Mental Health Awareness Month
“So if it takes for me to suffer for my brother to see the light, give me pain until I die, but please Lord, treat him right”
The passing of a legend at a far too young age is nothing new to rap unfortunately. DMX, Earl Simmons, died recently of more than one thing, because one thing alone couldn’t kill a man like X, but the combination of crack, fentanyl, and Covid-19 proved too much for X as he died at 50. If you didn’t know much about him, you may be inclined to blame him for his death, but if you knew his story you’d see it was a miracle he made it as far as he did. You may be familiar with his famous dog bark from his songs, but the origins are dark. His mother’s boyfriend approached him as a child to beat him yet again with a belt, only this time Earl barked at his attacker like a dog, and unnerved his attacker withdrew. It wasn’t only the men in his life as a child that treated him like less than human though. His mother once locked him in his room for 30 days straight of solitary confinement, only allowed to leave to use the bathroom as a punishment that is normally reserved on mass murderers. The trauma that that event caused is incalculable. I don’t think it is something that you ever get over, so a life filled with crime and drug use is hardly surprising when coming from an environment of extreme poverty and abuse.
“Group homes and institutions prepared my ass for jail
They put me in a situation forcin' me to be a man
When I was just learnin' to stand without a helping hand”
The fact that a boy from that environment was able to channel his trauma into music and success is astounding. DMX will always be an example of someone who overcame impossible odds trough sheer determination and talent. It is tragic that he wasn’t able to outrun his demons forever, but he got a hell of a lot farther than most would have and is missed by more people and loved by more people than a boy who grew up with no love in his house could have ever imagined.