New York rap star Jim Jones is reflecting on the city losing DMX and Black Rob.
For Jim Jones, the loss of DMX and Black Rob is personal, but he calls it an even more tremendous loss for the city. As the hip-hop community continues to mourn these fallen rappers who died within days of each other, uptown New York was probably hit the hardest. Jim Jones, who was born and bred in Harlem, had a relationship with each rapper, and he says their death was “a double hurt.”
“Those losses are tremendous for New York,” Jones told Power 106’s DJ Carisma. “It definitely hit us hard to lose DMX who had done so much for the culture. I’ve had relationships with both of them, from me being able to go on tour with DMX in the late 90s,” he explained. “Him and [Cam’ron] were both popping. I got to see how special he was just in the beginning of everybody’s career. Just being next to him on stage every night, that man was special.”
DMX is forever remembered for not just his distinct sound and hit songs but his unmatched presence on the stage. Multiple videos have been circulating since he passed, showing how he effortlessly commanded his performance for tens of thousands of people both locally and internationally and the way his audience literally clung to every word, even sharing the vocal performance with him for entire songs.
Jim Jones also explained that the project buildings that he and Black Rob grew up in were in close proximity and how well the rapper represented Eastside New York. “It was a double hurt. Especially being from Harlem and Black Rob being a few avenues up the street from me,” he said in the interview. “Black Rob came on and put on for the whole Eastside—for everybody from Harlem starting with that ‘Whoa.’”
Jones says Black Rob helped Bad Boy Records to gain the success they had through the records that he made, similarly to how DMX did the same for Ruff Ryders. “It’s dope that [Black Rob] has left a legacy that no one can erase. And coming from Harlem, that’s real special,” he added.
Elsewhere in the interview, the Harlem ambassador talked about supporting younger talents like Bobby Shmurda, who he showed the utmost respect and support for when he came home. “Real ni***s in the building. We have to give him his flowers. He did it like he supposed to. We gotta celebrate ni***as like this, you heard?” he said at the time.
He also touched on the growing cryptocurrency market and encouraged everyone to invest in it. “Now is the perfect time for everyone to get involved with crypto,” Jones urged. “The more people that get involved, the more money there is to be made.” You can see the full interview with Jim Jones on Power 106 here.
