Jim Jones on why DMX live performances were so legendary
(Credit: Mika-photography)

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Jim Jones on why DMX live performances were so legendary

Former Dipset rapper Jim Jones recently took time to reflect on the late DMX and his legendary performances in an in-depth interview with the online magazine hiphopdx.

Jones, now part of The Lobby Boyz alongside his close friend Maino, spoke about his fond memories of the late rapper and all the time he spent around him and his crew, The Ruff Ryders.

About the time he spent around the late rapper’s crew, he delved deep, explaining, “Shit, I got hella Ruff Ryder memories. We kind of started with Dee (real name Darrin Dean)”.

Whilst talking about how Dean helped him and his cohort in the early stages of their careers, Jones explained how, before his mainstream success, the rapper managed his former crew member Ma$e revealing he “was managing Ma$e before Ma$e even got a deal.”

However, Jones’ most precious memories seemed to come from when he toured with Dean and saw his rip-roaring performances that sent fans wild. Reminiscing, he recalled the period as he divulged, “I remember being on tour with DMX when we first went out on tour with Cam’ron, and watching DMX perform was so crazy because he would come out and do 60, 90 minutes set.”

The rapper continued to disclose how, after shows, Dean would “collapse about to have an asthma attack. Every night it would happen. And he had crazy asthma.”

Jones tirelessly explained how much energy the late rapper had, simply stating, “that boy was going wham on every show, every night” and even went as far as to say that Dean “paved the way for a lot of us”.

Moving the focus to Dean’s impact on hip hop in the city of New York and his legacy, Jones admitted that, especially for Harlem, “it definitely hit us hard to lose DMX who had done so much for the culture.”

In an emotional end to the segment, Jones paid tribute to Dean by remarking, “I got to see how special he was just in the beginning of everybody’s career. Just being next to him on stage every night, that man was special.”

You can watch the full interview below.