Family and Friends Honor DMX During ‘Celebration of Life’ Memorial

A ‘Celebration of Life’ memorial service was held on Saturday, April 24th for Earl “DMX” Simmons.

The service took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The arena has a capacity of 19,000 and is home to the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. Due to health and safety guidelines, attendance was restricted to family and close friends. However, fans and supporters had the chance to tune in to the Live service on DMX’s YouTube page.

“DMX was the biggest,” Swizz Beatz shared in a video after the artist passed away. “And let me tell you why he was the biggest. He was the biggest because he prayed for everybody else…more than he did himself.”

Celebration of Life Service for DMX

Thousands of bike riders came out to honor the late rapper before the memorial service.

DMX taking his last ride through NYC pic.twitter.com/wIqrApTqDq

— 2Cool2Blog (@2Cool2BIog) April 24, 2021

The Brooklyn streets were filled with people as a monster truck made its way through the crowd. The vehicle carried DMX’s body in a red casket while playing the rapper’s portfolio of hits. The gigantic truck was painted with the words “Love Live DMX” in bold letters.

Social media users have circulated many videos to remember the moment. According to ABC 7, the truck led hundreds of motorcyclists from Yonkers to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. This procession was called “The Ruff Ryders 2 The Rescue: Ryde 4 Life.”

Long Live DMX

DMX grew up in Yonkers, a suburb north of New York City. On April 9th, the rapper died at White Plains Hospital in New York after suffering from a heart attack and being placed on life support. He was 51 years old.

A Live home-going celebration for DMX will take place on Sunday, April 25th. It will broadcast Live on BET.

Fans, friends, and family have released statements and social media posts about the late rapper’s impact.

“If Tupac was the heart of hip-hop, DMX was the soul,” aid Paradise Gray, Chief Curator of the Universal Hip Hop Museum, in a video shared by Bronx News12. “DMX was that realness, that grittiness, he didn’t create the grittiness of DMX to rap. That’s who he was.”