The Second Coming of DMX

posted in: Features • Urban

Let’s face it, sometimes the past should stay dead. But when an awesome artist fades from popularity,  fans later wonder, Where are they now?  You may not know it, but many artists you’ve loved in the past are still hard at work writing new albums or preparing to tour again. Fortunately, you now have Second Coming to reintroduce some of your favorite acts of the last few decades and give you the scoop on what you can expect from them in the future.

THEN: DMX (a.k.a. Earl Simmons) didn’t have a typical childhood. As a kid living in Yonkers, New York, he learned to steal money from drug dealers”a hobby that quickly landed him in group homes and juvenile detention. When he was off the streets, he turned to rapping and beatboxing to pass the time. After he was written about in a column about unsigned hip hop artists, DMX was signed to Columbia Records. The signing led to the young rapper scoring a few guest spots on the albums of hip hop heavyweights like LL Cool J, Mase and The LOX. When it came time to drop a single of his own in 1998, DMX did not disappoint. “Get At Me Dog” was certified Gold and the classic “Ruff Ryders Anthem” from debut It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot is still heralded as one of the best hip hop songs of all time. Later that same year, he released a second album, Flesh of My Flesh and Blood of My Blood, which followed Dark to a No. 1 Billboard debut, a feat only accomplished before by Tupac. After all this success, it was X’s third album, …And Then There Was X, that truly catapulted the rapper to star status. The single “Party Up (Up In Here)” has become an iconic anthem for every frat party and dance club rave since its release. Unfortunately, X’s following two albums couldn’t seem to match the sales or the commercial success of his third record. His last album was released in 2006.
NOW: In 2009, DMX announced that he would be studying preaching in Jersey City and allegedly completed a Gospel album. According to MTV, he semi-retired in order to study the Bible and preach against the illuminati. For the most part, though, DMX laid low until 2011, when he performed at the BET Hip Hop Awards and announced his plans to release a new album, called Undisputed, in 2012. The album’s original release date was set for March by X’s label, but he was able to push it back to June. He has yet to release any music from the album, but did release a promotional single, “Last Hope,” at the end of 2011. After taking venomous shots at the likes of Rick Ross, Drake and Jay-Z, we hope DMX is ready to back up his talk with Undisputed.

Are you ready to lose your cool? Reminisce on all those great dance parties past with “Party Up”: