Who is DMX's brother Montana? Rapper's manager from heyday of his career yet to speak out about his death
Rapper DMX's death was announced on April 9, after being hospitalized for a week, following an alleged overdose. As he battled on life support at New York's White Plains Hospital, his mother, Arnett Simmons, and an entourage of family members, including his children and other well-wishers, were lodged in and around the area, praying for his recovery.
The one person, who was surprisingly not heard of at this time, and is yet to open up about the rapper's death, is his brother Montana -- DMX's manager from his most flourishing days.
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Who is Montana?
DMX's and his brother Montana have always been believed to be very close. Montana was also very visible throughout his brother's career. As the director and president of Ruff Ryders, the hip-hop collective that DMX rolled with, Montana was also his brother's manager. Whether he still continues to hold that position is unclear, as the only Twitter account he runs has been inactive for a while. It's possible the account isn't even his, given the number of followers visible.
How DMX and Montana are related is unclear too. DMX was born as Earl Simmons to Arnett Simmons and Joe Barker. Arnett already had a two-year-old daughter at the time of DMX's birth, and later mothered another daughter and reportedly two more stillborn sons. Arnett was 19 when she had DMX and growing up, his childhood was allegedly marred by physical abuse from his mother and her boyfriends -- something that made the mother-son relationship estranged. Most bios of the rapper cite only two sisters as his siblings, and the website Nicki Swift suggests, "it's possible she [his mother] had children with other men that aren't as well known."
Montana's fight for DMX's music
Back in 2015, Seven Arts Entertainment had allegedly released the track 'Redemption Of The Beast' without DMX's permission. The label had claimed at the time that DMX was under contract with them for an older album 'Undisputed'. To show he was siding with his brother in his clash with the label, Montana had allegedly blasted DMX's music in a car ride with a journalist. He also assured the reporter that he would pass along music tapes of any aspiring artist to his brother. "There are no guarantees, that you or I can make, but you never know what X likes. If you do send anything... just make sure it sounds good, and not wack," he said.
DMX died at the age of 50 as revealed by his family via a statement. "We are deeply saddened to announce today that our loved one, DMX, birth name of Earl Simmons, passed away at 50 years old at White Plains Hospital with his family by his side after being placed on life support for the past few days," the statement read. The rapper was hospitalized on Friday, April 2, 2021, after he suffered a heart attack allegedly from a drug overdose. Soon after being put on life support, he slipped into a coma with brain function tests failing to show any improvement as his family tackled the decision to take him off life support.