Legendary Rapper DMX Should Be Remembered For His Walk With God

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(OPINION)

Let us Pray 

Many a nights I cried, and called your name out loud

But didn't call you when I was doing good, I was too proud

And still you gave me love, I wasn't used to that

Most of the people that gave me love, they ended up takin’ it back

That's something new to me, so I'm askin’ you for time to adjust

Let me make it there, I will be one you can trust – The Prayer IV  by DMX

DMX in 2001. Creative Commons photo.

The death of legendary hip-hop artist DMX will be remembered mostly for his strong lyrics paired with his famous growls and barks. Although those aspects of his life are worthy of recognition, his strong walk with the Lord should be appreciated even more. 

DMX (birth name Earl Simmons) passed away on April 9 after being in a coma for a week at White Plains Hospital in New York. He was only 50 years old and suffered a heart attack after a drug overdose.

The native New Yorker had a tumultuous childhood: an abusive mother, juvenile detention and a drug addiction that started at age 14. In an interview with Talib Kweli, DMX explained how an adult he trusted laced a blunt in cocaine for him to smoke, which started his lifelong battle with drugs. 

In short, DMX’s life wasn’t perfect. It’s easy to scrutinize his life. But that’s the beauty of his walk with God. He always seemed to take all the troubles of his life and his shortcomings to God in prayer, asking for and sincerely wanting change. During an interview in an Arizona jail, a reporter asked why Obama (who at the time was president) might not condone DMX’s music because his lyrics reference drugs and violence.

“What’s the message in my music that he wouldn’t like? My message is at the end of it, you have to say certain things to gain the credibility and the attention of your listeners,” DMX said. “But at the end of it is what matters, what it boils down to and it always boils down to a gospel song and a prayer. Every album, I end it with a gospel song and a prayer.” 

This honesty was noticed by his fans, as fellow fan Tykeia Robinson wrote for Insider. 

“In his transparency, DMX never denied or made excuses for his missteps or circumstances. His honest accounts of his traumatic experiences afforded us all the opportunity to listen in on his growing relationship with his Lord and Savior,” wrote Robinson. 

In the Arizona jail interview, DMX said that being in jail got him closer to his true calling in life, which is to be a pastor. He even accomplished his desire to preach at church. 

"I say miracles only happen on the platform of tragedy. If there's not a difficult situation, if there's not a situation where you can't see you possibly getting through on your own then where's the potential for the miracle," DMX preached at a church in Phoenix. “If it wasn't that difficult then it would be just another situation that you got through with a little bit of time, but because it was something bigger than you, something that you know took more than you to get you through… it's not that God made these things happen but what I'm saying is that He allowed those things to happen, just so you know what He's willing to do for you." 

Even recently in times of the pandemic, he encouraged others to turn to Christ, reading the Bible from Ecclesiastes “A Time for Everything” (3: 1-8). He also encouraged people to give their life to Jesus.

DMX might not have always started his raps with a prayer, but he always ended them with prayer. 

“Let us pray

Lord Jesus it is you, who wakes me up every day

And I am forever grateful for your love

This is why I pray

You let me touch so many people and it's all for the good

I influenced so many children, I never thought that I would

And I couldn't take credit for the love they get

Because it all comes from you, Lord

I'm just the one that's givin' it…. If what you want from me is to bring your children to you

My regret is only having one life to do it, instead of two

Amen” – DMX 

Princess Jones is an editorial clerk at the New York Post, recently furloughed due to the coronavirus pandemic. She is a recent alumna of Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee, and of the NYC Semester in Journalism at The King’s College in New York City. She previously interned for Religion Unplugged and the New York Amsterdam News.