Earl Simmons
| DMX | |
|---|---|
DMX in February 2007
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Earl Simmons |
| Also known as | Dark Man X |
| Born |
December 18, 1970 Mount Vernon, New York, U.S. |
| Origin | Yonkers, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Years active | 1991–present |
| Labels |
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| Associated acts | |
Earl Simmons (born December 18, 1970), professionally known as DMX, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. In 1999, DMX released his best-selling album ...And Then There Was X, which included the hit single "Party Up (Up in Here)". He has been featured in films such as Belly, Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds, Cradle 2 the Grave and Last Hour. In 2006, he starred in the reality television series DMX: Soul of a Man, which was primarily aired on the BET cable television network. In 2003, DMX published a book of his memoirs entitled, E.A.R.L.: The Autobiography of DMX.
DMX was born Earl Simmons in Mount Vernon, New York, the son of Arnett Simmons and Joe Barker, and was raised in Yonkers, New York. As a child, he was brought up in the Jehovah's Witness faith. Simmons went through an abusive childhood that included stays at group homes and frequent arrests.
In 1991, Gabriel Grevenstuk from The Source magazine praised DMX in his Unsigned Hype column that highlighted unsigned hip-hop artists. In 1991, DMX recorded his first demos, Unstoppable Force and Three Little Pigs. His stage name was a tribute to an instrument he used in the 1980s, the Oberheim DMX drum machine; it later was interpreted as "Dark Man X".
In 1992, Columbia Records signed DMX to their subsidiary label Ruffhouse, which released his debut single "Born Loser". The single did not receive much airplay. The label eventually agreed to release DMX from their contract.
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