DMX: Rapper’s Lawyer Gives Update on His Hospitalization
Beloved hip-hop legend DMX — whose real name is Earl Simmons — was hospitalized on Friday, April 2 after a heart attack and alleged drug overdose.
Details have been scant about his condition, but fans and celebrities are taking to social media to share prayers and well wishes. Now, the 50-year-old rapper’s attorney is giving an update about his condition.
Update: DMX not taken off life support
Early reports indicated DMX was in “grave condition” at a hospital in White Plains, New York following a heart attack on Friday night. TMZ, Billboard, and Reuters reported the “Get at Me Dog” rapper’s cardiac arrest was triggered by an overdose.
DMX fans and peers have been awaiting news on his medical status, flooding Twitter and Instagram with questions and messages of hope. The emcee’s lawyer, Murray Richman, spoke to New York’s PIX11 and stated he’d been taken off life support and breathing on his own.
However, Richman cautioned that DMX is not out of the woods yet, and the situation is still very serious.
“He’s been in the hospital as the result of a heart attack. He has been taken off the life support system and breathing on his own, but we are concerned,” said Richman. “It would be disingenuous of me to suggest that I’m not a worried man at this particular point.”
After making this initial statement, Richman then amended it and told Rolling Stone he was given incorrect information. DMX remains on life support.
DMX has been candid about addiction
DMX is a talented, celebrated rapper with roots in Yonkers and a history of taking down contenders in battle rap. But he’s also had a complicated history with addiction.
Back in November, he opened up about how he was first introduced to crack by someone he looked up to. During an interview with Talib Kweli on the People’s Party with Talib Kweli podcast, he painfully shared how his mentor and friend Ready Ron tricked him into smoking a laced blunt.
DMX was only 14 years old at the time and as an aspiring rapper, kept company with the local rapper whom he viewed as a big brother.
He told Kweli, “I had never felt like this. It just f*cked me up,” said DMX. “I later found out that he laced the blunt with crack.” He admitted that’s when his spiral with drugs began.
Over the years, the hip-hop icon has received treatment for addiction and has spoken candidly about substance use and sobriety. In 2019, he canceled a string of tour dates to enter a treatment facility.
DMX was working on a new album
Following an epic Verzuz celebration in July with Snoop Dogg, DMX revealed that he had new music in the works. Since summer 2020, he’s been sharing behind-the-scenes shots of himself on Instagram in work mode as he molds what will be his ninth studio album.
According to what DMX told Drink Champs hosts NORE and DJ EFN, the project will feature appearances from Bono, Alicia Keys, Pop Smoke, Usher, and Griselda. It’s slated to be one for the books.
Fans continue to send support to DMX and his fiancee, Desiree Lindstrom.
