Downloaded from YTS.MX
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(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
This film is a portrait
of Earl "DMX" Simmons through a very tumultuous year.
A year right before he passed away.
I think a lot of people never really get a chance to see
the real man behind the headlines.
(WIND RUSTLING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
You wasn't playing, huh?
-There we go. Hey, hey! Hey! -(MAN LAUGHING)
I fucking missed you guys, man! (EXCLAIMS)
Look at this fat faced motherfucker!
-EARL SIMMONS: Auntie! -Yep. (LAUGHS)
-EARL: How you doing? -Fine.
-EARL: You looking great! -Thank you.
You already know. My brother, love you! (LAUGHS)
-MAN: Let's get out of here. -EARL: Oh, we gotta get out of here?
MAN: Yeah, they don't want us filming here.
Well, it's a little too late for all of that.
(CROWD LAUGHING)
EARL: You know how we do this. Hey, we taped that
and we taking that the fuck outta here!
EARL: I'm out. Outta here. Fuck that.
MAN: Oh, my God. Good riddance forever.
EARL: Thank God, man. Thank God.
When I was first came in I was just thinking
about this day.
You know, the day when I walk out.
I read more books in the hole than I did my whole bid.
MAN: What were you reading?
(CLICKS TONGUE) Some hood novels,
Danielle Steele joints.
You know...
read the Bible again.
Can't get too much of that.
(MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYING)
My little man visits, like, I'm in a little room,
there's a glass window where they are on the other side.
WOMAN: Oh, you couldn't hold him?
Yeah, no. I couldn't touch him, know what I'm saying?
So after about the third visit in the hole,
he's banging on the window like, "Get out! Get out! Get out!"
-I'm like, "Oh, man." -(WOMAN LAUGHING)
-EARL: That's my little man, yo. -WOMAN: And his little Timbs.
EARL: Yeah.
WOMAN: I told Desiree, "He gonna act like X."
EARL: Yeah.
-(GRUNTS) -(EXODUS SIMMONS LAUGHING)
Yeah, he's the inspiration, you know what I'm sayin'?
He's more than just like the baby. He's like inspiration.
Like, "Yo, you gotta get this shit right," you know what I'm sayin'?
I have to express myself.
I rose from shit, man, I rose from shit.
Credit to my son. My older son.
Xavier. Like, he didn't come with an instruction manual.
He didn't come with an instruction manual.
MAN: Yeah.
PAT GALLO: And I don't wanna push it,
but studio. Like, just to get--
-Oh, no, nigga, that's what it is, man. -Get that energy out.
-EARL: That's what it is. -You remember
when you came out of Buffalo?
-The first day? -EARL: Yeah. Yeah.
-Right to D-block studio. -EARL: Oh, yeah.
-We laid monsters. -EARL: Yeah. Yep, yep.
-EARL: Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. -We laid monsters.
No, don't do it yet. Don't do it.
I'm gonna be ampin', and I can't do nothing about it.
PAT: That's the monster. Jump out the window.
I can't do nothin' about it. I can't do nothin' about it.
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING OVER STEREO)
Shit on his pants Smell that bitch, nigga
Run but you can't hide I'ma get niggas
Split killers, choose niggas We broke
We don't suck a dick That's how we do niggas
Natural born killer Can't run from him
Tried to kill my mom
While I was still In the stomach
MAN 1: Okay, first row.
-MAN 2: You got that? -EARL: Yep.
WOMAN: Just take a breath.
-You got it. -This is what I'm talking about.
-MAN: Ten seconds. Standby.
(MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYING)
MAN: So, I guaranteed you a surprise today,
and the surprise is...
-(BARKS) -MAN: Gentlemen.
(EXCLAIMS) What up, Rochester? What's goin' on?
Drop, shut 'em down Open up shop, come on. Oh, no.
MAN: Big had it. 'Pac had it.
Certain artists had it.
Like they had love that was strong.
EARL: I just love it. 'Cause I love to perform.
Anybody that seen me perform, knows I do my thing.
You gonna enjoy the show. Get happy, dog.
-(LAUGHS) -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(CROWD CHEERING)
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
("IT'S DARK AND HELL IS HOT- INTRO" PLAYING)
One, two, one, two Come through, run through...
DMX, man. He's out of the world.
One of the hottest rappers out, DMX.
Shit up for real Get up and feel...
INTERVIEWER: People from the street support you.
-Something they can see in you-- -I speak for them, dawg.
I am the street. I will be the voice
of the street till I die.
Too late for that 911 call
Niggas stay beefing But a lot of them bluffing...
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
EARL: It was an emotional connection
with the people that I have never witnessed.
-DMX! -(ALL CLAMOR)
MAN: We got dogs in the house!
EARL: This is real motherfucking hip-hop!
I asked the President of Def Jam.
-MAN: What? -And I asked everybody,
-they said it's never been done. -MAN: What's never been done?
I'm going to be the first to do it.
-MAN: What? -First to make
every fucking song on my album be a single.
("X GON' GIVE IT TO YA" PLAYING)
It's what you hearin', listen It's what you hearin', listen
- X gon' give it to ya - What
Waiting for you to get it On your own...
MAN: His new album in the same year to go platinum.
Open up the door It's real
With the non-stop Pop-pop of stainless steel
Go hard, getting busy with it But I got such a good heart...
Shout out to X.
Damn right And I'll do it again
'Cause I am right So I gots to win...
MAN 1: DMX is a legend.
MAN 2: His music is important to the whole world.
-DMX! -(CROWD CHEERING)
MAN: DMX!
We in the doghouse tonight!
That's on a light day I'm getting down, down
Like a nigga said, "Freeze"
But won't be the one ending up On his knees, please...
MAN: He's the next action hero.
You know, the next kind of Steven Segal.
Stay out my way Motherfucker
First we gonna rock Then we gonna roll
Then we let it pop, go Let it go, what
X gon' give it to ya He gon' give it to ya
(CROWD CHEERS)
(CHANTING) DMX! DMX! DMX!
