Stepping On Faith

INTRO

The world is about to witness one of the greatest comebacks of all entertainment history. Earl Simmons, better yet known as DMX, is making a strong return to the game he once dominated during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Releasing his last LP in 2015, ‘Redemption of the Beast’ was the last project we’d heard from the dog for a few years. Day one hip-hop fans familiar with DMX’s breakout era recall that this is one of hip-hop’s legends from the East Coast, paving the way for the next generation. The only music artist in history to have their first five albums debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, he re-designed the direction of hip-hop and went on to solidify himself as one of the culture’s biggest artists of all time. Released in January 2019 from a short stint in prison for tax evasion, DMX is hitting the industry hard with the same hunger he possessed in the beginning of his career when he broke records and made history with Def Jam Records. Working on new music, national tours, and heading back to the big screen. Booked to act in a new movie with movie producer Steve Stanulis immediately after his release, X invited us to come and sit down with him for a Q&A while they shot a few scenes. Xavier “CompleX” Prue — Editor of P.I.F.F. Magazine — received the incoming phone call and invitation on his 34’th birthday and said that it was a dream come true to meet one his favorite rappers of all time. We met him on a private location in upstate New York where they were filming for new scenes for Steve Stanulis’ “Chronicles of a Serial Killer”. The sun glaring in our eyes as we rolled up onto the film set, we entered a shipyard where we could see marines working off in the distance. The weather was warm and the sun was out bright and illuminating, making the moment even more special. The first thing DMX expressed was, “P.I.F.F. Magazine? I heard of y’all. I have a son named Xavier — that’s a great name and I respect the cause your magazine is pushing, so I want to help y’all.” It was definitely an honor to sit down and spend a few hours with such a legend who remained humble the entire time. Releasing this iconic interview for the first time, we invite you to a P.I.F.F. conversation with one of hip-hop’s biggest icons and put a stamp behind his return to hip-hop. Nobody has nor will ever be able to prevent DMX’s purpose from being fulfilled and as he steps out on faith once again for God, he shows us how he’s able to turn his tests into Testimony…

THE INTERVIEW

PIFF: What the hell happened to you? One minute, I’m watching you take the world by storm, the next minute you disappear, and we see you’re in and out of jail… that was the old X, not the artist you developed — how’d you end up getting knocked off your pivot?

DMX: See, that’s the issue right there — that s#*t right there is the problem with why the fans could never understand how this game does you… at the end of the day, I’m still human, you understand what I’m sayin’? There’s this misconception that once you become a celeb, life just becomes perfect. When I go home at night, after a show or whatever, ya mean — it’s not DMX I’m looking at in the mirror — it’s Earl. It’s a lot of pressure on us as stars. Everyone expects me to be this perfect role model and I’m not… like, I go through issues just like anyone else and sometimes as people, we fall apart. What do you think? Millions of dollars makes all your problems go away? It creates more problems and then, you’re in a situation where you not even controlling your money and how it’s spent , so I got all this money, but it’s tied up in budgets and they giving me whatever they want, trying to keep me under control. It’s a lot of pressure. Sometimes, I just want to say “f*%k it” and walk away from it all. It’s not always greener on the other side…

PIFF: I feel you. So, if that’s the case, then why come back to it? Why not do something else?

DMX: What else am I goin’ do? Become a school teacher? Na mean? This is all I’ve known my whole life, all I’ve done for the past 30 years of my life — there is no ‘something else’. The world knows DMX. So, that’s the mask I gotta put on each day I walk out the house. I can’t become a cashier — go sell cars. I’ve already stepped through a portal I can’t go back to. This is the dog. DMX. It is who I am. I’ve already submitted to my destiny.

PIFF: Dark Man X…

DMX: Well, yea, that’s how it began. These days, it’s more like Light Man X because I’m seeing things clearer now…

PIFF: As far as what?

