DMX, whose birth name was Earl Simmons, died at White Plains Hospital with family by his side. His passing has led to fans sharing memories of his music, his quotes and attitude to life.
Comments he made about former President Barack Obama also resurfaced on Friday with social media users pointing to a 2008 interview DMX gave to XXL magazine where he spoke about the presidential race.
In the interview published on March 14, 2008, DMX said he hadn’t hear of Obama, who was then a senator from Illinois and competing with New York Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
“You know there’s a Black guy running, Barack Obama and then there’s Hillary Clinton,” the interviewer said.
“His name is Barack?!” DMX asked.
The interviewer told him that that was the senator’s name but he expressed incredulity, saying: “What the f**k is a Barack?! Barack Obama. Where he from, Africa?”
The interviewer then explained that Obama’s father was originally from Kenya, while DMX continued to question the Democrat’s name.
“What the fk?! That ain’t no fkin’ name, yo. That ain’t that [n-word]’s name. You can’t be serious. Barack Obama. Get the f**k outta here,” he said.
“You’re telling me you haven’t heard about him before,” the interview asked.
“I ain’t really paying much attention,” DMX replied.
“I mean, it’s pretty big if a Black…” the interviewer began but DMX jumped in.
“Wow, Barack! The [n-word]’s name is Barack. Barack? [N-word] named Barack Obama. What the fk, man?! Is he serious? That ain’t his fkin’ name. Ima tell this [n-word] when I see him, ‘Stop that bullst. Stop that bullst,’” DMX laughed, according to the original article.
“That ain’t your f**kin’ name. Your momma ain’t name you no damn Barack.”
He went on to express skepticism that a Black president would be “huge” for the country when the question was put to him.
“I mean, I guess,” DMX said. “What, they gon’ give a dog a bone? There you go. Ooh, we have a Black president now. They should’ve done that st a long time ago, we wouldn’t be in the fkin’ position we in now. With world war coming up right now. They done fked this st up then give it to the Black people, ‘Here you take it. Take my mess.’”
“It’s all a fkin’ setup. It’s all a setup. All fkin’ bullst. All bullst. I don’t give a f**k about none of that,” he said.
At the time of the interview, Obama and Clinton were essentially running neck-and-neck for the Democratic nomination. The Super Tuesday primaries had taken place on February 5 but Obama wouldn’t secure enough delegates to win the nomination until June.
