Hip-Hop Prayer Club – Josh Journal
For a hip-hop artist, there is one thing that is unusually synonymous with DMX. And that is prayer.
I didn’t really listen to DMX while growing up. His energy was way too much for me. But since he does rap, inevitably, I knew a few of his songs.
You can imagine my surprise when I attended my first “club day” in secondary school, and the opening prayer was played by the DJ.
That prayer is as gangster as gangster comes.
The voice, the pitch, the words, the tone, most importantly, the power, emotion, and belief behind it.
I was like, “who is that praying?” For goodness sake, who says their prayer like that?
When I heard that it was DMX, I got interested in him.
Unfortunately, back then, internet penetration in Nigeria was low, so I couldn’t exactly search for him.
Fast forward over a decade later, I was going through my YouTube feed when I saw a DMX interview on the breakfast club. He ended it with a prayer, and once again, my interest in him was reawakened.
I ended up in a rabbit hole of watching DMX pray.
With the little I know of him, I can tell he was a man of faith. A man who believed in God, and a man who knew the power of prayer.
Listening to his life story, I am still saddened by how he got introduced and hooked to cocaine.
The fact that a lot more people similarly got hooked, were less talented and less wealthy, and in some cases resorted to crime, and even lost their lives is more disheartening.
DMX’s decision to be public about his struggle is one I wish hip hop and the entertainment industry at large will emulate.
To think that a rapper, a gangsters gangster, got grown men praying in clubs before they started partying will always be a marvel to me.
I don’t know how many people found God through one of DMX’s prayers, verses, or interviews, but I hope someone did. I believe that would be an eternal source of joy for him.
Wilson Joshua is a Video Editor, Content Creator, and Creative Writer.
You can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. @IJOSWIL
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