Inside DMX's Tragic Childhood

DMX was born Earl Simmons in Mount Vernon, New York, on December 18, 1970, to parents Joe Barker and Arnett Simmons, as noted by the Houston Press. The outlet cited the rapper's 2002 autobiography, E.A.R.L., where he wrote that his father "never called me on my birthday or helped raise me at all." However, life with his mother, who was only 19 when she gave birth to him, was extremely difficult for young Earl, who was physically abused on a regular basis, even when he meant well.

Speaking to GQ in 2019, X recalled one incident where he got up at night and saw something on his mom's notebook and erased it because he thought it was "wrong." While he was trying to help her by doing this, Arnett saw things differently and reacted by giving him a vicious beating. "She beat two teeth out of my f***ing mouth with a broom," he explained. "And I think about this today, I'm like, 'OK, you saw me erase something in your notebook. What did you think I was trying to do? What could you have possibly thought I was trying to do?'"

Despite the abuse he endured, DMX told GQ that he had forgiven his mother for treating him the way she did. While he admitted that it was hard for him to move on from what happened to him as a child, he stressed that people can only forgive themselves once they've learned to forgive those who had previously wronged them.

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