How’d your favorite rapper score on the rap report card? Continue reading…
DMX
DMX Recorded A Gospel Rap Double Album While Under Constant Surveillance In Arizona
Although DMX’s final album was this year’s haunting Exodus, which featured appearances from Jay-Z and Nas, the Griselda crew, and more, it turns out that there’s another full album from the late, great rap pioneer floating around. Titled Walk With Me Now and You’ll Fly With Me Later, it was a double album recorded in 2008 while DMX lived in Arizona, with one side consisting of his usual gritty rap and the second consisting of profanity-free gospel rap. According to a new feature in Rolling Stone, the album was actually completed, but later shelved in the wake of a police raid of his home.
According to Rolling Stone, while living in Arizona, DMX was subject to a campaign of harassment by the then-Sheriff of Maricopa County. Subjects interviewed said that DMX lived under a state of constant surveillance and was arrested multiple times for relatively minor infractions, most related to traffic incidents or parole violations stemming from his 2007 arrest for animal cruelty. Unfortunately, a stint in prison for those charges left him unable to promote a release of the album, and by the time he was free to do so, the label that had bankrolled it, Bodog Music, had been shut down. A Canadian label called Her Royal Majesty’s Records wound up with the album rights to Walk With Me Now and You’ll Fly With Me Later, but due to DMX’s history, was unwilling to commit resources to a proper release.
Some of the songs have since leaked in low-quality YouTube uploads. The rights bounced around, from Seven Arts Entertainment, which released DMX’s album Undisputed in 2012, to a Canadian businessman named Howard Mann who won the rights at an auction when Seven Arts executives were convicted of tax fraud (maybe Issa Rae was right, after all). Meanwhile, DMX’s estate considers Mann pretty untrustworthy as well, saying through their attorney, “Howard Mann has no authority that we’re aware of and hasn’t shown us anything to reflect that he owns any music that DMX recorded. He has absolutely nothing to do with the estate and, to the extent that he has DMX’s music, the estate has not authorized the use of DMX’s name and likeness.”
You can read the full, long-form essay about DMX’s time in Arizona here.
New York Is Celebrating The First ‘DMX Day’ In Honor Of The Late Rapper
The world lost a legend earlier this year when Earl Simmons, better known as DMX, died at the age of 50. When he passed in April of this year, reports of a drug overdose were cited as the cause, a sad fact that was later confirmed by the coroner. Like plenty of people who survived childhood abuse and trauma, DMX struggled with substance abuse, but few survivors turned their pain into the kind of electrifying, undeniable music that Simmons produced in his career. And the impact of his art is why today, December 18, has been officially named DMX day in his native New York.
Today would’ve been his 51st birthday, and his home city is showing out for the legend. Namely, New York state senator Jamaal Bailey, who was at the forefront of passing a resolution honoring Simmons, shared an important monologue back in April when the day was declared. “Rest In Peace to the Earl of Westchester, rap royalty,” Bailey wrote in an Instagram post he shared of the comments he made on the senate floor about DMX. Check out the senator’s comments below, and honor DMX wherever you are today by blasting the “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem.” In case you don’t have it handy, I’ve included the video below, see if you can resist singing along once it’s going.
DMX’s Last Recorded Verse Surfaces, Rapper Chris Webby Honors His Legacy In New Video
Yonkers legend DMX passed away earlier in April. However, his music and legacy still lives on with his last verse being on a collaboration with rapper Chris Webby. DMX’s Last Single Was “We Up” Featuring Chris Webby Before DMX made his transition, he left behind a body of work producer Swizz Beatz was able to […]
Olivia Rodrigo, DMX, And Travis Scott Lead Google’s Top Trending Searches Of 2021
At the end of every year, Google shares lists of the top trending searches in various categories, which they note “are based on search terms that had the highest spike this year as compared to the previous year.” Now they’ve dropped their 2021 rankings and a lot of music figures have found their way on the lists.
Globally, DMX was the tenth top-trending search overall, due largely to his death earlier this year. On the top songs list, Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” leads the rank and is followed by a pair of Lil Nas X songs: “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and the Jack Harlow collaboration “Industry Baby.”
When you narrow down to the top trends of just the United States, DMX is the second biggest trend overall. Meanwhile, Travis Scott and Morgan Wallen are both in the top ten top-trending people. Musicians also have a firm hold over the “celebrities search together” category: “Kim and Kanye” are No. 1, followed by “Kanye and Jeffree Star” (No. 4), “Taylor Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal” (No. 5), “JLo and A-Rod” (No. 6), “Ben Affleck and JLo” (No. 9), and “Selena Gomez and Chris Evans” (No. 10).
