A friend of rap star DMX has opened up about the icon's last night alive before he sadly died following a heart attack.
The Party Up star, aka Earl Simmons, was just 50 when he passed away on April 9 in New York.
His family announced his death in a statement saying: "We are deeply saddened to announce that our loved one, DMX, passed away at White Plains Hospital with his family by his side after being placed on life support for the past few days.
"Earl 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."
DJ Superior has revealed he desperately wanted his friend to pull through as he gave details about his emotional last night with the star.
He said: "I would've been so happy if he got up. His uncle was on his knees saying, 'You don't gotta go yet.
"I was whispering in his ear and just saying, 'Rest man. I got you. I got your kids. But you got a lot of kids.' I think he was looking down laughing at that one," he told The Sun.
The star is reported to have 15 children.
The DJ continued: "It was hard to see him laid out like that, but how I saw it is the world couldn't hurt him anymore."
DMX's death sent shockwaves through the music community and many of the artists he worked with attended a moving memorial service at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Prior to the event, streets were closed and lanes restricted so the star's red coffin could be carried on a monster truck.
A choir performed several songs at the moving ceremony before some heartfelt speeches by his children.
DMX's son Xavier, 28, said: "Our father is a king, our father is an icon. I am so honoured to have a father like we have."
Rapper Eve also shared a heartwarming tribute to the star.
"The celebration of how great we all know DMX was what he has left behind. I am seriously the luckiest, luckiest woman in the world to have been adopted by the Ruff Ryders, but to have known DMX the way that I knew him as a man, a father, a friend."
DMX had a well-documented struggle with addiction, and it's reported the star's heart attack was cocaine-induced.
A source from the Westchester County medical examiner’s office told Vulture : “It was cardiac arrest for a period of time, so there was no circulation to the brain,” reportedly later explaining that acute cocaine intoxication had “caused this chain of events.”
The Mirror has contacted DMX's representatives for comment.
Speaking about the star's battle with addiction DJ Superior said: "I’ve seen it. You would get high and write rhymes.
"It got to a point where he would do shows and sometimes he would go missing after the show or before the show."
