinct from his later material. In 1991, The Source magazine praised DMX for his Unsigned Hype column which highlighted hip hop artists that were not signed. [16] Columbia Records signed DMX in 1991 to its subsidiary label Ruffhouse Records. This single was his first track, "Born Loser". The 17-year-old released his second single "Make A Move" in the year 1994. Jay-Z, Ja Rule and Mic Geronimo collaborated on an appearance on "Time to Build" the cult underground hit. DMX died in 2021 following a heart attack caused by cocaine.