Damon Dash has paid tribute to late fellow rapper Earl “DMX” Simmons, calling him “very, deep, very poetic” and, “a lion … cut from certain cloth.”
Following DMX’s death, Dash, 49, said, “This one hurt. It was like, before the music, we found a brotherhood. It was a competitive one but we always been brothers.
“DMX would have rap battles on pool tables. After the rap battles, he would perform right after that and head to the [Madison Square] Garden for the ‘Hard Knock Life’ tour,” he continued.
“It’s just not the way we want to see this, you know what I mean?”
DMX, 50, passed after suffering from an overdose that resulted in a heart attack.
Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Dash continued, “DMX was always really deep, and he always said something funny. I remember when I was shooting ‘Paid In Full’ in Canada. He was shooting a movie in Canada and he was tearing the town down.
“He was on the front pages every day and I went to go see him and we would talk for hours at his hotel — he was just very deep, very poetic.”
The Yonkers rapper first signed to Columbia Records in 1992, where he released his debut single “Born Loser.” He went on to make hit records with Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Ja Rule, Swizz Beatz and Aaliyah, just to name a few.
Record executive, entrepreneur and actor Dash said, “My favorite song of DMX was ‘Get At Me Dog.’ I just liked it that was a Tunnel banger. We were just around each other for different stages of our lives.
“So knowing him before the success, during the success and now — it’s definitely something you don’t want to see. We still have this brotherhood.”
Page Six exclusively reported DJ Funkmaster Flex called out so-called industry friends for not helping the “How’s It Goin’ Down” rapper prior to his overdose.
But Dash said, “I don’t care what other people do in terms of posting pictures. I’m not judging other people. They gonna do what they do. That s–t got nothing to do with me. The only thing I’m thinking about right now is being positive and sending positive energy.
“I’m not gonna take the focus off the love that I have for my brother. I just know how much this must hurt the Ruff Ryders and Swizz [Beatz]. It just hurts to think about life. Everybody dies, everybody has pain; it is just a matter of when. I just did not expect it to be right now, not in this way.”
He adds, “I think he wore his heart on his sleeve. I think that it is obvious he was so superiorly intelligent. He was also a lion — he was cut from a certain cloth. You see somebody who’s been through so many different things, you don’t wanna see him go out like that.”
Remembering regular moments where DMX would stop to pray before hitting the stage to perform, Dash said, “We would pray together on the ‘Hard Knock Life’ tour. He would have you pray before you went on stage, 100 percent. But for my form of praying, I just rethink about those moments and I just remember.
“I just go to think about the rap battles when he first broke out on the scene… the movies, like all those interactions, we had a lot of fun. You just have to think about those moments.”
DMX’s successful transition from rapper to actor in films such as “Belly,” “Cradle 2 the Grave,” “Never Die Alone” and “Romeo Must Die” also impressed Dash.
“I was proud of him and his acting career, of course. You always love to see your brother from extreme circumstances have his dreams come true and still stay authentic.
“The one thing about DMX: He never ever pretended to be anything that he wasn’t. He wasn’t apologetic for it. He never lied about it.”
With eight album releases, three Grammy nominations for Best Rap Album for “And Then There Was X,” Best Rap Solo Performance for “Party Up (Up In Here),” and “Who We Be,” — as well as two American Music Awards for Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Artist in 2000 and 2001 — Dash says that what he remembers most about Simmons is his music.
“Anytime he would make a record, I feel like it was just hot. I was looking forward to seeing what he was going to do. What I miss about him the most is rapping his songs,” he said.
“We have a brotherhood, we were family, we were like cousins. We all watched each other grow up. We watched each other become successful.”
