April 9 In Hip-Hop History: DMX Passes Away At 50

It's been five years since the world lost one of Hip-Hop's most revered voices, DMX.

The seasoned rap artist, born Earl Simmons, suffered from a heart attack on April 2, 2021, following a drug overdose. He was placed on life support and remained in the intensive care unit for a week. According to his former manager, Nakia Walker, Simmons suffered from cerebral hypoxia, "lung and brain failure and no current brain activity." DMX was comatose in a vegetative state for a few days before he ultimately lost functionality in multiple organs. He was pronounced dead on April 9.

DMX left behind a historic legacy that fans still talk about to this day. After spending over a decade building his name in the music industry, DMX was finally signed to Def Jam Recordings in 1997 and immediately prepared recording for his debut album It's Dark and Hell Is Hot. The LP was led by three main singles ahead of its release, "Get at Me Dog," "Stop Being Greedy," "Ruff Ryders' Anthem." All of those songs helped X's first album reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. A few months later in December 1998, DMX dropped his second LP Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, which also went No. 1 the same year. He became the first rap artist to have two albums hit the No. 1 spot since 2Pac.

DMX went on to drop six more albums throughout his career including his final album Exodus. The Yonkers, N.Y. native worked on the album before his death and named it after his youngest son. Famed photographer Jonathan Mannion shot the album's cover. The cover art and release date for Exodus was announced a month after he passed away. His family posted to his Instagram account followed by the album's lead single "Hood Blues" featuring Westside Gunn, Benny the Butcher, and Conway the Machine.

Listen to Exodus on iHeartRadio now. Rest in peace, DMX.