DMX: Don’t Try to Understand

Courtesy HBO

By Michael Silver

The latest installment from Music Box, a collection of documentary films created by Bill Simmons exploring pivotal moments in the music world, released on Thanksgiving day.

DMX: Don’t Try to Understand, directed by Christopher Frierson, focuses on a year in the life of rapper Earl Simmons, better known as DMX, upon his release from prison in early 2019.

The film begins in Glenville, West Virginia, when Simmons walks out of the penitentiary and greeted warmly by his manager and friends. He lights up a cigarette and flashes the perfect smile.

Courtesy HBO

A cultural icon, DMX launched into hip-hop lore starting in 1998. Since then, he has sold over 74 million albums worldwide. So how did a man of his stature end up incarcerated for tax evasion? According to the IRS in 2017, he withheld paying nearly $2 million in taxes. He received a one-year sentence and three years of probation.

“The government came calling,” as Simmons proclaims in an early scene. Almost immediately after returning to his roots of New York, the rapper has a meeting with Def Jam to ink a new record deal. Always the family man, the artist is seen with his fiancé and young son riding the elevator, dreading necessary lawyer heavy contract talks.

The documentary follows him along the journey, later visiting his local New York deli, catching up with friends on the corner. One scene standing out as powerful and reflective, shows DMX in the Yonkers projects (where he grew up), sharing wisdom with the youth.

Courtesy HBO

“Turn that pain into words,” he confides with a young man describing his daily struggles. You can feel the emotional connection fans have with Earl Simmons the human, not solely the artist.

Later we see footage from the infamous Woodstock ’99 music festival, Simmons in his red overalls commanding the massive crowd. Fast forward to April 2019, as the rapper recites gospel during Kanye West’s Sunday Service at Coachella. “That was an example, at the height of his powers, how big he was,” says Frierson.

Courtesy HBO

During the year-long project, DMX hits the road from small night clubs to major fests, such as Miami’s Rolling Loud. Fans recite his lyrics in perfect harmony and wild out to classics like “Ruff Ryder’s Anthem.”

At one point, fans begin to invade his personal space asking for autographs and photo ops. “More often than not, he’s receptive to those sorts of things. That tour was crazy,” Frierson observed. “For a 50-year-old man to go on a 35-city tour fresh out of jail, it’s a lot.”

Another pivotal moment comes from Xavier Simmons, the rapper’s eldest son. He strums a guitar, singing in the woods. Reflecting on his life and growing up in the shadows of a famous father, he questions how to deal with the celebrity stature amongst peers.

Further along, Simmons shoots a music video with executive producer Swizz Beatz on hand. It’s the lead single to Exodus, from his posthumous record released in May 2021.

The highs and lows begin to creep in, as Simmons attends a rehab facility in Massachusetts. He later disappears and no-shows a scheduled photo shoot. You can sense trouble is inevitably around the corner.

Courtesy HBO

“The intention of the film was to really capture that one year in his life. A time capsule,” Frierson explains. “I could have kept on shooting, but we realized we needed to keep this thing as one year in one man’s life.”

Earl Simmons passed away on April 9th, 2021, officially from a cocaine-induced heart attack. The film depicts the man as a father, friend, and artist rediscovering himself.

“Earl and I talked about it being much more than a film about him,” Frierson divulged. “It’s about family, addiction, abuse, poverty. All things most Americans have some sort of connection with. it’s not a traditional hip-hop doc, it’s a human doc.”

DMX: Don’t Try to Understand is streaming now on HBO Max.

Michael Silver is a journalist based in Southern California. He covers music, sports, style, and enjoys the art of story telling.

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