{"id":2229992,"date":"2026-01-11T01:16:03","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T01:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2229992"},"modified":"2026-01-11T01:16:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T01:16:03","slug":"dmx-to-be-ordained-by-ny-bishop-nearly-five-years-after-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/dmx-to-be-ordained-by-ny-bishop-nearly-five-years-after-death\/","title":{"rendered":"DMX to be ordained by NY bishop, nearly five years after death"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this story included a comment that was attributed to the DMX estate.<\/p>\n

A New York-based bishop plans to honor hip-hop icon DMX<\/a> in a service over the weekend to \u201cposthumously hold an ordination\u201d for the late rapper.<\/p>\n

The event is being led by Bishop Osiris Imhotep of the Gospel Cultural Center<\/a>, who said it will serve as a \u201csymbolic gesture\u201d in a phone interview with USA TODAY on Friday, Jan. 9.<\/p>\n

DMX, real name Earl Simmons, died<\/a> after suffering a heart attack in 2021, sending shockwaves through hip-hop and fans around the world.<\/p>\n

Osiris\u2019 upcoming gathering has been widely reported by several outlets<\/a> and, unbeknownst to him, went viral on social media. He said it\u2019s now set to take place on Saturday, Jan. 10, at 3 p.m. ET at Christ Episcopal Church in Westchester County, about 30 miles from Manhattan, after the initial venue fell through.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re not doing this in conjunction with the estate,\u201d Osiris said, adding that he has been in contact with some family members. \u201cIt’s not a money grab. It’s not a political grab. This is community service honoring Earl \u2018DMX\u2019 Simmons, simple. It’s a religious service.\u201d<\/p>\n

DMX: <\/strong>Rap legend, a pinnacle of the ’90s and 2000s hip-hop scene, dies at 50 after heart attack<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

DMX included his faith in his music<\/h2>\n

DMX is highly regarded for his legendary contributions to hip-hop in the 1990s and 2000s. In his work and throughout his career, the rap star spoke unabashedly about his upbringing, his struggles with addiction, and most notably, his faith.<\/a><\/p>\n

His multi-platinum selling 1998 debut album, \u201cIt\u2019s Dark and Hell Is Hot,\u201d includes a \u201cPrayer (Skit)\u201d where he openly talks to God, \u201cI come to you hungry and tired, you give me food and let me sleep\/ I come to you weak, you give me strength and that\u2019s deep\/ You call me a sheep and lead me to green pastures\/ Only asking that I keep the focus in between the chapters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Osiris said DMX\u2019s 2006 song, \u201cLord Give Me a Sign,\u201d resonated with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really loved his ministry, and it inspired me to do my thesis on hip-hop pastoral care, his life, his songs, his struggles, his family,\u201d he said. \u201cWe recognize his ministerial status as a true faith-given individual.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview on \u201cThe Breakfast Club” in 2016,<\/a> the \u201cSlippin\u2019\u201d emcee revealed his aspirations to become a pastor: \u201cMaybe I am already, I don\u2019t know, but that\u2019s definitely the final destination or a destination,\u201d DMX said. \u201cYou never know how far God is going to allow me to get or how much he\u2019s going to let me do or how many people he\u2019s going to allow me to reach.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘Earl was a warrior’<\/h2>\n

DMX died at the age of 50 at a hospital in White Plains, New York, in April 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarl was a warrior who fought till the very end. He loved his family with all of his heart, and we cherish the times we spent with him,\u201d his family wrote in a statement at the time.<\/p>\n

Shortly before his death, he made headlines after participating in a Verzuz battle with Snoop Dogg in 2020<\/a>, where he kicked off the highly anticipated face-off with a prayer in front of tens of thousands of viewers.<\/p>\n

DMX also went viral that year for holding a Bible study on Instagram Live. \u201cThere are no words more powerful than the book,\u201d he said<\/a> during the live.<\/p>\n

(This story has been updated with new information.)<\/p>\n

Taylor Ardrey is a news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at tardrey@usatodayco.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.usatoday.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this story included a comment that was attributed to the DMX estate. A New York-based bishop plans to honor hip-hop icon DMX in a service over the weekend to \u201cposthumously hold an ordination\u201d for the late rapper. The event is being led by Bishop Osiris Imhotep of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2229993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[39915,22220,315712,21751,239390,431354,22221,304719,305429,395014,6297,21741,389424,21944,346896,389425,21739,298114,21800,48142,239457,211924,21738,239343,239453,239347,23759,21945,344836,315711,315713,305423,24734,239344,100640,239391],"class_list":["post-2229992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-affiliate","tag-arts","tag-belief","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrities-u0026-entertainment-news","tag-churches","tag-culture","tag-death","tag-death-u0026-tragedy","tag-dmx","tag-eamotion","tag-entertainment","tag-hip","tag-hip-hop","tag-hip-hop-culture","tag-hop","tag-local","tag-local-affiliate-arts-u0026-entertainment","tag-music","tag-network","tag-network-trending","tag-neutral","tag-news","tag-overall","tag-overall-neutral","tag-overall-positive","tag-positive","tag-rap","tag-rap-music","tag-religion","tag-religion-u0026-belief","tag-tragedy","tag-trending","tag-u0026","tag-urban","tag-urban-u0026-hip-hop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DMX-to-be-ordained-by-NY-bishop-nearly-five-years.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2229992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2229992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2229992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2229994,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2229992\/revisions\/2229994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2229993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2229992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2229992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2229992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}