DMX

DMX began rapping in the late 1990s. After an unsuccessful tenure on Columbia Records, he signed with Ruff Ryders Entertainment in a joint venture with Def Jam Recordings to release his debut studio album, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998), which was met with critical and commercial success—selling 251,000 copies in its first week and spawning the Billboard Hot 100-top 20 single, "Ruff Ryders' Anthem". His second album, Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood (1998), was followed by his third, ... And Then There Was X (1999), which became his best-selling release and was supported by his second top 40 single, "Party Up (Up in Here)". His fourth album, The Great Depression (2001), was followed by his fifth, Grand Champ (2003), which was led by the single "Where the Hood At?" and included the international bonus track "X Gon' Give It to Ya". DMX became the first artist to have their first five albums consecutively debut atop the Billboard 200, and by his death on April 9, 2021, he had sold over 75 million records worldwide.
DMX acted in commercially successful films such as Belly (1998), alongside rapper Nas, Romeo Must Die (2000) and Cradle 2 the Grave (2003), alongside Jet Li, and Exit Wounds (2001), alongside Steven Seagal. In 2006, he starred in the reality television series DMX: Soul of a Man, which was primarily aired on the BET cable television network. In 2003, he published a book of his memoirs titled E.A.R.L.: The Autobiography of DMX.