Funkmaster Flex on lack of help for DMX: ‘People can find the picture but haven’t called in 10 years’
'The music business is a gorilla. It’s a bottomless pit of happiness or depression…You don’t always get the best help,' he said.
DJ Funkmaster Flex spoke out about the celebrity response to recent tragic news surrounding legendary rapper DMX.
Read More: DMX recalls being introduced to crack at age 14
During an interview with Page Six, Flex opened up about how the industry treats artists, DMX’s troubled past, and the support shown on social media through photo uploads.
“People can find the picture… that they had with the person that’s going through a tragedy in 30 seconds,” said Flex, “but you haven’t called that person in 10 years.”
He added “Let me see the picture of you when you went afterwards to his house because you was so concerned. I never see that picture where they go to the house. Nipsey Hussle passed away and every washed up rapper made a pilgrimage to LA to go to the Marathon store to take a picture or to get their cards swiped. Bro Nipsey needed that support when he was alive.”
He also dug into how the music business does not affordc artists the necessary help sometimes, allowing them to succumb to pressure.
“The music business is a gorilla. It’s a bottomless pit of happiness or depression,” he said to Page Six. “I don’t wanna say people don’t help you but I do want to say there are people who actually know [when a star is struggling, but don’t help] sometimes.”
The DJ added “It’s rough for someone like a DMX who may be in a mental and emotional state of childhood trauma that has happened to him and then being thrown into the money and fame.”
Read More: DMX’s family to hold prayer vigil outside of NYC hospital
In November 2020, theGrio reported the “Party Up” rapper shared a heartbreaking story of being introduced to crack cocaine at the young age of 14. An adult he trusted passed him a marijuana blunt laced with the drug. In an emotional clip from People’s Party with Talib Kweli, the rapper shared his story discussing his battle with addiction.
“He passed the blunt around and… I hit the blunt,” an emotional DMX recalled in the interview. “I never felt like this before. It f***d me up. I later found out that he laced the blunt with crack. Why would you do that to a child? He was like 30, and he knew I looked up to him.”
Flex acknowledged that DMX’s public conversations can help his true story be empowered.
“I know he shares his demons and we may have to amplify that demon and amplify his story and his feelings so that the next generation can kind of see a little better, a little clearer,” said Flex to Page Six.
theGrio reported the family of DMX issued a public statement on Sunday about his “serious health issues” after suffering a heart attack on Friday amid reports of a drug overdose.
“On Friday night, April 2nd, 2021, our brother, son, father, and colleague DMX, birth name of Earl Simmons, was admitted to White Plains (NY) Hospital, facing serious health issues,” the family said in the official statement.
“We ask that you please keep Earl/DMXand us in your thoughts, wishes, and prayers as well as respect our privacy as we face these challenges. Thank you.”
The 50-year-old rapper is currently on life support and reportedly in a “vegetative state” ex-manager, Nakia Walker, told The New York Times.
This article contains additional reporting from theGrio’s Ashley Terell.
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