Illuminati: why DMX was sceptical about signing to Rick Ross
Legendary hip-hop artist DMX is celebrated for his distinctive sound across the genre, merging raw and unflinchingly intense storytelling across his lyricism with hard, heated delivery. Credited for lyrics so violent it brought the horrorcore subgenre into the mainstream, DMX was also a born-again Christian, who, after finding Jesus during a stint in prison, aspired to become a pastor.
And yes: the rapper is also known for his many multiple times spent in prison. A seriously impressive thirty, if not perhaps even higher. Thankfully, Christ was famously unjudgemental.
So what does one do with a seriously talented rapper that keeps on finding himself in jail? Attempt to sign him apparently. Well, if you’re Rick Ross, that is.
In an exclusive interview with Vibe Magazine while he was one month out of being freed from a year-long sentence, DMX revealed that Rick Ross and his people got in touch and sent a letter while he was doing his time.
“Yeah, like, ‘yo, we got a home for you,” DMX said in the 2011 interview. “We’ll pick you up in a limo. Just come to Miami. Just come, we got you.” And yet there was an unfortunate obstacle between DMX signing with the famed Miami hip-hop artist.
“I’m thinking about it,” DMX explained. “It was a good feeling. I respect him as an artist, and I would like to work with him. But he got the whole Illuminati thing going on. I got fans who write me like ‘I’m glad you’re not a part of that.’ And I don’t know what it’s really about entirely. So it might be like a good thing.”
“That would be a crazy power move if you guys joined up,” the interviewer said.
“I have respect for him and he expressed interest that he wanted to work with me while I was out,” the rapper replied. “So I definitely want do a song with him, but I don’t know about the record label thing. I would have to see what his camp is like and feel people out. I’m not the average artist.”
Conspiracy theories claiming that Rick Ross is in any way linked to the Illuminati have been a long-standing fixture in hip-hop culture. It’s something that the rapper has explicitly denied, but has had his fair share of fun with, saying he thinks it’s flattering to be associated with the great power and wealth associated with the so-called Illuminati members.
And in his ‘The Devil Is A Lie’ track, featuring Jay-Z (another fellow alleged Illuminati member), Jay-Z himself discusses how rumours of being part of the elite cabal is a compliment. “Gotta be Illuminati if a n*gga shine,” Jay-Z declares. “Oh we can’t be a n*gga if a n*gga rich? Oh we gotta be the devil, that’s some n*gga shit.”
DMX released his final official studio album, Disputed, the year after the interview. In 2015, a release titled Redemption of the Beast surfaced, allegedly without his permission. And in 2021, DMX tragically died due to a heart attack triggered by acute cocaine intoxication, something the rapper had been struggling with since he was 14 years old.