As far as the music-specific lists for the US, Scott leads under “musicians and bands,” while “Drivers License” is the top trend under songs.
There are more music-related searches sprinkled throughout the lists, so find the global trends here and the US trends here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The Director Of DMX’s New Documentary Says He Owes His Sobriety To The Late Rapper
After two years of filming, DMX: Don’t Try To Understand premiered on HBO Max over Thanksgiving. The documentary was directed by Chris Frierson and he recently spoke to Rolling Out about working with DMX. “You know that thing when you meet somebody famous and you’re super disappointed? It was the complete opposite of that,” Frierson said. “It was like everything I hoped for in a human being, I saw over a couple days. And I think possibly he saw something in our coverage that he wasn’t necessarily used to in the questions we were asking.”
Frierson also revealed that he checked himself into rehab for substance abuse days before DMX was hospitalized for an overdose. “That was hard [for me],” he said. “I partially owe my sobriety to him, to a certain extent, because the last thing he said to me was that I was going to be alright.”
Frierson said that he pitched the idea for the doc Mass Appeal back in 2018 around the time that DMX was sentenced to jail time for tax evasion. The initial plan was to shoot select scenes inside the West Virginia Federal prison where DMX was sent, but a warden denied the request. That forced Frierson and his team to wait until he was released in 2019 to begin shooting.
You can read Frierson’s full interview with Rolling Out here.
DMX: Don’t Try To Understand is out now on HBO Max.
DMX Aims To Inspire In The Emotional ‘Don’t Try To Understand’ Documentary Trailer
The DMX documentary Don’t Try To Understand is due to begin streaming on HBO Max on November 25 and today, the trailer promises that the series will offer an emotional ride. Revolving around a year in the Yonkers native’s life after being released from prison in 2019 and following his efforts to pick up the pieces of his stalled rap career (which culminated in the 2021 album Exodus), the docuseries captures him at his most vulnerable, charismatic, and generous, as he shares his story with fellow Yonkers citizens and hopes to inspire them to turn their pain into words.
Executive produced by The Ringer’s Bill Simmons and directed by Christopher Frierson, the show is part of HBO’s Music Box series, which follows influential figures in the world of music and traces their impact on pop culture at large. The first installment, Jagged, follows Canadian star Alanis Morisette at the outset of her career and is available for streaming now. Future installments will concentrate on a diverse array of talents including saxophonist Kenny G, Saturday Night Fever producer Robert Stigwood, and the late Chicago rapper Juice WRLD.
Watch DMX’s ‘Don’t Try To Understand’ trailer above.
Don’t Try To Understand begin streaming on 11/25 at 8 pm ET on HBO Max.
Ye Drops The Deluxe Version Of ‘Donda’ With Five New Songs Including ‘Life Of The Party’ With Andre 3000
For a little over a week, Ye has been teasing the release of a deluxe version for his tenth album, Donda. He recently spoke about it during an appearance on the Drink Champs podcast, and while exact details behind the deluxe were not revealed, but luckily for those who were excited to press play on the updated album, it’s finally here. On Sunday evening, Ye released the deluxe version of Donda complete with five new songs that extends the already-lengthy album to a total of 32 songs.
The new additions include the previously-leaked “Life Of The Party” with Andre 3000, which features a new verse from Ye. The track also features audio from a beloved video featuring the late DMX which sees him comforting his daughter while they ride a rollercoaster together. Ye also added sequels to “Remote Control,” which features Kid Cudi in addition to Young Thug, and “Keep My Spirit Alive,” which brings in KayCyy to join Conway The Machine and Westside Gunn. The last two additions to the deluxe version of Donda are “Never Abandon Your Family” and “Up From The Ashes.”
#Throwback DMX riding the slingshot in Orlando with his daughter
pic.twitter.com/CTxFc3G5PS— Channel 220 Network (@The220Podcast) April 8, 2021
The new release comes after a number of Ye clones were spotted in New York City. The clones mimicked Ye’s Donda-era look by rocking black pants, black bomber jackets, a black baseball cap, and a beige prosthetic mask.
Donda (Deluxe) is out now via GOOD Music/Def Jam. Get it here.
Young Thug is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
N.O.R.E. Claims He Was Hotter Than Jay-Z, DMX and Others In 1998
N.O.R.E. makes a bold claim. Continue reading…
Another Child Comes Forward To Claim Their Share Of DMX’s Estate
A Georgia woman named Raven Barmer-Simmons contacted DMX’s other adult children in the past few weeks. She and 14 alleged children of the late rapper will all be DNA tested to confirm their paternity. Another Alleged Child Of DMX Is Fighting His Estate DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, died following a cocaine-induced heart […]