DMX’s memorial service will be held Saturday, April 24, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The Ruff Ryder rapper died on April 9, 2021, after a heart attack. His friend and frequent collaborator, Irv Gotti, interviewed with radio station 107.5 WGCI in Chicago and gave more details on X’s death. The Murder Inc. CEO was a former A&R at Def Jam Records and signed the Yonkers MC to the label.
TMZ first reported that the rapper – born Earl Simmons’ – death was caused by an overdose which triggered the heart attack. News reports also surfaced that DMX tested positive for COVID-19 although those reports were later disputed, Gotti’s interview seems to back up those initial reports.
“They said it was a bad dose of crack and they said some drug fentanyl was mixed in with the crack and that’s what made him overdose,” Irv Gotti stated in the interview. “Then when he got to the hospital, he got diagnosed with COVID and he couldn’t breathe – you know that COVID messes with your respiratory system – so that’s why he had to get hooked up to the ventilator. But they said before he did, he was, ‘His brain died.'”
Irv Gotti also explained that doctors stated that DMX was in a vegetative state and that he didn’t want his once energetic cohort to live the rest of his life like that. He also revealed that X had a lot of demons and was now at peace.
“But again, I have a feeling about it ’cause I know he’s with God. He was such a spiritually connected person that all the wrongdoings he may have done are gonna kind of be forgiven … I just feel like he’s up there, he’s at peace and he’s not fighting no demons no more and he’s in a better place. When I die, I’ll see my man again,” added Gotti.
The family confirmed that there will not be a public viewing for the Yonkers MC and that the memorials will be limited to family members and friends. The “Celebration of Life” for DMX will air Saturday at 4 p.m. on YouTube. His homegoing celebration will air live on BET on Sunday, April 25 at 2:30 p.m.
