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The legacy of rap icon DMX, born Earl Simmons, who died on Friday at age 50, lives on in his music and in the memories he gave to people, including fans in Trinidad.
Several local celebrities shared with Newsday the influence he had on their careers and lives.
Kevin G Da Costa, also known as Johnny Bravo, described DMX as a hungry, determined youth in his early days.
“We crossed paths on occasion. At that time I was working with Biggie (Notorious BIG). He had a way that he could make people laugh," he said, referring to another rap legend, whose name was Christopher Wallace, who was murdered in the 1990s. Da Costa said he worked for Wallace when he lived in the United States.
Da Costa recalled DMX had fellow artistes, like Jay-Z and DJ Khaled, cracking up in the dressing room in between performances. Regardless of his humorous side, DMX was no pushover, according to Da Costa.
“He had the ‘street cred’ from Yonkers. He wasn’t a pushover. You had to come correct with him. If you tell him go left he would go right.”
It served as a contrast to the gruff image that DMX and his music projected, but for Richard Raj-Kumar also known as Chromatics, he said the contrast was even wider.
“At the time Puffy was running things with shiny suits and other things and he also had a little bit of edge to his music, but DMX brought back a personal, vulnerable side to that music along with that edginess.
“It was needed at the time. When you bring that personal touch to your music you connect differently with the audience.”
Raj-Kumar recalled attending the DMX concert at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, in 1999, when he was about 16. During the concert, DMX was arrested for the use of obscene language and his concert was cut short by the authorities.
“I remember going and coming home with mud up to my knees. All my Tims (Timberlands) were muddy but I didn’t care. The kind of power he was wielding at the time, I remember when police decided to shut down the party he just walked to the front of the stage and put his hands up in the air in the form of an ‘X’. Everyone in the crowd did the same thing and that was when police started shooting tear gas into the crowd,” he said.
There was an estimated 12,000 people at the concert. DMX was taken to the St Clair Police Station and after he paid a small fine he apologised for cursing during his performance.
It is illegal in Trinidad to use obscene language in public.
DMX’s death follows a heart attack, allegedly triggered by a drug overdose. Sources told Entertainment Tonight, DMX recently relapsed with a drug dependency which he struggled with for years.
Sources added that he recently suffered with covid19.
The hardcore rapper, whose songs like Rough Riders Anthem and Slippin' dominated the charts in the late 1990's and early 2000's, died at White Plains Hospital in New York.
The post Trinidadians remember 'vulnerable edginess' of DMX appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.