DMX
by Believer on Jul.05, 2010, under DMX
Earl Simmons, better known by the pseudonym DMX, is an American rapper and hip hop artist.
Born 18th December 1970 in Baltimore, Maryland, Simmons first came to prominence after appearing in The Source magazine’s Unsigned Hype column. He was subsequently signed by Ruffhouse Records but, after the commercial failure of his debut single Born Loser, was swiftly dropped.
Despite the setback Simmons released a second single Make a Move in 1994. He then spent the next few years earning collaborations with artists like LL Cool J, Mase, The LOX and Sum 41, which created enough of a buzz to persuade Def Jam Recordings to sign him up as a solo artist. Before releasing his first record, he chose the stage name DMX after the Oberheim DMX drum machine he had used to record his own material in the early days.
DMX released his debut album It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot in May 1998. It went straight to number one on the Billboard 200, sold over six million copies worldwide and produced three singles that charted on the Hot 100: Get at Me Dog, Stop Being Greedy, How’s It Goin’ Down and the classic Ruff Ryders Anthem.
DMX’s second album, 1998’s Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, stayed at number one in the US for three weeks and produced the hit single Slippin’, while 1999’s …And Then There Was X sold almost 700,000 copies in its first week and produced the singles What’s My Name, Party Up (Up in Here) and What These Bitches Want.
Since the turn of the century, DMX has released two more albums – 2001’s The Great Depression and 2003’s Grand Champ – both of which hit number one on the Billboard 200. This gives DMX the distinction of being only artist in history to have his first five albums debut at number one in America.
DMX’s seventh and eighth studio albums are due for release in late 2010.