-EARL: I don't hear you! -(CROWD CHEERING)
MAN: How long does--
I guess maybe it's the first one,
they wanna really talk to him or something.
They just wanna flex.
'Cause they not real cops, they just, like, desk cops.
(MAN LAUGHING)
MAN 1: Who is it?
MAN 2: Oh, he's a rapper.
-Oh, rapper? -MAN: Yeah.
Sort of a frequent type of something, right?
MAN: Hey, not any more frequent than any other type of artist.
-(MAN EXCLAIMS) -(LAUGHS)
Come on, man.
Right, stay away from there.
"You gotta do this, you better do this, you gotta answer the phone.
Set up an email account. Wake up 7:30. Do this."
I'm like, "Yo, you changing my whole fucking life."
Then you telling me that you can't normally
be around anyone with a felony.
My nigga, that's everybody that's around me.
-PAT: Right. -Family included.
PAT: You talk to him about the tour and shit, right?
No, I don't know. I'm just doin'--
It's in God's hands. It's in God's hands.
-MAN: Need a stroller? -EARL: Stroller? Yeah.
-EXODUS: Can we... -(EARL SMOOCHES)
EXODUS: Can we do that again?
-EARL: Hi, what up, man? -MAN: I don't know.
-(DESIREE LINDSTROM TALKING INDISTINCTLY) -EARL: The wheel is up.
(MILD-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING)
DESIREE: I was workin' at BB,
and that's then when I met him. He came in...
you know, buying somethin' for somebody else, of course.
(LAUGHS)
I didn't take him from nobody. I promise.
EXODUS: (SOBS) Mommy.
DESIREE: You know, it took years before we had Exodus,
so thank God for that. We both knew each other.
We both decided, you know, this is what we wanted.
(EXODUS BABBLES)
DESIREE: He's a good father to Exodus.
Very, like, he just loved that little boy.
Exodus is the same way, like, if he'd have to choose
between me and Earl, he'd probably choose Earl.
And I'm the mother. And I carried him
and went through everything.
EARL: Here we go.
Right on time. You wanna get out? Come on.
-(GRUNTS) -Yay!
Yay!
He's out. (LAUGHS)
So...
-TIM MANDELBAUM: So, you ready to do this? -EARL: Yeah. Yes, sir.
Do we wanna do any version of walking you through this
or do we wanna just ink it.
-Let's just ink it. -STEVE RIFKIND: No.
Let's explain some things.
-TIM: Yeah. Yeah, -I'm okay.
I don't wanna be like, "You didn't tell me this."
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
We'll walk through just the big deal points.
We're not doing like the deep dive.
-EARL: Right. -We're gonna do
the shallow dive.
-PAUL BEZILLA: (OVER TELEPHONE) Mm-hmm, okay. -So...
Well, it's an exclusive recording agreement.
-EARL: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. -BEZILLA: I'm sure you know what that is.
The initial period is, there's one album
plus one holiday album,
and that determines your recording funds
-for future albums. -(EXODUS BABBLES)
BEZILLA: Uh, the payment schedule...
-uh, for that is... -Gimme.
BEZILLA: ...upon, you know, promptly following signature.
Actually it's called a min-max formula,
the minimum-maximum.
-So you're getting-- -That's so good.
Hold on one minute.
-So you're getting-- -Do you know what you're getting?
-Answer, man. -Yeah. No I don't.
(BABBLES)
BEZILLA: You're getting roughly half the money...
-Okay. -BEZILLA: ...upon signing.
They pay marketing promotion.
The recording fund for the initial period,
which covers the one album, the Christmas album,
-PAT: Okay. -BEZILLA: ...and then they pay you after that.
-EARL: Okay. -So, that's it.
BEZILLA: (CLEARING THROAT) Mm-hmm. That's right.
-Cool? -Sounds good.
-All right. -BEZILLA: Any questions?
-Nope. -I think we're ready to go.
PAUL ROSENBERG: One of the things that is important to me
was to reconnect with a lot of the heritage artists
from Def Jam.
A lot of which, you know, weren't here anymore.
MAN: Right.
I never imagined that I'd have the opportunity
to reengage with somebody on the level that I've reengaged
like we have with DMX.
You know, he's just one of the most important artists
in hip-hop history, period.
But to this label, he was such a part
of its success, and the culture surrounding it.
-(LAUGHS) -(LAUGHS)
-All right, man. Just beginning. -Yeah. Yeah.
PAUL: I mean the plan is, we just can't mess it up, man.
We've got a real opportunity here
to reintroduce him.
You know, he's always been DMX.
He's not gonna come out as something
that's completely reinvented.
But I want the current version of him and his music
-to be as powerful as can be. -EARL: Thank you very much.
I need to talk to you for five minutes.
All right.
STEVE: So, Bruce will walk us through everything.
BRUCE: So, as you know, this is all preliminary.
There's nothing locked here.
TIM: Let's just talk about some of the various situations.
You know, I think this is a good opportunity.
So, let's just talk about the here and the now.
We'll get you the five.
X will get the 550 in hopefully the next two weeks.
Now it's not all getting paid to X, it's getting paid...
EARL: Everyone but X.
TIM: Part of it's goin' to your ex-wife.
Then we've got a booking agent that has a judgment.
This thing is probably upwards of 300 grand.
City Marshall in Rosedale, New York.
Their judgment was 186,000 dollars.
-MAN: For what? -TIM: I don't know.
EARL: All right, will we pay off a bunch of random people
that just, you know, got a default judgment
because I didn't show up for a court case
I didn't even know I had.
-DESIREE: Wanna wait for the next one? -EARL: Yeah, we'll wait.
-This was supposed to be fun. -I know.
All these fuckin' people stealin'.
All these fuckin' fake ass judgments and shit, man.
Greedy ass fuckin' bitches.
I just wanted turkey on a roll. Just some turkey on a roll.
We are done.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
DOCTOR: I was reminding Mom about this
when you guys came to see me in the office
when she was pregnant. People were talking to you
about kidney failure, right?
