Apr 9, 2021 - 1:58 pm Near the end of his life, DMX wept about something that happened when he was 14. Last year, on the show People's Party with Talib Kweli, the then-49-year-old told the story of Ready Ron, an MC who got him into rapping. "He was like an older brother to me," DMX said, "I didn't have any brothers." At that point, he lapsed into stunned silence. Ready Ron broke his trust, he said, by giving DMX—who had never done a drug—a joint laced with crack. Even behind reflective sunglasses, humiliation and hurt visibly spiderwebbed across DMX's face, and he hung his head like a little boy. Tasked with counting money, he said, his mind seemed to shatter. "Why would you do that to a child?" the three-time GRAMMY nominee entreated, breathing heavily. "He was like, 30, and he knew I looked up to him. Why would you do that to somebody who looks up to you?"