For a brief moment at the turn of the century, DMX was the biggest rapper on the planet. A street rapper with lyrical gifts, the Yonkers, New York MC had a talent for grabbing your attention from the first bar of his verse, balancing the sacred and the profane with an aura of authenticity earned by a dedication to pouring ALL of himself into records—fear, love, joy, penitence, and yes, violence. At the peak of his powers, he presented one of the most high profile expressions of vulnerability in hip-hop. One of the few rappers talented enough to make JAY-Z nervous, he was an antidote to hip-hop’s sanitized shiny suit era, and his success would pave a path to the mainstream for a generation of gruff gangsta rappers that would follow. But even then, he was suffering. When he finally succumbed to a lifelong battle with drug addiction today (April 9), he was 50 years old, in the midst of a renewed appreciation for his contributions.