DMX Losing His Fight With Damien

December 15th, 2008 | By Sonnie Johnson

I don’t do celebrity gossip. I hate celebrity gossip. If you pay more attention to what’s going on in the life of Beyonce than in what’s happening in your own existence, maybe you should do some re-examining.

Having said that, I’m praying hard for DMX. This is a real lesson for those who think if you get the right amount of money, your life will be fine. This man has talent, fame, and money, yet he still is losing a major battle in his life.

Everyone has heard, “Mo Money, Mo Problems”. And most of us would be like, “hell I’d take those problems” but is it really worth it?

Recently DMX was found in a foreclosed home of Scott Storch in Miami, Florida. He was turned in by a woman from Georgia who wanted to collect the $5,000 reward for X’s arrest. In all of this, the only comments I hear are about the snitiching woman.

What about DMX? Are we all going to ignore the fact that one of our best rappers, especially in this time of Soulja Boy and the rest, is losing a fight with the devil?

I’m quick to call someone out on stupidity. T.I. was one of my favorite current rappers and I stopped listening to his music for a while after his arrest. I was like, he is such a dumb ass for having guns knowing he’s a felon.

Now, I know I’ve got into it before with some of my readers who don’t think felons should be restricted from bearing firearms just because they made one mistake. In some cases, I can agree with those readers but my approval doesn’t change the law. Just because I say you should be able to protect your family doesn’t mean a judge will think the same thing. And he’s the one with the power.

I’m getting off point here. When I was going through my conservative change, I read DMX’s book, E.A.R.L.: The autobiography of DMX. If you want to hear a true story of what it’s like to grow up alone as a black man, you should read it. It’s the main reason I pay attention to any story that involves DMX.

This man has struggled. From the streets of New York to the slums of Baltimore to stages all over the world, DMX has been alone.

I want to point out a couple things from his book that I found really interesting.

When DMX was a kid, he was hit by a car. He wasn’t hurt but the insurance people came and offered his mother $10,000. She refused the money, saying she didn’t need a handout. She was living in the projects of New York. That money could have been used for so many things. A savings account to make sure the lights stayed on. A college fund. Instead his mother chose pride.

The first girl he ever loved played him, hard. He traveled from New York to Connecticut to see this girl and she stood him up. This was the first person he allowed to see his true self and she broke his heart. I remember when I was reading the book I thought, “I bet that bitch wish she would’ve shown up that day,” In hinesight, I guess not.

If you don’t know the significance of dogs in DMX’s life, you don’t know X. As a teenager he used to rob people with his dogs. Not joking. While everyone else was using guns, X used dogs. He believes dogs can be man only true companion. No judgment. No disapproval. Forever faithful. (I’m not an animal lover. But I can question why you hold the dog in such high esteem and can still watch as they fight another dog to the death.)

All the New York rappers hung out together. Well, not really hung out together but visited a lot of the same spots. O.K. I’m going to try to remember this story the best I can.

There was this studio in Yonkers where all the “New York rappers” came to try to win the street. They would have battle raps to garner a reputation. There were two major rappers that didn’t really participate in the battle raps, Jay Z and DMX. They both thought it was beneath them to rap against the up and comers, i.e. Jada Kiss.

But one night, Jay and X got into it. They battle rapped for over 4 hours straight. That would be one of my I wish I was there moments in history. Not thinking about what each would become. Just listening to Hip Hop in it’s true nature. Two individuals, two different lives, two different set of circumstances, with one mission. Word Play.

The best part of the story was X’s re-emergence. Right after he had his child, he was walking down the street and a boy pointed at him. The father of that boy began to beat X with a bat and the people in the neighborhood joined in. I’m not going to go into detail, you should really read the book.

I’ll just say, the first concert DMX ever performed he had removed the wiring from his mouth himself.

I love that book. In the end, you start to think DMX is going to be O.K. He went through so much, it’s about time he gets some peace in his life. But in the end, does a childhood of misery followed by success really mean anything without actual self healing?

O.K. This is what I mean. If you never deal with the things that make you miserable in the first place, do you think money or success can bring you real peace? Or is Damien, the devil, distracting you from dealing with the real issues that plague a lost soul.

See, DMX told us about his struggles with Damien. You couldn’t listen to a single X CD where Damien didn’t make an appearance. He was always there tempting the artist to follow him. Actually, X willing gave him his soul and Damien was just waiting to collect.

Well, I guess it’s payback time.

To see the complete 360 of DMX crushes me. The man can flow. He has charisma and swag and he ends up back down in the slums he once escaped.

All this is just a plea for prayers. All things can be done through Jesus Christ. But sometimes we need extra help from those around us. So I’m sending prayers for X and I hope you do the same.

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I may have messed up a few points but I know I got the just of each story. I implore you all to read the book. You won’t be disappointed.