Earl ‘DMX’ Simmons Day in New York Date in the current year: December 18, 2024

Earl Simmons was born on December 18, 1971 in Mount Vernon, New York. He grew up with an absent father and an abusive mother who sent him to a group home twice at ages 10 and 14. During his second stay, he bonded with other students over their shared appreciation for hip hop music and began writing music and performing.

Simmons’s musical career started in 1984, when he met Ready Ron. The rapper was impressed with Simmons’s beatboxing skills and suggested that they perform together. It was then that Simmons chose his stage name, “DMX”, after the Oberheim DMX drum machine he had used at the group home.

In 1988, while serving a prison sentence for carjacking, DMX focused on writing lyrics and met the fellow inmate K-Solo, who would later accuse DMX of stealing his style. Upon his release from prison, DMX started recording and selling mixtapes to create a local fan base in New Work.

In 1992, DMX signed with Ruffhouse Records, a subsidiary label of Columbia Records, and released his debut single “Born Loser”. DMX’s second single, “Make a Move”, was released in 1994. His debut major-label album titled It’s Dark and Hell is Hot was released in May 1998. One of the singles from the album, “Get at Me Dog”, was certified gold by the RIAA.

Throughout his career as a rapper, DMX released eight studio albums (the final one, Exodus, was released posthumously), seven compilation albums, three mixtapes, 30 singles as lead artist, 17 singles as featured artist, and 24 music videos. As of 2014, he was one of the best-selling hip hop artists in the United States.

In addition to his musical career, DMX was a film actor. His best-known films include Belly, Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds, Cradle 2 the Grave, Never Die Alone, Lords of the Street, Pimp, and Beyond the Law.

DMX struggled with drug addition for most of his life. On April 2, 2021, he was hospitalized with a cocaine-induced heart attack. Simmons was put on life support, and the hospital staff ran tests on him to determine whether there was any brain function left. On April 9, DMX suffered multiple organ failure and died shortly after at age 50.

DMX’s funeral was held at the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn on April 25, 2021. It was attended by 2,000 people, including Nas, Lil Kim, Swiss Beats and Alicia Keys; a lot more people wanted to attend, but the capacity was limited due to the COVID-19 restrictions. The ceremony lasted for five hours and was live streamed by BET.

At the funeral, Erica Ford, the co-founder of Life Camp, and community activist Priscilla Echi announced that the New York State Senate had declared DMX’s birthday, December 18, Earl ‘DMX’ Simmons Day to highlight the late rapper’s contribution to the development of hip hop music.

Interestingly, three months later, the United States Senate designated August 11 as Hip Hip Celebration Day, August as Hip Hop Recognition Month, and November as Hip Hop History Month.