56 of the Best DMX Quotes – Understand his Life Through His Words

Earl Simmons, better known as DMX (December 18, 1978 – April 9, 2021), was a commercially successful and critically acclaimed East Coast Rapper. Throughout his short 50 years of life, he had a lot to say!

DMX was not always shy about expressing his opinions on anything from politics, religion, relationships, the rap game, and his own personal life and history.

Keep reading to find a wide variety of quotes from this dominant, gone-too-soon influential rapper.

Quotes to Remember DMX

1. “It’s the tough things that we go through, hard things we go through, that get us to that point where we’re better and stronger than we’ve ever been.” – DMX

2. “My relationship with God has gotten so much stronger. He’s always had his hand on me. He always guided me. I didn’t always go where he wanted me to go. But He always had me. Now that I’m actually listening and being obedient, life is so much better. “ – DMX

3. “If you’re influencing people, I think you should consider life is too precious to have them chasing the wrong things. Don’t give them jewelry, give them jewels.” – DMX

4. “If your heart was as big as your mouth you’d be real.” – DMX

5. “Many are they who have a taste and love for drawing, but no talent; and this will be discernible in boys who are not diligent and never finish their drawings with shading.” – DMX

6. “I just find myself happy with the simple things. Appreciating the blessings God gave me.” – DMX

7. “Right, wrong, good, bad, heaven, hell. I think that is the theme of my life. I think you have to know both in order to honestly choose one. So, I’m familiar with both sides of the fence.” – DMX

8. “I’m not the mixtape guy who’s gonna put out a new one every month. I’m gonna allow my albums to marinate and resonate and whatever type of ‘ates’ they can do. I’m gonna let my music grow on them.” – DMX

9. “I’m a King. Regardless of what I’ve been through and what I’ve done, I present myself as a King. And I get that respect from people, from everybody I deal with. I worked my whole life to establish that respect and make sure I get that respect.” – DMX

10. “I’m not going to disrespect you, don’t disrespect me.” – DMX

11. “When you happy ,you get locked in sleep. You get sleepy happy. I always wanna be on point. I always wanna be aware.” – DMX

12. “I know I may have done some bad things, but I’m not a bad person.” – DMX

13. “You have to have humility. You have to be able to humble yourself and know what you got, know where it came from.” – DMX

14. “The day I will never forget is the day I married my wife, Tashera. Tashera is so special to my boys and me. Her energy is enough to put anyone on a cloud. Her dedication and care gives me comfort and ease.” – DMX

15. “I’ll repent one day, just not right now.” – DMX

16. “Anything that’s not positive, I don’t have the energy to focus on it. Anything that’s not going in the right direction, I don’t have the time or the energy.” – DMX

17. “The truth doesn’t change. It was the same when Moses got the Ten Commandments as it is today. That’s the thing about the truth. That’s the thing about real. It doesn’t change and it doesn’t have to change. Now you can put it in a different book, but it’s still real. It’s still the truth.” – DMX

18. “Don’t believe everything you hear, don’t believe everything you read and only believe half of what you see.” – DMX

19. “I’ma shine regardless, my steps have already been ordained. My steps have already been written, the Lord has already written my steps out so no one can do anything to stop it.” – DMX

20. “I want ‘Flesh Of My Flesh’ to be like my connection to the community, I want to say what’s on my peoples’ minds, soak up all their pain. I’ve learned that when I take it all in, I can make one brotha’s pain be understood by the world.” – DMX

21. “Columbia tried to put me behind other groups, so I didn’t wanna wait, they let me out of the contract and I’m glad they did.” – DMX

22. “My mom put me away at 7. I enjoyed it… Being in institutions, I got three meals a day, clothes.” – DMX

23. “I used to do the beat box. A friend of mine, he was the rapper and after, we’d be doing a block party or something or a house party, and he’s gettin’ all the attention and I’d end up with a handful of spit, you know, from doing the beats.” – DMX

24. “Nothing we can’t handle, break it up and dismantle.” – DMX

25. “My mother would beat me so bad, I wouldn’t be able to sit down. And I would never snitch.” – DMX

26. “When I was a kid, nobody in my family had a car. And I didn’t have many toys. The only toys I had were the ones I would steal.” – DMX

27. “The minute you get too big to mop a floor or wipe a counter, that’s the exact minute you have life f**ed up.” – DMX

