Biography for
DMX (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

18 December 1970, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Birth Name

Earl Simmons

Nickname

Darkman X
X
D
The Dog

Height

5' 11" (1.80 m)

Spouse

Tashera Simmons

(1999 - present) 4 children

Trade Mark

Wearing a silver dog coller.

His energetic rapping style.

Trivia

Also a recording artist on Def Jam Music label along with Foxy Brown

Has two sons named Xavier & Tocoma

DMX stands for Dark Man Extreme.

Formed music label Ruff Ryders.

Has tattoo on his back of his dog killed by a motorist and the words ONE LOVE BOOMER.

Known for his barking and growling while rapping.

Formed Rap Group named Ruff Ryders consisting of Eve, Drag-On, The Lox, Swizz Beatz, Parle.

He released a song titled "Born Loser" in 1993 on Columbia Records

He has 2 half sister in his mother's side sisters, also had 2 younger half brothers who died at birth; and has 2 younger half brothers in his father's side.

He has his own record label and clothing line called Bloodline

Announced that he's retiring from the music business so he can focus more on church and his family. [2003]

Lived in Yonkers, New York

He is the only artist in Soundscan history to have his first four albums debut at number one on the Billboard Charts

The first three of DMX's CDs debuted at number 1 on the Billboard charts and each one has gone at least triple platinum.

His 5th album, "Grand Champ" was a number 1 debut on the Billboard Pop Charts. (September 2003)

He is now the only artist in the history of the Billboard Charts to have his first five albums debut at number one on the Billboard Charts.

DMX is one of the best selling Hip-Hop artists ever. His first 4 albums have each gone at least triple platinum in the US alone, and his current CD, Grand Champ, recently went platinum.

Estranged father was a street artist.

Has a religion-related skit on each of his CDs.

His family was a Jehovah's Witness when he was young.

His wife Tashera lived above him in his apartment complex when he was young. He did not know this until he met her at a club.

Loved to play with Green Army Men toys and watch Eddie Murphy on "Saturday Night Live" (1975).

Was briefly on his high school's track team.

Was hit by a drunk driver when he was a little kid.

Was often sick as a child.

Wrote an autobiography titled "E.A.R.L.: Ever Always Real Life."

Wrote his first rhymes while spending time in jail.

Same birthday as Brad Pitt, Casper Van Dien and 'Steven Spielberg'.

He and his wife Tashera Simmons, welcomed a baby girl named Praise Mary Ella Simmons on 18th April 2005. They also have a son called Shawn.

Battled rapper Jay-Z in a rap battle which was determined to be a draw. Although, DMX stated in an interview that the battle taught him that his style of rapping was not always the best.

Has 9 dogs.

6th best selling rapper of all time.

Has his own record label called "Bloodline Records"

Has sold more then 15 million records in the United States.

Has a scar on his left wrist from a fan trying to rip his watch off.

Is the only artist ever to have two albums debut at number one on the Billboard top one-hundred chart in the same year.

His third album "... And Then There Was X" sold over 600,000 copies in its first week.

His second album "Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood" sold over 670,000 copies in its first week.

His sixth album, 'Year of the Dog...Again', debuted at #1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at #2 on The Billboard 200 at the end of its first week of release.

Personal Quotes

"To live is to suffer, but to survive, well that's to find meaning in the suffering."

"I used to do the beat box... a friend of mine, he was the rapper and after, we'd be doing a block party or something or a house party, and he's gettin' all the attention and I'd end up with a handful of spit, you know, from doing the beats... and I was like, 'you got to be the rapper'... the rapper's the man..."

"I know I may have done some bad things, but I'm not a bad person."

I want Flesh Of My Flesh to be like my connection to the community, I want to say what's on my peoples' minds, soak up all their pain. I've learned that when I take it all in, I can make one brotha's pain be understood by the world.

"An important and fundamental premise of the American judicial system is the presumption of innocence - that is, until proven guilty."

"The day I will never forget is the day I married my wife, Tashera. Tashera is so special to my boys and me. Her energy is enough to put anyone on a cloud. Her dedication and care gives me comfort and ease."

I didn't have the patience to be a drug dealer...I'd just wait till the end of the day and rob the dealer of his day's takings.

"...there's a difference between violence and senseless violence... this is not a movie about a serial killer just going around killing for no reason... for every reason that someone's murdered in there, for every act of violence there's a reason behind it... and you can see why, 'Okay, that's why he was shot... for this reason.' 'Okay, he had to do that because of this.'... it's not just killing for no reason." - on the controversy over his film "Belly" on excessive violence.

"Columbia tried to put me behind other groups... so I didn't wanna wait... they let me out of the contract and I'm glad they did." - On being released from Columbia Records.

Salary

Cradle 2 the Grave (2003)

5,000,000

Where Are They Now

(January 2006) Left Def Jam Records (the label he's been signed to throughout his entire career) and signed a new three-album deal with Sony Records.

(May 2006) Released the first single from his upcoming album 'Year Of The Dog...Again' called "Lord, Give Me A Sign".

(August 2006) Released his sixth album 'Year of the Dog...Again' on August 1st.

(April 2008) Filming "The Bleeding" in Wilmington, North Carolina

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