Over the weekend, the family and friends of legendary rapper, DMX, paid their final respects to him during two memorials held in Brooklyn. The "Celebration of Life" ceremony took place on Saturday (Apr. 24) at the Barclays Center and the "Homegoing Service" took place on Sunday (Apr. 25) at the Christian Cultural Center, known to many as CCC.
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At Saturday's "Celebration of Life," which streamed live on his YouTube channel, the procession of X's casket being driven from Yonkers to Brooklyn on the back of a monster truck with hundreds of Ruff Ryders following was the best way to begin the bittersweet day. The memorial began with a prayer by DMX filling the air in the arena. Kanye West's Sunday Service Collection led the performances with "Back to Life," "Excellent," "Total Praise," "Sunshine," and more. All of X's 15 children were then brought on stage to speak on their late father and one of his young daughter even rapped.
Nas, who costarred and collaborated with X several times, took the stage to offer his condolences and spoke on his "longtime friend."
Before Swizz Beatz, the Ruff Ryders, Eve and The LOX spoke on their late comrade, the Sunday Service Collective aired X's prayer from Coachella and performed "Ultralight Beam." Eve expressed, "I am, seriously, the luckiest, luckiest woman in the world to have been adopted by the Ruff Ryders, but to have known DMX, the way that I knew him [...] this is so hard y'all [...] I prayed to our ancestors that his journey was smooth. I know that he will rest in power, rest in love, but most of all, he will rest in peace."
Ruff Ryders' Drag-On, teared up, expressing that "I don't exist without [DMX]." Swizz's sentiments took the internet by storm. "The things that I'm witnessing from my brother's passing, it's a big educational thing for me to learn... a lot of people ain't your friends. A lot of people ain't your family," he stated. He, then, urged everyone to do a will. Swizz stated, "You do not want strangers, bloodsuckers handling your business when you ain't here. You want the ones that you love handling your business, but Imma make sure my brother's straight. Imma make sure my brother's family and kids is straight."
Sunday's homegoing service aired live on BET and it was spiritual, heartfelt and animated as X was. The formal funeral service was led with prayer and closed with a brief sermon. It was announced by activist, Erica Ford and the NY Senate's office that December 18th, X's birthday will be officially recognized as Earl "DMX" Simmons' Day.
His goddaughter, Paige Hurd, whose first feature film was Cradle 2 The Grave playing X's daughter, spoke on their one-of-a-kind relationship. "I'm probably one of of the only children in history who has created and made her own godparents. My parents didn't choose; I chose them. We had a bond that was unmatched [...] I love him so much. I don't have many words yet because I still don't feel like this is real," she expressed. Paige, then, shared a prayer of theirs from when they first met.
After his children expressed their sentiments, remarks were made by Lyor Cohen, Russell Simmons, Stephanie Reed, Kevin Liles, Waah Dean and Lil Waah.
DMX's ex-wife, Tashera, spoke on their love story, how they met and even how she converted religions because of how he loved God. "Earl is and always will be my first love. He was my heart and soul. He was my everything, my childhood sweetheart and in some crazy way, I feel like he prepared me for this moment, [...] I'm so honored to God that he chose me to walk the journey. I feel so blessed," she expressed. Just six days before "God called him home," Tashera revealed a message from what is presumed as their last conversation. "He said, 'Tashera, you're not gonna understand this, but I'm gonna say it anyway.' He looked so deep. Earl was so deep for his own good. He said, 'I'm here for the world. God put me here for the world," she began.
Initially confused and a bit irritated, Tashera, being non-confrontational and "a representative of God," just listened. "I didn't allow my flesh to raise up even though I didn't like what I heard [...] he said, 'God birthed me to be in the world. I'm not of the world; I'm for the world," she continued.
When she finished, Tashera embraced X's fiancée, Desiree, before she took the stage to speak on their relationship.
Le'Andria Johnson brought down the house with her rendition of "Total Praise," and Faith Evans sang a medley of The Clark Sisters' "You Brought The Sunshine" and Walter Hawkins' "Goin' Up Yonder."
Kanye West's Yeezy brand partnered with Balenciaga to create a t-shirt "in tribute" of X. The shirt retailed at $200 and sold out in one day. All profits went to the Simmons' family and according to TMZ, profits totaled $1 million. Both memorials can be streamed above.
WATCH MORE: Mourners gather to remember DMX
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