The multi-platinum rapper, songwriter, and rapper will be mourned at a memorial with family and close friends at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. It’ll be held today around 4 pm EST and is closed to the general public due to the pandemic.
Before his death, he did an interview on the Revolt TV show “Drink Champs”, which has garnered nearly 6 million views on YouTube. Also, during the summer of 2020, he and rapper Snoop Dogg did a legacy performance on a platform called Verzuz, which is founded by super producers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland. It created so much hype and buzz that the online battle/concert got over 1,750,000,000 impressions for the live stream event. Not to mention, the replay value has skyrocketed recently.
Organizers of this event will follow Covid guidelines to ensure that it’s a safe and smooth event. The ceremony will be captured on DMX’s YouTube channel so that fans can tune into the memorial and pay their respects online. There’s no telling who may be performing, appearing, or speaking at this gathering. DMX, whose birth name is Earl Simmons, died of cardiac arrest on April 9. After being rushed to a New York hospital, he spent several days on life support before his death.
The 50-year-old Grammy-nominated rapper delivered iconic tracks such as “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem”, “Party Up (Up in Here)”, “Get at Me Dog”, and “X Gon’ Give It to Ya.” Not to mention, he paved the way for a more gritty style of rhyming when things were in the shiny suit era of rap. Out of the gate, he released 2 albums in 1998 that both went multi-platinum. This is a feat still unmatched even in today’s streaming era.
He also starred in some iconic films, such as “Belly”, “Romeo Must Die”, and “Cradle 2 the Grave.” Many celebrities from Torrey Smith, Shaquille O’Neal, Lebron James, Gabrielle Union along Jet Li (who co-starred with him in “Cradle 2 the Grave”) honored him. Not to mention, his Ruff Ryders’ labelmates from The LOX, Eve, and of course, his hit producer, Swizz Beatz all had great things to say.
Swizz Beatz worked with the rapper closely for over 20 years and built a close friendship with him. He paid a heartfelt tribute to him in an Instagram video ending with the words “Long Live, DMX the Great!”
DMX was a loving father of 15 children. His funeral service will be held Sunday at 2:30 pm EST. It’ll be broadcast live on BET and the network’s YouTube channel.