DMX

American actor and rapper Earl Simmons was born December 18, 1970, and died on April 9 2021. The album that he debuted on, It's dark and hot launched in 1998. The rapper began to rap in the 90s. 251,000 copies were sold within the first week. In 1999, DMX released... and then There Was X. The album featured the hit song "Party up (Up in Here). The singles he released in 2003, "Where is the Hood At?" Commercially and his singles from 2003 "Where the Hood Is?" and "X Gon Give It to Ya" were also popular. He was the first artist in history to make an album release at No.1 in the Billboard 200 charts five times consecutively. [7] Overall, DMX sold over 74 million albums worldwide. [8] DMX was featured in films like Belly, Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds, Cradle 2 the Grave, and Last Hour. He was a part of the reality television show DMX. Soul of a Man. It was airing on the BET cable television channel Never Die Alone. In 2003, he published the memoirs of his life entitled E.A.R.L. : The Autobiography of DMX. [9] DMX was introduced to the business of music at 14 as a beatboxer at Ready Ron. After a stint in prison then he began writing his own lyrics and performing in the recreation center in town, which was for children younger than he. While in prison , he was convicted of carjacking. he spent the majority of his time writing lyrics. He also began to rap with K.Solo. After being released in the summer of 1988 the rapper began making and selling mixtapes of his own where he performed raps over tracks from other songs. He sold them on street corners, which helped him build a local fan base across New York. Percee P and DMX both performed freestyles on The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show 1991. [15] DMX would later that year release a demo tape featuring "Spellbound" as well as "Critical Condition", "Three Little Pigs", "The Original Author of Spellbound" and "Unstoppable Force". It was quite like Big Daddy Kane or Rakim and was not his later material. [3] In 1991, The Source magazine praised DMX in its Unsigned Hype column that highlighted hip-hop artists without a contract. 16] In the same year, Columbia Records signed DMX to its subsidiary label Ruffhouse Records, which released his first single "Born Loser". [17] He released his second single "Make the Move" in 1994. Jay-Z, Ja Rules, and Mic Gérardo were guests on the underground hit "Time to Build" from Mic Geronimo, released in 1995. DMX died of a heart attack caused by cocaine on April 9, 2021.