It’s been less than two weeks since DMX’s heartbreaking passing, but celebrities and fans alike are still keeping the legendary rapper’s name alive and reminiscing on their time with him.
One person that was asked about DMX’s death is life coach and TV personality Iyanla Vanzant. DMX was one of her guests on a 2013 episode of “Iyanla, Fix My Life,” where she helps to heal families and couples’ relationships. But during that episode, he and Vanzant bumped heads on the show and the episode did not end well.
Last week, while speaking to the hosts on the “Karen Hunter Show,” Vanzant reflected on her feelings “upon hearing about his death.” She said, “He’s free. He is free. The end of this physical existence and experience takes us into a whole other experience. And the thing that I’ve always said about him is that he was anointed, but he was never consecrated. This was a young man who grew up in the streets from the age of 7, 8, 9. Never really had a father. His mother wasn’t really in his life. The soft spot in his life was his grandmother.”
Vanzant went on to talk about exploring the topic of his grandmother’s love with DMX. She said, “I remember those soft spots where he talked about his grandmother. And I said to him, ‘Why isn’t her love enough to sustain you?’ And part of it, Karen, is because he comes from a time and an age when our young men were paid to be dysfunctional. Everybody knew the whole culture and environment with the guns, the sex, and the drugs. That’s how we lost Biggie, Tupac, so many others. That’s the culture he came from. So he was paid to remain in his dysfunction. But he’s free now.”
“My heart goes out to all of his children, particularly Xavier because I worked with him and Xavier,” she continued. Xavier was there to work on mending his relationship with his father DMX. But as Vanzant tried to help Xavier explain to DMX how the “Ruff Ryders” rapper was being what he called “hostile” when he was a child, DMX went off on Vanzant and stormed off.
Vanzant added, “My prayer is his anointing now becomes full so we can honor and venerate him as an ancestor. But he’s free, so praise God. He’s a cautionary tale, and my hope is that the young people coming up who grow from his music, who look to his music will take precautions, so they don’t make the same mistakes he did and so they don’t allow the entertainment industry to squeeze their life out of them as they’re being celebrated for levels of dysfunction.”
Although Vanzant believes DMX was “anointed,” she was also sure to draw “a clear boundary with him,” when they were on her show together. “Because even though I know that he had a substance issue, I wasn’t going to allow that to excuse some of the behavior. And I think as women that’s what we do sometimes.”
The 67-year-old also said now is the time to celebrate DMX, not condemn him for his past behavior. She said, “He’s free now and there are no grievances. There’s nothing to forgive. He’s got 11 children that now don’t have a father. So let’s just lift him. Let’s go back to our culture. Let’s beat a drum for him, say a prayer for him, light a candle for him. Let’s lift up, not DMX and the dysfunction that he did, let’s lift up Earl Simmons. Let’s lift him. Because I don’t think the creator is going to say, ‘Welcome to this side, DMX.’”
DMX’s memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 24 at the Barclays Center in New York at 4. P.M.
After almost 10 years of fixing people’s lives, Vanzant is saying goodbye to her show and fans. She said one reason why she has decided to walk away is due to the level of scrutiny and unkind words she was receiving. She said, “I don’t want people calling me names and talking about me. I’m just very sensitive to energy.” Her final episode aired earlier this month.