They were talking to you about transplant.
Lots of bladder surgeries, right?
Guess what he hasn't had in the last three years.
-None of those things. Okay? -EARL: All right.
DOCTOR: Now, the reason for that is because of her.
Okay? She's been doing the cathine,
we've been doing the Ditropan, or the Oxybutynin.
And his bladder has sort of stretched out.
So that's a wonderful thing. But at the very end...
look at your son, right?
This is not what you were told when you were pregnant.
-DESIREE: Right. -DOCTOR: Okay?
I already knew that my son was gonna be all right.
-EARL: Oh, yeah? -Yeah, it's enough.
Yeah, that's my baby. I don't work for a reason.
(LAUGHS)
-Thank you. -All right.
INTERVIEWER: How you feel about how that went?
EARL: That went good. That went really, really good.
God is great.
'Cause when she was first pregnant...
it was like, "You know, you can get pregnant again."
-INTERVIEWER: Yeah. -This implying that, you know?
-It wasn't gonna work out well. -Right.
Yeah.
Yeah, it worked out.
It was all about God from the beginning.
I was like, you know what? As long as he's fighting,
you know what I'm saying?
You know, we gonna fight with him.
We gonna fight with him.
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
Make a right at the light. On this corner. Yeah.
It's my family's store.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
EARL: Yeah, what up? These niggas.
All these hard workers niggas around here
with these good-ass jobs and shit.
You know what I'm saying? Oh, what up?
-MAN: What's going on, man? -EARL: How you doing? Good?
-Yeah. -My nigga, Spank? Cool?
-EARL: Hi, Auntie. -AUNTIE: "Auntie" your ass.
-Oh, no. No, no, no. -EARL: (LAUGHING) Too late.
-AUNTIE: You know I'm camera shy. No. -EARL: (LAUGHING) Too late.
-AUNTIE: I'll see you outside. -(LAUGHS)
-You ain't really scared. -AUNTIE: Yes, I am.
-You serious? -AUNTIE: I'm dead serious.
UNCLE BUCKEYE: When he was growin' up, he was, you know,
the average little kid that ran around
and done mischief things. But as you know,
-it's Yonkers. -(CELLPHONE RINGING)
Yo, what up, doggie? Shit. I'm in, YO.
Oh, no, I'm in front of the store. I'm about to go to Sushi Luau.
This nigga eating lobster on the block? You serious?
Lobster on the block? That's what happens
when nigga get a job, you know what I'm saying?
Just to clarify, what happened on the pool table?
-I thought she asked. -(ALL LAUGHING)
UNCLE BUCKEYE: I hope to see him up there.
Real up there, you know what I'm saying?
Up there around in the level of a great rock star like,
you know, James Brown, you know,
when your name is gonna be speaking in every household,
you know? Instead of showing on every mugshot.
It took you a long time to get there,
don't throw it away.
-MAN: I'll have the shoelace shot. -EARL: No.
EARL: Okay, here we go.
MAN: I'll have the shoelace shot.
I'll have the shoelace shot.
-EARL: Where you goin'? -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(EARL GRUNTING)
MAN: One thing we didn't ask you about is like
what this place is.
It's like Cheers.
And I'm Norm. I'm like Norm and Sam I guess.
-MAN: Not Woody then? -No definitely not Woody.
-Why not? -Woody was a little slow.
It took you a long time to get there,
don't throw it away.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
EARL: I don't understand what the problem is.
You mad 'cause my watch costs more
than you make in a year. That's why you're mad.
There's 96 diamonds in this trunk. Check that one out.
MAN: I don't understand what we did wrong.
-EARL: Check that one out. -REPORTER: DMX recently spent 90 days in jail
after he was convicted of theft and drug charges.
MAN: I just looked up his arrest warrant.
Man, it's 17 pages.
-MAN: You've sold how many records? -EARL: Twenty-eight million.
MAN: And made millions and millions of dollars.
-EARL: Yeah. -MAN: Do you still have money?
This has taken a toll on me.
But, you know, whatever the devil has stolen from me,
God will replace it.
MAN: So, when you get outta here, you're right back on track.
-Right back on track. -MAN: Are you a different person
-when you get out of here? -Yes.
I'm a different person before I came in here.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
(EARL GRUNTING)
What? All right.
MAN: How you feel right now, bro?
I'm nervous. (EXHALES DEEPLY)
(CLEARS THROAT)
I mean, but, shit, it's on.
-MAN: Oh, look. Crazy, yo. -EARL: Oh, shit.
-MAN: The mad Black shit. -EARL: Yo, that shit is hard.
Murder. That shit is fucking hard.
WOMAN: Y'all gotta watch from the balcony
'cause no room on the stage.
(CROWD CLAMORS)
WOMAN 2: That's what I'm talking about.
-Yo, we in here. -WOMAN 2: Guys, watch my shit.
-EARL: Oh-oh. -AUDIENCE: Oh-oh.
- ("RUFF RYDERS' ANTHEM" PLAYING ON SPEAKERS) -(CROWD CHEERING)
Come on, baby. Come on, baby. Come on, baby. Come on, baby.
- My dogs gon' -AUDIENCE: Stop
- Your dogs gon' - Drop
And then we gon' - Shut 'em down
Open up shop
- First we had 'em like - Oh!
- Now they like - No!
What baby? That's how Ruff Ryders roll
(CHEERING)
It's the first show of the motherfuckin' tour.
(CROWD CHEERING)
It was delayed a year
because you know what had happened was...
What had happened was...
you know, the federal government wanted to wait a year.
Shit happens.
-Lord, give me a sign. -ALL: Lord, give me a sign.
You know, when I'm up here. I mean this shit.
I mean this. I mean this. I pray before I get up.
I pray in my dressing room with whoever came with me.
And the most important thing I asked him. I say, "God, if I could touch
one person for your glory, for your namesake,
then I've done somethin' wonderful in my life."
