X spoke about the album and its progress in a number of interviews before his passing, but unfortunately he never got to release it.Įnter Swizz Beatz, the rapper’s longtime friend and collaborator, responsible for producing some of X’s biggest hits including the genre-defining ‘Ruff Ryders Anthem’. With the new deal came news he was working on a new album, the proper follow-up to 2012’s ‘Undisputed’. Starting with a 20th anniversary tour of his classic debut album ‘It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot’, he also re-signed with Def Jam Recordings, the iconic rap label with which he enjoyed his greatest success. Prior to his death, DMX was in the process of staging a major comeback. READ MORE: DMX, 1970 – 2021: hip-hop giant who shone brightest in the darkness.His music blasted out of car windows, while the rest of the world listened at home, at work, and wherever else they were.
Crowds of fans were singing, dancing, chanting they shared stories of meeting X and how his work enriched their lives. The scenes outside White Plains Hospital in New York where DMX died were euphoric. When news broke last month that rap titan DMX (real name Earl Simmons) had died, sending agonising shockwaves through the hip-hop community, it wasn’t a surprise to see it met with tears and tributes.Īs painful as the news was, it wasn’t too long before sadness subsided, replaced instead with emphatic joy and acclamation as fans celebrated the life of rap’s original grand champ. They say that legends never die, but that does’t mean it’s always easy to process when one departs.