** At that moment, a group of sailors approaches our table and each sailor begins asking DMX for an autograph and/ or picture. DMX breaks from our interview and takes the time out to personally address each sailor in an individual manner and spends a few minutes with each of them, taking pictures, signing autographs, and answering questions. **

DMX: You know, that right there… that’s the reason why I still do it. For the fans. Because you never know what people are going through and the ones who still support since day one, I’ll always take time out my day for them because you never know if that five-minute interaction might’ve just saved their life — maybe they were having suicidal thoughts or something and just me saying what's might change their mind….

PIFF: See, that’s why I always respected you, because you always stayed humble and kept it real — even after all these years, you never forgot where you came from…

DMX: Dog. I can’t. The minute I forget is the minute it all falls apart.

PIFF: So, you were saying earlier that you see things clearer these days — as far as how?

DMX: Well, I can’t really get all into it right here, but how can I explain? I’m just saying that I understand how this GAME works now… and that’s all it is… a big game, you feel me?

PIFF: Yes, I somewhat understand what you’re saying…

DMX: Nah, I don’t know if you really do, though. Listen, I bought all my s#!t and still owe someone, still don’t have control over my own music, and I paid for it all. And that’s just scratching the surface. Everything they show us is an illusion. All we can do is trust in God.

PIFF: You’ve always been on a Calling for God ever since day one. Do you ever see yourself going into ministry?

DMX: I’ve thought about it, but I’m not rushing it, either. I have a purpose here and when it is in alignment with His timing, everything will come together the way it should, but I’m just moving on God’s time. There’s definitely a vision of me in ministry though. Preaching, leading, I haven’t figured it out yet.

PIFF: Have you been back in the studio lately?

DMX: Of course. The studio is my second home and I’ve been putting something together that’s in the works for the fans.

PIFF: Do you ever see yourself going back to Def Jam?

DMX: [If I could go back to Def Jam] that would be powerful. I was Def Jam before I was Def Jam and I put out my best work with them. Together, all we do is make hits. So, yeah, I could definitely see that vision. Me and Swizz just reconnected and are working on putting some plans together, so we’ll see what happens.

PIFF: Tell us a little bit about the movie you guys are shooting here. You’re playing a detective in this role, right? How’s it feel to be playing a cop?

DMX: It feels good being on the other side of the fence, I’ll tell you that. But, all jokes aside, Steve [Stanulis] is a great guy and a good friend, so when he asked me to join the cast, I was all-in. I love acting almost as much as I love rapping and it’s been a while since I’ve been able to, so this was an opportunity I knew I wanted to jump on just to have some fun.

PIFF: That’s good. So, what can you tell us about the movie?

DMX: Well, I can tell you that it’s called ‘Chronicles of a Serial Killer’. I play Detective White and I’m hunting down a crazy serial killer. Anything else, you’re gonna have to watch and see, you know… but you can tell from the couple scenes you saw us shoot today, it’s definitely goin’ be official.

PIFF: Definitely. How has success changed for you? When you’re broke and coming from the hood, you just wanna make it out the struggle… what are the goals now?

DMX: You know what’s funny? I really don’t make goals, I just go where God tells me to go, but my purpose never changed, really. My aim was always to feed the hood. I did that in Yonkers. In New York. I did that in Arizona. In Phoenix. You know what I’m saying? But, I didn’t do it around the world yet. There’s still millions of starving children over there and nobody taking care of them. We can have mansions and cars and all this shiny s#!t, but why the f^&k are there poor children over there starving in the same land where you have Kings and Queens? I will never feel successful until that type of s#!t changes. It’s time for us [as a people] to start taking responsibility and I’m about to start pointing fingers soon. I never been too political, but enough is enough.

PIFF: How do you think we could turn it around?

DMX: It has to start with the people. If I’m the only one trying to make a difference, it’s not going to work. And then you see what happens next. If we came together on one cause, we would be unstoppable. But, they don’t hear me, though.

