Several times I have had conversations with classmates from both grade and high school. When I hear from them, I make sure they understand that I am happy to hear that they are alive and well. Also, I tell them that I always hoped that all would go well for them in life. That they be able to enjoy family life, children and now grandchildren. The reason I worried about many of them is that I realized some of them came from less than ideal homes. Extreme poverty, alcoholism and abuse might have been a constant part of their lives. Even though I was not in the home to witness the problems, the effects were on full display in the problems of the children. I didn’t fully understand what was going on then, but as an adult I do understand and have empathetic feelings for my classmates, and others who suffered in their childhoods.
Our featured artist this week is one who enjoyed a major musical and movie career. It all came to an end with his death last month. This week we feature American rapper, songwriter, and actor Earl Simmons, better known as DMX. The iconic star was known around the world because of his music and time on the large and small screens. What might not be readily known is his rough upbringing and ongoing legal struggles. Weekly Music Commentary will examine the childhood of Simmons, and how it affected him until his death.
Earl Simmons was born on December 18, 1970. He was the son of 19-year-old Arnett Simmons and 18-year-old Joe Barker. Earl was Simmons’ second child; she had given birth to a daughter, Bonita, two years prior, and later gave birth to one daughter. His father, Barker, was an artist who painted watercolor paintings of street scenes to sell at local fairs. Barker moved to Philadelphia and was largely absent from his life.
Simmons went through a disjointed childhood that included being beaten by his mother and her various boyfriends so badly that he lost teeth and sustained numerous bruises and cuts on his face. Due to poverty, he slept on the floor with roaches and mice crawling over him in the night. When Simmons was five years old, his family settled into the School Street Projects in Yonkers, New York. When he was six years old, his mother knocked out two of his teeth with a broom after he innocently erased something in her notebook. At school, he threw chairs at teachers and stabbed another child in the face with a pencil. When he was seven, an aunt got him drunk on vodka. The same year, he was jailed for stealing cakes from a market. One summer, his mother locked him in his bedroom, allowing him to only exit for trips to the bathroom. At the end of the fifth grade, at age 10, Simmons was expelled from school and sent to the Julia Dyckman Andrus Children’s Home for 18 months. In what he described as a defining moment of betrayal, his mother tricked him by telling him they were just visiting the home, then she enrolled him there. A few months later, he was arrested for arson in an attempt to burn the school down. He nearly killed his co-conspirator.
I can only imagine how 10 year-old Simmons felt when he was sent to that children’s home. If you are betrayed by your mother, who can you trust. It seems that this truly kicked his problem filled life into another gear. However, there would be a light at the end of the tunnel.
When he was 14, Simmons began living on the streets of Yonkers to escape his mother’s abuse, sleeping in Salvation Army clothing bins and befriending stray dogs. Shortly after he began doing this, his mother once again sent him to a group home. During his stay, Simmons bonded with other students from New York over their shared love of hip hop music. After performing for his friends, they encouraged Simmons to continue writing music at the behest of his teacher. When he returned home, Simmons met Ready Ron, a local rapper, who was impressed with Simmons’ beatboxing skills and asked him to become his partner. Simmons chose the name “DMX”, which came from an instrument he had used at the boys’ home, the Oberheim DMX drum machine. It later was also interpreted as “Dark Man X”.
As a freshman at Yonkers Middle High School, DMX was the second-fastest on the track and field varsity team. However, he had bad grades and a sparse attendance record. He turned to robbery as a way to get out of poverty. By the end of the year, he attended school just to rob people and was robbing 3 people per day. He then turned to carjacking.
At the same time DMX was increasingly involved in a life of crime, he started to show signs of talent and enjoyment in hip hop. In 1984, when he beatboxed for Ready Ron. After serving time in prison for stealing a dog, he began writing his own lyrics and performing at the local recreation center for younger children. In 1988, while in prison for carjacking, he began dedicating almost all of his free time to writing lyrics and also meeting and rapping with K-Solo. When he was released that summer, he began producing and selling his own mixtapes where he rapped over instrumentals from other songs and sell them on street corners, which helped him build a local fan base all over New York. In 1991, The Source magazine praised DMX in its Unsigned Hype column that highlighted unsigned hip-hop artists. In 1992, Columbia Records signed DMX to its subsidiary label Ruffhouse Records, which released his debut single “Born Loser”. DMX was well on his way to the very top of hip hop music.
As I worked to complete this weeks’ feature I was reminded of the famous quote by Chuck D of Public Enemy. “Rap Music is the CNN of the ghetto.” The reason it comes to mind is that many people complain about rap lyrics being immoral, misogynistic, violent and crude. Im sure many have made those claims about the music of DMX frequently. However, looking into his life many might understand why such language was a part of his music. As it is with many others. Even if their own childhoods were filled with love and kindness, surrounding them were very dysfunctional family units. If raised in low income areas, life in general provided fuel for rap lyrics.
I listened to an interview with rapper Roxanne Shante who explained her conversations with DMX. She said how they spoke about the similarities in their experiences. Because of their early life issues, Shante could fully understand DMX and he understood her.
I will miss DMX, as millions of people will also miss his music, movies and up front interviews. He lived a life full of major success, at the same time dogged by various legal issues and incarcerations. It came to an end with his death last month. As we wish for others in death, it’s safe to say we all hope the artist rests in peace. I hope everyone can enjoy some of his music. If that’s not your taste, take a look at some of the motion pictures he shared with some of Hollywood’s best. DMX will certainly be missed, but he will always be remembered.
I’m off next week so I’ll see everyone on May 16th.