DMX will be posthumously ordained as a minister this month, formally recognizing the faith that consistently surfaced throughout his life and music.
Born Earl Simmons, the late hip-hop icon will be ordained Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, during a public service led by the Gospel Cultural Center. The center shared that the ordination affirms the spiritual role Simmons carried through his work and public witness over decades.
“Earl Simmons wrestled with God in the public square, turning his pain into a ministry of raw truth,” said Bishop Dr. Osiris Imhotep, founder of the Gospel Cultural Center. “This ordination recognizes the divine calling he fulfilled every time he spoke a prayer into a microphone.”
Prayer was woven into DMX’s catalog from the beginning. Nearly every studio album — It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, …And Then There Was X, The Great Depression and Grand Champ — included a spoken prayer, often placed at pivotal moments in the tracklist. Each time, Simmons addressed God directly, voicing fear, repentance, gratitude and a desire for guidance. His 2006 song “Lord Give Me a Sign” became one of his most recognizable expressions of that ongoing dialogue.
Those moments extended beyond the studio. DMX regularly opened concerts with prayer and spoke openly about his belief in God during interviews. His lyrics repeatedly traced his internal battles with addiction and temptation, most notably across the “Damien” trilogy, which followed a recurring narrative of spiritual conflict across multiple albums.
His faith was also something he spoke about plainly, even during moments of transition. In 2003, in the second issue of RELEVANT Magazine, we reported that Simmons planned to step back from music to focus more seriously on his spiritual life.
“I’m going into the church,” he said. “I wanna take some time off — you know, read my Bible and just get more into the Word.”
Simmons died April 9, 2021, at age 50, after suffering a heart attack brought on by a drug overdose. In the years since his death, his faith has remained central to discussions of his legacy, reflecting how openly he carried belief alongside struggle throughout his career.
