Livin' just enough for the city wasn't enough for a little contumacious black kid born Shawn Carter. The battered brick asbestos asylums just didn't offer the type of sophistication conducive to a Cristal-sipping lifestyle. Working some simpleton grocery bagging job fourteen hours a day wasn't the move either. So, when the lanky boy set foot on the burning sands of manhood, he left his given name of Shawn Carter and did a Lou Ferrigno/Incredible Hulk.

Jay-Z, ambitious and solution oriented in a world offering more uberous awards, found a hustle sellin' drugs. An occupation that guaranteed to get him attention from Presidents who wouldn't give him the time of day if they were alive. "A lot of kids in the ghetto are out to get 'Dead Presidents' because they don't wanna be hungry or poor. I'm not glorifying selling' drugs, because it's a hard job, and I don't recommend nobody doin' it. At the time, I didn't feel like hustlin' was goin' over the line. My intentions were good."

Robin Hood's intentions were good too, but he still went down in history as being an English outlaw instead of a Christian martyr. "Not everybody in the family was eatin' right, so I felt that I had to protect them. I had to weigh my choices...hustle or somethin'. But what? I didn't see another option. Young Black men in the ghetto don't have options, because they're surrounded in despair and depression. I didn't want to be poor."

Jay-Z is all for capitalism in it's idealistic state, get what you can while the gettin' is good- but he doesn't advocate legalizing the profession that kept his family fed. "I don't think legalizing certain drugs would be beneficial because it would be hard to control, and you can see that the government's having a hard enough time trying to control alcohol. Legalizing drugs would only prove that the government is out for what they can get in taxes instead of what's really good for people. I can't see walkin' into a store buying dope. Plus, I think people would get out of control if drugs were too accessible. Weed, that's different. It doesn't make people crazy. I better not say much more on the subject, or else I'll hear a knock on my door when this article comes out."
Lacquered with a coat of Lady Luck's elixir, Jay's never been locked up. Ask how his wrists escaped the stainless steel bracelets, and he'll downplay fortune's role and give credit to innate intelligence. "I'm smart. I'd get bored in school, 'cause I was so good at it. My sixth grade teacher was my favorite. She took the class to her house and I was like 'Wow." She was the first person I knew who had a refrigerator with an ice machine attached to it. That shows where I came from. When I left the house, I said, "I want a nice house like this-the truck, car, motorcycle, a swing in the backyard, the wife, and the kids."

Given Name : Earl Simmons
Born: Dec 18, 1970.
Birth Place: Baltimore, Maryland
Raised: Yonkers, New York
Current Residence: New Jersey
Most asked question: What does DMX stand for? Dark Man X DMX, a Yonkers MC who debuted with home-town friends the Lox on a DJ Clue mix-tape, DMX hit the big time in 1998 when his single "Get at Me Dog" became a club and radio smash. He instantly became known for ihs trademark growling and barking, that appears on almost all the tracks that he records.. According to popular belief, this arises from DMX's love of dogs. He has multiple tattooes that are based on his relationship with them. He is said to believe that dogs can be a man's only loyal friends.
A surprising fact is DMX recieved a tattoo in rememberance of one of his dogs that died after being run over by a motorist. DMX guested on tracks by L.L. Cool J, Mase and MC's but remained relatively unknown until he signed to Def Jam in 1997. DMX's debut album It's Dark & Hell Is Hot was released in May 1998. Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood followed later that same year. The release of the second album so soon after the first raised doubts about its completeness. Soon after the release, critics were silenced as many of the tracks went on to become hits, including the MTV hit "Slippin". Since then DMX has appeared on many other tracks including appearances on the Ruff Ryders, and DJ Clue's CD, and on the hit smash "It's Murda" that was a combination of the talents of DMX, Jay Z, and Ja Rule, three rappers that seem poised to take rap to levels not seen before.

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