By Dan Murphy
The Corner of School Street and Brook Street was renamed “Earl ‘DMX’ Simmons Way” in tribute to the Yonkers native on June
Raised in the Ross F. Calcagno Homes on School Street, DMX went on to become one of the most influential and successful artists in hip-hop history.
Born on December 18, 1970, DMX rose to international fame with his groundbreaking 1998 debut album It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot. Known for his unmistakable voice, raw storytelling, and deeply personal lyrics, he became the first rapper to have five consecutive albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
The Yonkers City Council approved the street renaming last month.
In July 2021, New York artist Floyd Simmons painted the mural on the street DMX once lived in memory of the Yonkers Rap legend, who passed away at the age of 50 in April 2021. The mural is located on School Street, near the Calgano Homes Municipal Housing complex where DMX once lived.
In 2021, HBO released DMX: “Don’t Try to Understand,” which is a powerful and honest film about the Yonkers born rap legend who sold 74 Million albums during his career, and is the only musician ever to have five albums debut as #1, during a time when albums were still the way to reach music lovers in the 1990’s and early 2000’s.
DMX, who died on April 9, 2021, agreed to the documentary, filmed by director Chris Frierson, which starts will his release from prison in January 2019 after serving one year for tax evasion. The film then takes you on a one-year journey through DMX’s life, his comeback, relapse, and attempts to reconcile with his family.
Frierson’s documentary flashes back to DMX’s history, as a young Earl Simmons growing up in the Yonkers housing projects, and suffering abuse from his mother that resulted in being sent to Andrus Children’s home in Yonkers, and later as a teenager, living on the streets of Yonkers.
DMX calls Yonkers, Y.O.’ and it’s the place that he always returns to, whether it be after a concert tour, or jail, or rehab. The ups, downs, kids, ex-wives, life on the road touring, making a comeback, having it all as you are about the reach the peak of fame, and then lose it all in a fall back into addiction, are a part of this film, and the wild ride of DMX.
It has you rooting for DMX during his comeback and tour, where he plays to packed crowds who want to hear the hits that take them back in time. And even in his late 40s, there is still gas in the tank for DMX to give the people what they want and leave them having a good time.
The film also accurately shows how life on the road burns out almost every performer, including DMX, who, after returning to the stage, shooting a music video, and meeting with Death Row Records, “disappears” for a few days.
The drug relapse shows how while DMX loves coming back to Yonkers, he also knows where to score drugs that he used and abused over twenty years. A few days after being unavailable to anyone, he goes into rehab in Massachusetts.
DMX had many friends in Yonkers, who said, “He is not a criminal he’s an addict,” and “He’s fighting demons just like the rest of us.” Prayers for DMX, who does believe in God and prays during his concerts, came from strangers and many of us watching.
Even though all of us knew how the story would end, we were rooting for DMX to straighten out his life, and fix his family troubles, and try to end up happy.
If you are from Yonkers, the connections to Y.O. are all over. There’s One Family Deli-Grocery on Woodworth Avenue where DMX likes to hang out during the day. And a return to the Municipal Housing projects on School Street where he grew up to hang out and play some cards and dice one n