-Did I touch one? -(CROWD CHEERS)
And so...
so, if you fuck with the dog...
like I know you fuck with the dog...
then there's only one way we can wrap this up.
In the name of Jesus, let us pray.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
MAN: You got a lot of people who just break out
-from where they're from. -(EXCLAIMS)
Well, it's good to break out, but you gotta go back.
MAN: Why?
To fuck with people you fuck with.
You know, that's a part of who you are.
Right, right, right.
Around to the right.
-Okay. Okay. - (UPBEAT SONG PLAYING OVER STEREO)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
He's one of the best old-time rappers.
-That's for sure. -BOY 1: Who?
-DMX. He's here. -BOY 2: Where's DMX?
-That one. -BOY 3: The one with the white boots.
(CROWD CLAMORS)
MAN: One-fifty in.
-EARL: One-fifty in. -MAN: Hundred and fifty in.
Go ahead. Take it. You get the whole hundred.
I got 15Ks.
MAN: Home of the brave.
Lot of people nowadays forget where they came from.
Or they not even allowed to go back.
-EARL: You write your own shit? -Yeah.
-EARL: Do you mean it? -Yeah.
This is how it happened for me. My first fans were here.
My first fans was here. We played on the mountains.
-Same. -We scraped our knees
-in these motherfucking streets. -Same here.
For life, man. Twenty-three years of this shit, man.
Well, I spent the same amount of years here.
That's crazy. You're way younger than me.
But I spent the same amount of years here.
MAN: First time on the track And I came with a bounce
Weight like pounds But I go for the ounce
If I don't leave with a bang Then I'm runnin' in your house
Said y'all don't understand Money's the plan
Let me tell you, I believe what you're saying,
I believe you. I just need you to give it to a nigga
-a little more. -MAN: Gotta give more, man.
Give it to a nigga a little more.
Sky's the limit So I'm reaching for the stars
I'm tired of being a nigga That they keep behind bars
What's good, you got it? I'ma take yours
I'm hood, fuck I'm gun I break jaws, understood
It's not for the bang For the cause
That I should 'Cause you frontin'
Bang with the fours
Rat's playin' in the walls Cat's playin' in the halls
But niggas know I be certain I withstand doors
'Cause I'm not responsible For what I might do
What might happen If dog come through
It's 'gon be a problem 'cause Man if I catch him
I'ma rob him Please, somebody stop him!
I'm talking to you from a person
who grew up right where you grew up at.
I stole a car from right there,
I went to Waverly street from this mountain.
MAN 1: Yo, nigga, you was mad.
Shit, we used to do. Shit, I used to do, man.
-MAN 2: Yo, it's all right. -MAN 3: Stay sharp, dog.
Let it out, man.
There's nothing wrong with that, man.
There's nothing wrong, with that. Let it out.
(SOBBING) Up to here, man.
MAN 2: There's nothing wrong with that. It's all right.
-EARL: Put that pain on paper. -MAN 2: That's it, man.
I barely know you, nigga, but I love you.
I don't waste words,
I don't waste words. I mean what the fuck I say.
-I want niggas from my hood. -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
BOY: We're all we got, nigga.
-Turn that pain into words. -MAN: Yeah.
-Turn that pain into words. -MAN: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
EARL: Put that pen to paper, get motivated.
Get motivated right now.
Put that pen to paper. Put that pen to paper.
(MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYING)
EARL: I first came to Arizona, man.
And I remember one day,
coming from the studio, at six o'clock in the mornin'.
And pulling over on the highway,
you know, just to watch the sunrise.
And it was at that point that I said, "You know what?
This has got to be God's country."
You know, 'cause I never seen anything
as beautiful as that sunrise.
Then I met the devil in God's country.
You try to stop it. You try to-- Yeah.
But it felt like I should have stopped it.
Right.
Yeah, yeah.
MAN:
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
EARL: It's not so much who, it's what happens.
And the things that the devil does.
Because if I hadn't met the devil here,
I wouldn't realize I was strong enough to overcome
the obstacles that the devil would place in my path.
I came here to meet somebody. Don't know who it was.
But I'll know him when I see him,
and I came here to give him a message.
The Gospel according to X.
-I finally did that! -You!
It's dark in hell and hot!
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
This popcorn, nigga? This nigga popcorn.
MAN: Them bags bust quick too.
(CROWD CHEERS, APPLAUDS)
Seventeen, know every motherfuckin' word.
Dawg love.
At this point...
ain't nothing left to do, but...
("GET IT ON THE FLOOR" BY DMX PLAYING)
We don't give a what-what We don't give a what-what
Get it on the floor Get it, get it on the floor
- What? - Get it on the floor
Get it, get it on the floor
You don't wanna party Then your ass gotta go
- Now you can ride - To this motherfucker
- Bounce - To this motherfucker
- Freak - To this motherfucker
-MAN: Run for them! -CROWD: You know!
-MAN 1: Take a big gulp of that. -MAN 2: Y'all take a big gulp of that.
It'll put some hair on your cheeks.
MAN 2: Light a fire in your stomach.
-MAN 3: Goddamn! -MAN 4: Oh, shit!
(ALL LAUGH)
-No. -MAN 4: Wow.
I'm not a religious man,
-but you know, I-- -EARL: Spiritual.
-Exactly. Exactly. -EARL: Spiritual.
-But I listen to you... -EARL: People have tainted religion.
-...and I love that shit. -EARL: We have tainted religion.
Your connection with God ain't in a book.
Exactly. It ain't in a building.
It ain't in a building.
You can find God wherever you need, man.
He's gonna meet you where you at,
-when you need him. -Yes, sir.
When you need him, that's when you'll find him.
(CROWD LAUGHING)
("LEAD THE WAY" BY HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE PLAYS)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS) -(EXODUS BLABBING)
Look at little tigers in there.
-He did that? -Yeah, he did that.
-Really? -EARL: I watch him, and just...
I'm in a whole other world. I could watch him for hours.
I mean, just sit there, and watch him
do different shit and play with the toys.
And it just reminds me so much of myself.
(BABBLING)
-What? -What? Why he said
-a whole paragraph. -What is that?
-(LAUGHS) -(BABBLES)
(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS)
EARL: You wanna be able to run with him and wrestle with him,
and you know what I'm saying?
You know some bitches are headaches.
Some baby mamas are headaches.
But that baby...
that's somethin' different.
Where the light at, D?
(DESIREE LAUGHING)
Yeah, go. Can I get some love today?
Can I get a hello?
(REPORTER SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY ON TV)
-EARL: There goes... -Dadda.
EARL: Show me love, dawg. Show me love.
Come on, son.
(GENTLE GUITAR MUSIC PLAYING)
(SINGING) The folds inside
Your vocal chords...
XAVIER SIMMONS: From the age of six,
my life was a tabloid.
My identity, "DMX's son," was a line.
I have this principal that I live by.
Expose the places...
that scare you most.
Expose them, and go towards them.
That is where you will grow the most.
Several years ago, we were all on the Iyanla show, Fix My Life.
My heart had been so hardened. It was clenched.
IYANLA VANZANT: Ask what you want now.
A relationship.
A healthy relationship with you.
Can we have that?
Yeah, I mean, that's what I've...
-Clean, completely clean. -What do you mean?
You.
That's what you're asking me for?
XAVIER: My father's decisions broke my heart.
That madness became just acceptable.
And just-- I didn't-- I put it away.
(SOBS)
(SIGHS)
I guess I'll see you at my funeral then.
-Just-- funeral? -(BLEEP)
If you're gonna put a condition on our relationship,
well, then I guess that's when you'll see me.
XAVIER: The shadow of fame.
I didn't know how to deal with it as a child.
It's very lonely. Yeah, plenty of money.
But not often did people walk into my room,
"Hey, Xavier, you okay?
How are you handling all of this that's going on around you?"
But it's a journey.
It's a journey that I'm still going through.
MAN: Hey, for real. Can I ask you a question?
You know DMX playing tonight, right?
-MAN 2: Yeah, I know. I work for him. -MAN 1: You work for him?
This dude flaggin' the flag, right?
He said, "Yeah, he ain't like that no more,
he ain't like that no more."
Let me tell you something about DMX.
I went into prison in 1984. I came home in 2014, right?
DMX got me through my time when that nigga came out
with his first fuckin' album, man.
You see what I'm saying? It's Dark and Hell is Hot,
that joint right there?
That was my workout joint. If it wasn't for that shit, man,
I'd probably lost my fuckin mind, man.
He been through what I've been through.
Dude changed my fuckin life.
Man, that nigga a fucking prophet to me.
I swear on my--
-I'm 52 years old. -MAN: Right.
That nigga like a fuckin' prophet.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER, LAUGHTER)
-Okay, we'll get into that. -Mad Tyrone, come here.
Only part of the tour I like is the performance.
That one hour I'm on stage, that's it. The rest is hell.
Congratulations, man. Everything's been awesome.
-Congrats on everything. -It's not the easiest but...
I blame him.
-For the back-to-back to back. -Always blame the agent.
Every day a show. Fuck him.
(LAUGHTER)
It's all right.
PAT: Hey.
EARL:
PAT: Yeah. Take a picture real quick.
EARL:
PAT:
-You're not sorry. -PAT: I am sorry. You know I am.
-No, what did I say? -PAT:
-Right. -MAN 2: All right.
Let's get the picture.
-So, you heard me... -MAN 2: All right, cool.
...and I said "after" and you still went and did it.
I don't give a fuck who it is.
He's making money. We're making money.
-I know, that's all. -I don't--
-Do I owe him something? -No, but it's all good.
EARL: No, no. I'm not gonna sign anything.
I've been trying to get you for seven years
-to get an autograph. -Okay, but can I get a photo?
(SIGHS) "Can I get this, can I get this,
can I get this, give me a shirt." (MUTTERS)
Do you really love me or...
you just wanna...
-get something from me? -MAN: Yeah.
The shows are good. Shows are great.
Shows are great.
(MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYING)
So Pat's still asleep.
You niggas will wake me up if I gotta get on fuckin' stage.
Like, if we know we going to these different cities,
I don't know why it's not already taken care of.
At least we know where we're going.
SPANK: This is a brutal industry.
Sometimes, life could be just as cold.
Somebody asks me, they see me.
I'm going through a whole lot of shit.
"Hey, you all right?" "Yeah, man, I'm good. I'm good."
You know what I'm saying? Lyin'. Knowing I ain't good.
So, you know, that's what I mean...
about pain.
You know, hide the pain
or whatever it is that really is the root
to all of everything else that you're doing.
You wearin' a mask now.
Like even in the penitentiary like you saying or being
in solitary in those kind of situations, right?
You know, in my time, some people might think,
"Come out, I'm all right. I'm the same dude I was
when I went in."
Or this or that. But I think the more it happens,
the more it takes its toll on you.
You come back, you not necessarily
the same person.
INTERVIEWER: What does "free" mean to you?
You just came out after being in for a year.
I'm still not free.
You know, if I can't do what I'm supposed to do,
what I wanna do, then I'd die anyway.
(EXODUS CRYING)
Exodus! Come here. Come here.
If I'm saying give me the fucking phone,
then give the goddamn phone, all right?
-(EXODUS WAILS) -EARL: Shit.
DESIREE: No more phone.
You're not gonna get everything you want in this life.
Okay, okay, okay
Pick him up. I don't have time for this shit, all right?
We don't wanna hear that. Nobody wanna hear that.
Hush.
-EXODUS: Robot. -I'm a robot, yeah.
Watch. I'm gonna knock your head off too. (GRUNTS)
Yeah, but they can't. It's different
in the music industry, you know what saying?
What one person makes one year, it's not, you know...
You know, one day you're in, one day you're out, like,
you know...
You're not in control of the fans.
-Right. Right. -MAN: Yeah!
-What up? -What's up, baby?
MAN: Back on the block!
I don't have problems with all of my baby mothers,
but I'm expecting one from Florida soon.
And there's one in Buffalo I already got a case with.
And one in California.
INTERVIEWER: Is that a pain in the ass, dealing with?
Yeah, especially when they got half my publishing, bitch.
You on your way to DR right now.
You know, you was in Bali last month, and Egypt before that,
like, travelin' the world on my dime.
Know what I mean, what is you pressin' me for?
Like you ain't got no money, like the kids are hungry.
Gotta get the exclusive, let me go ahead and get this.
The family portrait here.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-ANGELA YEE: We have Tashera Simmons. -COHOST: Yes, DMX's ex-wife.
EARL: Hey, you know what I'm saying, all the big ballers?
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
ANGELA YEE: And most recently, I heard that times
were really hard for you, and that he wasn't helping you
-or his family out at all. -Not at all.
EARL: The Jay-Z Jehovah.
-Yeah. -EARL: You know what I'm saying?
I mean, a thousand dollars would be nice. Like nothing?
And then, after him coming, and not only here,
but other places, saying I'm money hungry?
I'm like, we been together ten years before you got famous.
And I'm the one who always held it down.
But I know that we'd still be together to this day
if it wasn't for the drugs.
DESIREE: I don't wanna talk to you in front of the camera.
EARL: Well, I got a microphone on.
-DESIREE: Can you take it off? -EARL: Why?
DESIREE: 'Cause I don't wanna talk to you
with the cameras on you.
All right, well, ain't no cameras on me.
-DESIREE: Well, I don't want the microphone. -EARL: Where Wub at?
-He in the car, but it's running. -EARL: Okay.
Can you take the microphone off please?
(GRUMBLES) Yo, I'm working. What's the problem?
DESIREE: You want them to know our business?
-EARL: What business? -DESIREE: So, that girl,
that you were on tour with?
You say she got a husband or a boyfriend--
That shit's-- Whoa, hold on. She still with her baby mama.
-DESIREE: How you know? -'Cause I talk to her.
DESIREE: So, well, can I see y'all conversations?
Is this gonna happen every time you get your hair done?
-DESIREE: No. -EARL: Exodus, give me a hug.
Wubba. Give me a hug.
Yeah, you heard that though. nigga heard that. He heard that.
Look at the camera, tell Mommy shut up.
Shut up.
-Say "Shut up, Mommy." -Shut up, Mommy.
(MEN LAUGHING)
-Say "Shut up, Mommy." -Shut up, Mommy.
Say "Love you, Mommy." Say that. Say "Love you, Mommy."
-EXODUS: I love you, Mommy. -There you go.
You know when you do this shit to yourself, you gotta ask yourself,
do you really give a fuck?
Like, you know what? I am me.
- (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) -I am me, man. I am me.
MAN: What's she pissed off about?
-It's a pretty good reason. -MAN: (SCOFFS) Yeah.
Pretty good reason.
EARL: All right, it's very particular.
Parmesan, oregano. Six inch, all right?
Turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, a lot of pepper,
only on the vegetables, dash of salt.
Yeah, I mean,
we all knew it was gonna just go up from here.
You know what I'm sayin'? You know.
You know, me walkin' out of the fucking federal prison
with no mustache. You know, 240 fuckin' pounds, you know?
To here.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Yes.
(MUSIC PLAYING OV SPEAKERS)
Okay! What? (LAUGHS)
Drinks on me.
("ROCK WITH YOU" BY MICHAEL JACKSON PLAYS ON SPEAKERS)
Come on.
-Right now, yeah. -Come on.
Only at Maxwell's, nigga. Only at Maxwell's.
Everybody dance. The baby's crying.
Get the baby, get the baby.
Get the baby.
Get the baby, guys. The baby crying. (LAUGHS)
Yeah, always, always, always. Always, dawg, always.
I've always hit niggas like that,
but they didn't hit me though, you know?
Hey, yo, yo. Yo. Do y'all know how many people
would die to be me right now, standing here with this nigga?
Yo, go back to DMX. Hey, yo!
-Yo, check one two. -(ALL LAUGH)
EARL: I work on my shit,
and think about my shit the way I do.
So, I don't give nobody no bullshit.
I ain't never gonna give a nigga bullshit.
Before I do that, I'll stop writing.
But I'm at the point right now where I...
Yo, fuck the world. I'm good.
Not 'cause I'm doing like that, but because I'm hurt.
INTERVIEWER: Do you think you're angry?
I'm very fuckin' angry.
INTERVIEWER: When are you at your angriest?
Oh, man.
Not being treated right from day one.
I mean, as far as the system in general.
INTERVIEWER: Both of your parents living?
Uh... Yeah.
INTERVIEWER: Were they supportive
-during your childhood? -No.
I remember a lot about my childhood.
(MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYING)
I used to get beaten a lot. Lot of beatings.
INTERVIEWER: And what about your mother,
what was she like?
WOMAN: It's awful.
I'm trying to word it properly, 'cause you know what I'm saying?
She is my mother, I don't wanna disrespect her.
and you know, there's a lot of people in here, but...
I'll just put it like this. There's no love.
Yeah. It's like that.
She like, beat me so much.
She used to beat me until she was tired.
You know, she'd always threaten us with, you know,
"The white people are gonna come take you away. You want that?"
Then gives me away anyway, you know what I'm saying?
I was seven and I got put in institutions.
I think...
I think that's...
you know, when the problem was born.
-CROWD: DMX! DMX! DMX! -DMX! Come on. Here we go.
Come on.
-MAN: Let's do this. -EARL: Yes.
(CROWD CHEERING)
Say, "What's up?" What's up?
-(BABBLES) -(CHUCKLES)
EARL: That's one of the reasons I'm blessed.
(CROWD CHEERING)
EARL: This next song...
is for God's warriors.
You might not know or think that you're special to God
because you've been through difficult situations.
(CHEERING)
But I'm here to tell you...
that's why you're special to God.
Because it's when you go through somethin',
that God is able to reach out, and help you through it.
If you don't fall down, then God can't pick you up.
Because it's during these hard times
that you become aware
of what God is willing to do for you.
(CHEERING)
-FAN: Love you, man. -Love you. It's fucking dope.
That shit rub off, man.
So, this is for all of those warriors.
All of those people that have been through something.
(CROWD CHEERING)
Whatever type of lighter you got,
whether it's a camera light, a flashlight, a phone light,
or a lighter, light this motherfucker up.
Light this motherfucker up. Light this motherfucker up!
(CROWD CHEERING)
("SLIPPIN'" PLAYING)
For real See, to live is to suffer
But to survive, well
Find the meaning In the suffering
- Ayo, I'm slippin' And fallin' - Light it up
- Ayo, I'm slippin' And falling - Light it up
Get back to my feet So I can tear shit up
- Ayo, I'm slippin' And falling - Light it up
Get back on my feet So I can tear shit up
I've been Through mad different phases
Like mazes, to find my way
And now I know that happy days Are not far away
If I'm strong enough I live long enough
To see my kids Doing something
More constructive With their time than bids
I ate somethin' A couple of forties
Made me hate somethin'
I did some bullshit Ready to take somethin'
Three years later Showin' signs of stress
Didn't keep my hair cut Or give a fuck how I dressed
I'm possessed By the darker side
Livin' the cruddy life
Shit like this kept a nigga With a bloody knife
I wanna make records But I'm fuckin' it up
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
EARL: All right, let's do it. What's your name brother?
-ROGER BURTON: Roger Burton, man. -Good to meet you.
And just the vibe you get here.
ROGER: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Nice to meet all you guys. What's your name?
JASON HONECKER: For most of our kids that come here,
they're here because something happened to them.
It's not because they're bad kids.
It's not because that, you know, they don't want to do good.
It's because something happened to them along the line
which brought them to a place like this.
-Nigel, how you feeling? -I feel happy.
-What's your goal? -To stay safe.
-Who can help you? -Anyone.
ALL: We'll help you.
-NIGEL: Devin, how you feeling? -DEVIN: Confused.
Can you ask him?
-DEVIN: How you feeling? -Joyful.
-DEVIN: What's your goal? -My goal is to...
be an inspiration to someone that I don't know.
DEVIN: Who you can help you?
Anyone that can.
-ALL: We'll help you. -EARL: Thank you.
You're confused about why they ask you to come down here.
All right, so I used to be here, as a resident.
Long time ago, long time ago.
And since then,
I've made a career out of doing music...
and movies.
And I wanted to come back,
and see what the place is like now
that I've gone, and hopefully be an inspiration
to some of the kids that are here now.
They used to have the swings down there.
I remember I would swing so high and then jump off.
(LAUGHS) Jump, and it felt like I was flyin'
for, like, a second and a half.
Wow.
This still looks the same.
You know, a lot of kids come from situations
that are a lot worse than this,
you know, home life. You know, I mean,
I wasn't eating three meals a day.
I didn't have clothes freely given to me
whenever I needed 'em.
You know, I wasn't given an allowance.
But, you know, I got all that here.
-Yeah. -JASON: Come on in.
-Instant memories. -JASON: Wow.
Water still tastes the same.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
EARL: How you doing?
-What up? -BOY: What up?
You all right?
-You all residents? -ALL: Yeah!
EARL: Wow. Good place to be, man.
Good place to be.
(SIGHS)
How many of y'all enjoy bein' here?
Get whatever you can out of it. This place has a lot to offer.
Let it be a blessing.
-(BALL BOUNCING) -I thought you was on my team.
You on my team, man.
("'TIL THE CHRIST COMES BACK" BY BILL FAY PLAYING)
When soldiers Spoil your sleep
And writers steal Your dreams
Don't strain to hear The screams
When the light goes out
Today was a good day.
It was a good day.
When shadows take...
(MUSIC ENDS)
Hey, this about to be the biggest surprise
-of Coachella right now. -About time.
MURDA BEATZ: We about to fuck this shit up.
(CROWD CHEERING)
MURDA: Let's do this shit.
Yeah.
-(CROWD CHEERS) -MURDA: Let's do this shit.
EARL: Let's go, baby.
MURDA: Let's do this shit!
PAIGE HURD: Yeah, he was very delayed.
I was like-- You want some more?
Yeah. I'm so glad you came.
To get to the dressing room,
and the one person that's in here...
-my Paige. -(LAUGHS)
PAIGE: It feels great to see my dad.
I haven't seen him in quite some time,
due to some troubles.
But I'm glad to be back in his presence.
You know, it's good to see him.
And I always think it's dope for him
to include God, so...
INTERVIEWER: So, you're doing Sunday Service
tomorrow with Kanye, you know?
And I know you've been a man of faith for so long, like...
what, if anything, does this mean to you?
What does it mean? It means an opportunity.
-INTERVIEWER: All right. -That's it.
(GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING)
EARL: Do I think it's church?
I think it's a celebration of what church can bring.
Minus the reason why people actually go to church.
Which is the Word.
It's serving a purpose.
God will use the devil for his purpose.
(PEOPLE CHEERING, APPLAUDING)
EARL: In the name of Jesus, let us pray.
(CHOIR HARMONZIING)
Father, please walk with us through the bad times
as well as the good.
May we be heard and understood.
From the suburbs to the hood.
And may you judge us by our hearts
and not by our mistakes.
See that we get our breakthrough,
however long that it takes.
May you fill that part of our souls,
and lay our sins to rest.
For there's no way we can live with Jesus
when we're living in the flesh.
So I pray that you allow our spirits to be born,
grow strong, move on, to know right from wrong.
First John, chapter two, verse fifteen.
You do not love the world and anything in the world.
Lord, you take care of fools and babies.
You teach women to honor their men
and men to respect their ladies.
So, thank you!
For preventing us from going astray.
Doing wrong for so long that we forgot the way.
