About Dmx

Earl Simmons (born December 18, 1970), better known by his stage name DMX, is a multiplatinum American rapper (a member of the hip hop collective Ruff Ryders) and actor who rose to fame in the late 1990s. His stage name pays tribute to the Oberheim DMX drum machine, an instrument he used when he made his own rap beats in the 80's. To date, his best-selling album is his 1999 album ...And Then There Was X, which featured the hit single "Party Up (Up in Here)". As an actor, he also starred in the films Belly, Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds, Cradle 2 The Grave and Last Hour, and his own reality television series called Soul of a Man on the American cable television network BET. In 2002, DMX wrote an autobiographical book titled E.A.R.L.: The Autobiography of DMX.

DMX took his name from the DMX digital sound machine... In spring of 2001 DMX served 10 days in a New York jail for driving without a license. In 2005 he was sentenced to 70 days in jail for violating conditions of a plea agreement from a 2004 incident at Kennedy Airport... He was arrested twice in one week in May 2008, both in Phoenix: first for speeding, and then on an indictment for felony drug possession and misdemeanor acts of animal cruelty, reportedly involving mistreatment of pit bulls.