Earl Simmons was born on December 18, 1970, in Mount Vernon, New York.^[11] He was the son of 19-year-old Arnett Simmons and 18-year-old Joe Barker.^[12] Simmons was the middle child of the family; his mother had given birth to a daughter, Bonita, two years prior, and later gave birth to one daughter, Shayla, and two stillborn sons.^[1] His father, Barker, painted watercolor paintings of street scenes to sell at local fairs, having moved to Philadelphia to fulfill his career.^[13]

In his childhood years, Simmons first suffered from physical violence at the hands of his mother and was diagnosed with bronchial asthma.^[1][13]He was raised as a Jehovah's Witness. He disassociated himself from the spirituality after he was injured in an accident by a driver.^[1] At the age of five, his mother sent him to live with relatives in Yonkers' School Street housing apartments.^[14][1][13] After suffering from his mother's abuse, he was expelled from a middle school at the age of ten, having been sent to a group home. He then returned to Yonkers at age fifteen, sleeping in empty storage bins and befriending stray dogs.^[1][15] Due to poor grades at Yonkers Middle High School, Simmons was unable to finish his track and field team schedule.^[13] Broke, he robbed several students to find food and clothing for himself, as well as a leather collar and harness for his pet dog.^[1] He began carjacking.^[13]

His career began in 1985, when he beatboxed for a local rapper named Ready Ron. They would do small shows together where Ron would perform as a rapper, and DMX would beatbox and provide adlibs. After some time, he realized Ron was becoming more prominent on the scene, so he decided to start rapping himself under the name "DMX"—an initialism for "Divine Master Of the Unknown" and later "Darkman X".^[1] After serving a two-year prison sentence, he began writing his own lyrics and performing at the local recreation center for younger children. In 1988, while in prison for carjacking, he began dedicating more of his free time to writing lyrics and battling other inmates.^[1] During this time, he had created a style called "Spellbound" where he spelled each word out letter by letter. He and future rival, K-Solo, engaged in battles.^[1]

He later made an appearance on The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show in January 1991, where he provided a freestyle.^[16] The Sourcepraised DMX in its Unsigned Hype column that highlighted unsigned hip-hop artists.^[17] In 1991, DMX signed a management deal with the then-unknown record label Ruff Ryders Entertainment. Later that year, Columbia Records signed DMX to its subsidiary labels Chaos Records and Ruffhouse Records, which released his major debut single "Born Loser" in 1993.^[18] Failing to meet commercial projections and not reaching any music charts, he was then terminated from his contract with Ruffhouse and became an independent artist.^[1]

In January 1994, Death Row Records attempted to sign the rapper in a joint venture with Ruff Ryders, although this never materialized.^[1]

After two years of struggling in the industry, his friend and associate, Irv Gotti, became the president of A&R at Def Jam Recordings. After showcasing for then-president Lyor Cohen, DMX was signed to Def Jam Recordings in May 1997.^[1]

DMX recorded tracks from April 1997 to January 1998 for his debut album. During this time, his guest appearances on Mase's singles "24 Hrs. to Live" and "Take What's Yours", The Lox's single "Money, Power & Respect", and Def Jam labelmate LL Cool J's single "4, 3, 2, 1" created a strong buzz for his upcoming album.^[2] In February 1998, he released his debut major-label single "Get at Me Dog" on Def Jam Recordings. The single received an RIAA certification of gold.^[19] His first major-label album It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, which included the single "Ruff Ryders' Anthem", was then released in May 1998. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard200 chart in the U.S. and sold over six million copies.^[20] In December 1998, he released his album Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and went multi-platinum.^[18] DMX became the only rapper alive to have his first two consecutive number-one Billboard 200 albums within a one-year period (seven months by calculation) and the first since Tupac Shakur;^[21][22] DMX's record would later be surpassed two different times in 2020 by YoungBoy Never Broke Again, who made the number one position with two albums in six months (a month down by proxy, making it the fastest) and also had three number one albums in ten months between 2019 and 2020, also beating another Billboard record by DMX involving a quantity of number one rap albums within a year.^[21]

