Aside from his iconic ATVs and dirtbikes, one thing DMX is known for is his many pit bulls. Many of them are featured in his music videos, and one of his dogs even became the artwork of the Yonkers’ emcee’s fifth studio album, Grand Champ, in 2003.
However, the love for his canines goes far deeper than just his music videos and photo shoots. According to New York battle rap legend Murda Mook, DMX (real name Earl Simmons) had one of his dogs feature on a track.
During an appearance on the Drink Champs podcast with Noreaga and DJ EFN, Murda Mook (real name John Ancrum) spoke about his relationship with Simmons and recalled when the ‘Ruff Ryders’ musician battled Den10 in Harlem.
Remembering the story, Ancrum recalled, “He had his dog. So, he battling on the corner and all the niggas around him. He battled Den on the block on 121st, right, Seventh Avenue.” Mook unveiled that for the entirety of the lyrical clash, DMX’s pit bull was quiet but recalled Simmons mentioning his dog in a line after which it growled on cue as part of the bar, and the Grammy-nominated rapper hopped right back into the freestyle.
Hosts Noreaga and DJ EFN couldn’t believe it, but Murda Mook insisted DMX had a verse for which he had trained the pit bull to growl and prepare for attack, then subside. However, this is not the only story about how much DMX interacted with his dogs.
In an interview with Nick Cannon, Jadakiss of The Lox revealed that, in his youth, DMX used to rob people in Yonkers with his dog Boomer, which was aggressive, to say the least. Opening up about the canine, Jada unveiled, “He loves all of them. But he had a dog Boomer, it was dangerous. You ever see him, with Boomer, you know he’s robbing everything with his dog. Not armed robbery, dog robbery.”
It is well-known that even when he moved from the projects of Yonkers into a mansion, Simmons kept his dogs and had a special luxury pound made for them. You can watch Murda Mook speak about the rap battle in the video below.