28. “When I’m at home, I don’t discuss business. I don’t talk business. I don’t answer the phone. It’s just me, my wife, my children, my dogs. That’s my world.” – DMX

29. “I’m used to driving fast; I’m a New Yorker.” – DMX

30. “To me, it isn’t tight sweaters. That’s not what rap is. That’s not hip-hop at all. Every phase went through changing up their dress styles and all that, but since Run DMC came out, it’s been baggy jeans.” – DMX

31. “It’s a waste of energy to think about what somebody else is doing and how they doing it. I’ma just do what I do.” – DMX

32. “You can’t speak for the people unless you’re able to walk amongst the people. And how many of these rappers out here actually hang out with regular people?” – DMX

33. “Right, wrong, good, bad, heaven, hell. I think that is the theme of my life. I think you have to know both in order to honestly choose one. So I’m familiar with both sides of the fence.” – DMX

34. “You don’t come to terms with something before you do it. It’s only after you’ve done it that you realize, you know, maybe that wasn’t the best thing to do. Sometimes you gotta fall down to know the feeling to get up.” – DMX

35. “Never become so involved with something that it blinds you. Never forget where you from; someone will remind you.” – DMX

36. “There shouldn’t be any violence in hip-hop. You’re getting free clothes. Basically, it’s free money. “ – DMX

37. “I’m a blessing to whoever gets to really know me.” – DMX

38. “I’m still the same. That’s why the fans love me. Because they need stability in the industry.” – DMX

39. “In my heart I mean well. But if you help me to grow, then what I have in my heart will begin to show.” – DMX

40. “One thing about being a celebrity that I learned a long time ago was that I pretty much gave up the right to fair treatment.” – DMX

Related: Nipsy Hussle’s Best Quotes

41. “I’ve read every one of Donald Goines’ books. So as soon as I heard there was an opportunity for one of his novels to be turned into a movie, I jumped at the opportunity.” – DMX

42. “My birth was a blessing. Sent to live and die on Earth; it’s a blessing. We each have a star; all you have to do is find it. Once you do, everyone sees it, you won’t be blinded.” – DMX

43. “There’s a difference between violence and senseless violence.” – DMX

44. “I can reach people the average person can’t reach because I’m as grounded as I am.” – DMX

45. “You gave us power in our words, so I think before I speak, and that way when I speak, they know I’m here to teach.” – DMX

46. “One thing that people don’t really understand is that as celebrity you rarely get fair treatment. You either get love or hate. It’s never really fair.” – DMX

47. “I’m a personal type of person. I’ll speak when I have something to say, not ’cause someone just wants to know something.” – DMX

48. “The places that ive been, the things that i have seen – what you have as nightmares, are what i have as dreams.” – DMX

49. “An important and fundamental premise of the American judicial system is the presumption of innocence, that is until proven guilty.” – DMX

50. “Just because someone raps, doesn’t mean that’s all they can do. A lot of people are multi-talented.” – DMX

51. “Some people buy records just to dance to ’em. Some people buy records to listen to the radio. And there’s people that buy records ’cause they listen to every song.” – DMX

52. “We each have a star, all you have to do is find it. Once you do, everyone sees it, you won’t be blinded. They’ll say that you’re bright and that you have a future, but when you turn your back, the same cats will shoot [you].” – DMX

53. “I’m not going to star in every one of my movies. But I’m telling you [pounds fists] what I will bring to this film industry is the same thing I brought to the record industry when I came into it. Realism. Uncompromised, unconditional dog love.” – DMX

54. “The truth is undeniable. You tell somebody the truth, it’s undeniable.” – DMX

55. “A lot of people, we want a miracle, we want a huge blessing. People will forget that a miracle will only happen on the platform of a tragedy.” – DMX

56. “My fans need me. I need me.” – DMX

See also Snoop Dogg Quotes and Mary J. Blidge Quotes

Summary

Tragically, the life of DMX is over, but he lives on through his words and music. Rest assured that DMX has made an impact on the world, including his fellow rappers. One day after he passed, a new video hit youtube called DMX – Rest in Peace.

This video has rap heavy-hitters Snoop Dogg, Method Man, Dr. Dre, and Eminem.

In honor of DMX, the New York State Senate also just declared December 18th DMX Day.

Image Credit: John Mueller, CC BY 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons