The hip-hop world is mourning the loss of one of the genre’s preachers.
On Friday, veteran New York rapper and actor DMX died at a New York hospital after suffering a heart attack. A statement from relatives said he died "with his family by his side after being placed on life support for the past few days".
Superstar Nas led music peers, actors, sportsmen and fans in paying tribute to DMX. "Gods Poet. I Love You," he posted on Instagram.
“Rest easy king Hug my Babegirl Aaliyah when you see her !!!!”, said producer Timbaland on Twitter.
US basketball coach LeVelle Moton addressed members of the new hip-hop generation who may not be as familiar with the rapper, pointing to DMX's popularity and influence.
“Dear kids, DMX sold over 72 million records,” he said. “Do your homework before you ask if the man has fans.”
A star-studded album on the way
While tributes lauded DMX's past achievements, many fans also expressed anguish over the nature of his death. The rapper, who had fought hard to overcome problems with substance abuse, allegedly suffered a heart attack following a drug overdose, though his lawyer, Murray Richman, said he could not confirm the rumours.
DMX’s career followed the familiar trajectory of young prodigious talent shaking up the music scene, then unceremoniously falling to the scourge of drug abuse before making an inspiring comeback.
In the past few years, DMX had reunited in the studio with his svengali, producer Swizz Beatz, to record a new album full of his signature blend of gritty street poetry and spirituality.
In a February appearance on the popular hip-hop podcast Drink Champs, DMX illustrated his enduring industry clout by confirming that U2 frontman Bono was set to appear in the project.
"Bono, he’s a music lover. I’m a music lover. We knew each other for a while,” he said.
From the streets to the top of the charts
Born Earl Simmons in New York in 1970, it was his traumatic and violent upbringing that set the tone for DMX's personal and professional life.
DMX was born into a broken home and suffered from severe asthma as a child. He also grew up in a number of boys homes and found himself in legal trouble at a young age because of a series of robberies throughout his teenage years.
That downward spiral was fuelled by a combination of substance abuse, which began from the age of 14, and bipolar disorder, a diagnosis revealed in his 2003 memoir EARL: The Autobiography of DMX.
These experiences served as inspiration for his brooding lyricism, which first bloomed during his prison stints as a teenager in the mid-1980s.
After a series of successful mixtapes and an unfruitful period with Columbia Records, DMX eventually found his place with leading hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings in 1998.
Their partnership remains one of the most successful in the music industry, with an unprecedented five albums debuting at No 1 on the Billboard 200 Charts and landmark hip-hop anthems, including 1999's What's My Name, 2000's Party Up (Up In Here) and 2003's X Gon' Give It To Ya.
The success allowed DMX to follow Ice-T and Ice Cube in making the rare transition to Hollywood with starring roles in action films, including 2000's Romeo Must Die, 2003's Cradle 2 the Grave with Chinese martial superstar Jet Li and 2001's Exit Wounds alongside Steven Seagal.
Pain and bravado
While legal troubles racked up, including drugs charges, a six-month jail sentence for failing to pay $400,000 child support to four of his 15 children and a one-year prison stint in 2018 for tax fraud, DMX managed to maintain his fervent following, thus transforming him into one of the genre’s biggest cult acts.
That enduring appeal is not down to the timeless bangers still heard in clubs worldwide, but for the rare blend of authenticity and vulnerability not seen since Tupac Shakur.
Similar to the late rapper, who was gunned down in 1996, DMX’s lyrics are a potent cocktail of bravado and pain.
Sometimes they are addressed separately, such as in 2001's boisterous Bloodline Anthem and 1998's Slippin', which was a recount of his agonising upbringing.
However, what gives DMX’s body of work that X-factor, so to speak, is a deep and unwavering spirituality displayed from the onset of his career.
From his 1998 debut It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, to 2015's Redemption of the Beast, each of his eight albums featured songs inspired by his Christian faith or spoken-word addresses to God that detail his struggles with addiction and other darker impulses.
DMX often finished his concerts by performing prayers and walking off stage to the sound of "amens" from the crowds.
He also often faced challenges of recovery directly through his music. He alluded to that approach in 2006's Lord Give Me a Sign, in which he asks God for strength to overcome adversity.
"Devil's trying to find me. Please, hide me," he pleads before changing his stance. "Hold up, I take that back. Protect me and give me the strength to fight back."
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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I Feel Pretty
Dir: Abby Kohn/Mark Silverstein
Starring: Amy Schumer, Michelle Williams, Emily Ratajkowski, Rory Scovel
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
DUBAI WORLD CUP RACE CARD
6.30pm Meydan Classic Trial US$100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
7.05pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas Group Three $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
8.15pm Dubai Sprint Listed Handicap $175,000 (T) 1,200m
8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 Group Two $450,000 (D) 1,900m
9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,800m
10pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
The National selections
6.30pm Well Of Wisdom
7.05pm Summrghand
7.40pm Laser Show
8.15pm Angel Alexander
8.50pm Benbatl
9.25pm Art Du Val
10pm: Beyond Reason
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Company profile
Company: Rent Your Wardrobe
Date started: May 2021
Founder: Mamta Arora
Based: Dubai
Sector: Clothes rental subscription
Stage: Bootstrapped, self-funded
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 290hp
Torque: 340Nm
Price: Dh155,800
On sale: now
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
Company%20profile
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The Internet
Hive Mind
four stars
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group C
Liverpool v Napoli, midnight
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
The Lost Letters of William Woolf
Helen Cullen, Graydon House
The Dark Blue Winter Overcoat & Other Stories From the North
Edited and Introduced by Sjón and Ted Hodgkinson
Pushkin Press
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The specs: 2018 BMW X2 and X3
Price, as tested: Dh255,150 (X2); Dh383,250 (X3)
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged inline four-cylinder (X2); 3.0-litre twin-turbo inline six-cylinder (X3)
Power 192hp @ 5,000rpm (X2); 355hp @ 5,500rpm (X3)
Torque: 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (X2); 500Nm @ 1,520rpm (X3)
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic (X2); Eight-speed automatic (X3)
Fuel consumption, combined: 5.7L / 100km (X2); 8.3L / 100km (X3)
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
1. Make sure you make your payments on time;
2. Limit the number of products you borrow on: the more loans and credit cards you have, the more it will affect your credit score;
3. Don't max out all your debts: how much you maximise those credit facilities will have an impact. If you have five credit cards and utilise 90 per cent of that credit, it will negatively affect your score.
Name: Colm McLoughlin
Country: Galway, Ireland
Job: Executive vice chairman and chief executive of Dubai Duty Free
Favourite golf course: Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club
Favourite part of Dubai: Palm Jumeirah
Results
4pm: Al Bastakiya Listed US$300,000 (Dirt) 1,900m; Winner: Emblem Storm, Oisin Murphy (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
4.35pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Wafy, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 $350,000 (Turf) 1,200m; Winner: Wildman Jack, Fernando Jara, Doug O’Neill.
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
6.20pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 $400,000 (T) 1,800m; Winner: Barney Roy, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 $600,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Matterhorn, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer.
7.30pm: Dubai City Of Gold Group 2 $350,000 (T) 2,410m; Winner: Loxley, Mickael Barzalona, Charlie Appleby.
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
