With the recent passing of hip-hop legend DMX, HipHopMadness and narrator Pro the Goat take a look at his impressive rise on the music scene, and the dark side of fame.
To say that DMX was a revolutionary force in hip-hop would be a massive understatement. When everyone else was wearing shiny suits and embracing the jiggy rap era, the late Earl Simmons was dragging hip-hop kicking and screaming back to the sombreness of reality. And when others were trying to make their music an easy fit for the mainstream, X dug his heels in and became even more uncompromising. To this day, DMX is the only rapper to have his first five studio albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 100 and was the only MC to have two albums go platinum in the same year. However, where DMX’s contributions or degree of fame often gets waylaid is due to the fact that with all of those accolades came over 30 trips to jail, a near lifelong battle with addiction and scars that may temporarily recede, but would never fully heal.
On April 16, a week after X passed away, he was featured on the new single “Been to War” in support of the new series, Godfather of Harlem. The track also featured one of X’s biggest collaborators, Swizz Beatz, as well as French Montana. You can find the song on Spotify and other digital platforms via Epic Records.
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