He released his third album ... And Then There Was X, on December 21, 1999.^[23] It was his third album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. Its most popular single, "Party Up (Up in Here)", became his first top ten hit on the R&Bcharts, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 2001 Grammy Awards.^[24] The album was certified six-times Platinum, and was also nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2001 Grammy Awards.^[2][24] In 2000, DMX also made a cameo appearance in the Sum 41 music video for "Makes No Difference".^[25]

In late 2000, he joined other Hip Hop and Nu Metal artists on the Anger Management Tour. Appearing alongside Limp Bizkit, Godsmack and Sinnistar for the second half of the tour from November 24 to December 19, 2000.^[26]

After improving his legal situation, DMX returned to the studio to complete his fourth album, The Great Depression. With its release on October 23, 2001, it was his fourth album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, featuring the singles "Who We Be", "We Right Here", and "I Miss You". Despite the album's triple platinum certification, its commercial and critical success was lower than his previous album.^[2] His fifth album, Grand Champ, released in September 2003, once again debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming his final album in his lifetime to do so. It sold over four million in the U.S., including the singles "Where the Hood At?" and "Get It on the Floor". After its release, he informed the public that he planned to retire, intending for Grand Champ to be his final album.^[27]

After conflict with Def Jam, and in exchange for signing Nas (his Belly co-star) to the label in a de facto trade, DMX signed to Columbia Records, Def Jam's former parent company, in January 2006, returning to the label since 1992. He recorded his sixth album, Year of the Dog... Again, while switching between the two labels, which caused numerous delays.^[28] It was released on August 1, 2006, and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200.^[29] He released two more singles, "Lord Give Me a Sign" and "We in Here". The album received mixed reviews from critics.^{[citation needed]} On June 12, 2007, Def Jam released his greatest hits album, The Definition of X: The Pick of the Litter.^[2]

In 2009, DMX claimed he would pursue preaching in Jersey City, New Jersey as well as continue to produce music. He completed a Gospel musicalbum prior to his incarceration. According to MTV, he had semi-retired to study the Bible in an effort to give messages behind the pulpit.^[30] Def Jam released another compilation album in 2010 titled The Best of DMX, which features hit singles including "Where the Hood At?" and "X Gon' Give It to Ya".^[31][32]

On October 11, 2011, DMX performed at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards. He stated that he has been working "nonstop, every day" on his seventh album, which was titled Undisputed.^[33] A video for a new track titled "Last Hope" was released via the Internet on September 24, 2011, and was later included on The Weigh In EP released digitally on May 5, 2012. In late February 2012, Seven Arts Pictures acquired the catalog of DMX's music and signed DMX to a two-album deal.^[34] During a performance at New York's Santos Party House on December 25, 2011, DMX stated that the new album would be titled Undisputed and would be released on March 26, 2012. After numerous delays,^[35][36] the album was eventually released on September 11, 2012, and featured production from Swizz Beatz and J.R. Rotem with a guest appearance by MGK.

In 2013, DMX announced he had begun working on his eighth studio album. He collaborated with producers Swizz Beatz^[37] and Dame Grease. In December, after regaining his passport, he embarked on a world tour with performances in Bulgaria and Kosovo.^[38][39] On January 7, 2015, Seven Arts Music announced that DMX would be releasing Redemption of the Beast the following week; however, close personal friend and recurring collaborator producer/rapper/entrepreneur Swizz Beatz and DMX's management confirmed that this was false.^[40][41] On January 13, 2015, Seven Arts Music released Redemption of the Beast, without acquiring a legal artist contract. On January 15, 2015, it was announced by DMX's brother/manager Montana that DMX was no longer signed to Seven Arts Music and that they would be taking legal action against Seven Arts Music for the unauthorized release of Redemption of the Beast.^[42][43]

Long-time collaborator Swizz Beatz stated that two of the collaborators on the album would be Kanye West and Dr. Dre.^[44] His 2003 song "X Gon' Give It to Ya" was featured in the 2016 film Deadpool and in its trailers. On June 28, 2016, DMX released a new song titled "Blood Red" and produced by Divine Bars.^[45] On January 11, 2017, DMX released a new song produced by Swizz Beats titled "Bain Iz Back".^[46] On September 20, 2019, DMX signed a new record deal with Def Jam Recordings, reuniting with the label for the first time since his 2003 album Grand Champ.^[47]He joined fellow labelmate, LL Cool J, in the reunion with the label.^[48]