PIFF: Is it hard trying to translate this from your heart and vision to music?

DMX: It’s not hard to translate. Music is my second language. Maybe my first, actually. Music was probably my first language and English my second. But, when you translate it like you say, does the listener take it in the same way? That’s up to the fans. That’s why I have so much love for all my fans that continue to rock with me through all my battles because I see they actually understand the message I’m putting out. We were stronger back then [with Def Jam], but we goin’ get back to where it needs to be.

PIFF: What was your favorite song you’ve done in your career?

DMX: I really don’t have one. They’re all my favorites because they all came out exactly how they needed to at the exact time they needed to come out. This is not a game to me, this is my life… music is my therapy instead of going to pay some nosy lady $50 an hour to talk about “my issues”. Streets relate and understand dog. So, each song hits me differently. But, if I had to choose, ‘Slippin’ was my rock-bottom come up story and it pulled me out of a dark place and saved my life at that time, plus it led to my second platinum album, so… but… ‘I Miss You’ — the song ‘bout my grandma — ‘Get At Me Dog’ — my breakout single — ‘What’s My Name?’ … ‘Party Up’ … It’s all the same to me because it all relates to where I was coming from in that moment in my life. My music is not just for the moment, it’s forever…

PIFF: ‘Slippin’ was one of my favorite tracks you ever did. You also did that song in a different format than any other songs. Why did you release it as a radio edit version where they kept bleeping out things you were discussing such as your drug issues and your testimony as an adolescent and young adult?

DMX: ‘Slippin’ was a sample from Grover Washington Jr. and part of the clearance agreement was that the song couldn’t have any type of profanity or related explicit references, so that’s what made that track come out differently the way it did and it become one of my most classic tracks.

PIFF: Anything we should be expecting from the dog?

DMX: Well, new music will be on the way. Might even do a feature with some of the new artists out. Planning some shows and tour ideas, so we’ll see what happens. I trust in God, so I only really ever take this thing one day at a time, but show love like you always have and you will see everything as it unfolds.

PIFF: As day one fans, you already know we will!

EDITOR’S NOTE: This rare and exclusive interview was conducted on my 34th birthday on July 2, 2019, one month after sending out an industry request to interview him upon his release from prison. My request was granted by Irmaliz Soto and I was only able to achieve this milestone moment by my once-close friend Pamela “PJ” Johnson sending me a CashApp to make it to the shoot location.

When I received the call after a long 3-day promotion of John Blassingame’s iconic Fashion All-Star Weekend in New Jersey, I hopped right out of my guy Nick’s car on the highway and accepted the interview request. At the time, DMX was a free agent and was able to grant P.I.F.F. Magazine 100% full rights to this media interview and press release. It was originally put on ice until the release of “Chronicles of A Serial Killer” and was scheduled for print by beginning of 2020. After Covid happened, X was re-signed to Def Jam Records and Def Jam & P.I.F.F. began negotiating the terms of the interview release, then set to be towards the end of 2020.

After P.I.F.F. Magazine collapsed following the effects of the pandemic and DMX passed away shortly after in April 2021, this interview was once again frozen until the legal battle over DMX’s estate was finalized. Now, a long 4 years later, I have finally received the permission to release this iconic interview on all of my desired promotional platforms. Regardless of whatever happens in the rest of my career here moving forward, this will forever by my greatest interview of all time and a stamp on my career ambitions. If I die today, I die a happy man for I was able to meet my biggest role model growing up and I was able to achieve my wildest dreams that year. 2019 will forever be my greatest year of my entire industry career. Thank you to all of my supporters forever and always!

Truly,

Piff Magz.

7–2–2023

© 2019 Positive Influence For the Future. All Rights 100% Reserved.

No portion of this article may be copied, reproduced, redistributed, promoted, or replicated on any platforms without prior written permission from Positive Influence For the Future Magazine [P.I.F.F. Magazine] and/ or Xavier “Piff Magz” Prue.