(CROWD CHEERING, APPLAUDING)
-This man is a Christian. -EARL: That's right.
I knew it. I knew it. I could feel it in my spirit.
WOMAN: Way to represent.
And I get one this way. Yeah, that way I get more of it.
WOMAN: Are you here for the festival? Are you playing?
EARL: Yes, I'm actually on tour,
but I did do a couple appearances at the festival.
Coachella, in between dates.
You did, wow. I've never heard you perform actually.
Well, I was here last night.
Well, actually I was in Anaheim last night
and came back here
to do the Sunday Service with Kanye.
Oh, you did the Sunday service with Kanye. Wow, awesome.
-Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you. God bless.
I don't know where we are to be honest with you.
Okay, all right, let's...
-turn up. (LAUGHS) -(LAUGHS)
Let's get lit!
XVRIYAH SIMMONS: How you doin'?
(RAIN PATTERING)
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
PAT: Is there supposed to be really bad weather?
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -Yeah, I told them...
Hello?
Yeah, I can hear you.
So, 5:10 is no longer the set time, correct?
Okay, I just don't wanna bring him over there
and have him sitting there.
So, I'm just gonna stop and kinda turn back.
But wait, wait, you know, I'm on call. I'm here.
They said they'll keep me posted on stage times,
-but we ain't gonna wait around all day. -What?
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
PAT:
MAN 1:
-MAN 2: -MAN 1:
MAN 2: That's where the truck is at.
(MOVIE AUDIO PLAYING IN BACKGROUND)
ANNOUNCER: Ready? Get your hands up for DMX!
(CROWD CHEERING)
("PUSH YOUR HANDS UP" BY DMX PLAYING)
Get your hands up! Get your, get your hands up!
Get your hands up!
Y'all gon' make me Lose my mind
Up in here, up in here
Y'all gon' make me Go all night
- Up in here -AUDIENCE: Up in here
Y'all gon' make me Act a fool
- Up in here -AUDIENCE: Up in here
Y'all gon' make me Lose my cool...
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)
(EARL GROWLS)
-(CROWD CHEERING) -EARL: Let's get it to 'em.
Nice to see you, my man, good to see you.
WAITER: Good to see you. How you been?
EARL: There's gonna be about ten of us.
WAITER: Ten? Do you want to sit indoors or outdoors?
-Outdoors is cool. -WAITER: Outdoors?
-Okay, let me set that up for you. -All right.
Let's bless the table.
Thank you, Lord, for the food we're about to receive
to nourish our bodies. Bless it, and in Jesus' name we pray.
-Amen. -ALL: Amen.
Happy Mother's day to all the mothers.
ALL: Thank you.
What's up, guys? I hope you enjoy this new movie.
It's about my dad. And I'm gonna be half in it.
Have a good day. Yeah!
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)
MAN: Go look in the white car.
(MUSIC PLAYING OVER CAR RADIO)
Whoo! Yeah, boy!
(ENGINES REVS)
DIRECTOR: (OVER RADIO) Roll camera.
SWIZZ BEATZ: Yeah, so the beer and collages go into this video.
So imagine as a trailer for the video.
So, that was the concept for this.
-MAN: I'm good, man. -SWIZZ: It's me!
(MAN LAUGHS)
(ALL CLAMOR)
Hold on, wait. Hold on, hold on, hold on.
-Hold on, hold on. -Fire content.
-How you doin'? -WOMAN: I'm good.
I ain't seen you in what?
The last time I see you, you was on top of me.
-You know what? -(CROWD HOOTS)
MAN: That was disrespectful. That was disrespectful.
-You hear that? -EARL: Yes.
He said the last time he seen her she was on top of him.
-Yeah! -So I gotta explain this.
Hold on, hold on.
-Cut! Part two. Part two. -No, no, no, no.
Hold on, hold on, hold on. She was on top of him
because I wanted to play a prank
and make the pilot drop the plane.
-We were in a private jet. -WOMAN: In my sleep.
-I made the pilot drop it. -This nigga tells the pilot, "Drop the plane."
And I'm on the couch. I'm on the couch in the plane.
-He flips in the... -I hit the ceiling.
Came down...
WOMAN: And threw me out my chair. And I landed...
EARL: And I woke up in heaven, baby.
-I woke up in heaven, baby. -(LAUGHTER)
-(LAUGHS) -(LAUGHS)
- ("ROCK WITH YOU" BY MICHAEL JACKSON PLAYING) -(EARL SINGING ALONG)
You gotta feel that beat
And we can ride the boogie
Share that beat of love
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
You're doing it for him?
I'm not gonna say I'm a psychic.
MAN: Nah, you called it off.
I'm not gonna say I'm a psychic. I just...
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
MAN: Gonna get that spice.
...on a bike, driving by with the police chasing you, motherfucker.
-On 126 Street. -EARL: And I got away.
And he got away on the sidewalk. On the side-motherfucking-walk.
You knew my daddy very well.
-Started him too late. -I believed in music.
I believed that niggas could make it.
When I saw you, I said, "niggas can make it."
Like I never knew Biggie and Tupac.
I never knew no Kool Herc
and all these other brothers that created and paved the way.
But when I saw you, I said, "Nah, a nigga can make it."
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
EARL: You had the hardest verse. You're untouchable.
RAPPER: You did that. Y'all did that.
No, no. You did that.
-I did that, but y'all inspired me to do that. -EARL: You--
We didn't inspire you to do shit,
we just gave you the opportunity. You did it.
We're going R-U double-F R-Y-D-E
You can't fuck with my army
Niggas is untouchable Eatin' niggas like Lunchables
Forty-five be crushin' you
When the bullets Be touchin' you
Pallbearers'll carry you
To the cemetery Where your momma gon' bury you
Black suit be Fittin' you nigga
I got hood disease
'Cause I'm street Like powder milk
And government cheese
You a runnin' man, nigga I'ma shoot up your knees
It's me against the world Man against machine
STTS, stick to my routine
(ALL CHEERING)
-Untouchable. -MAN: Come on, baby!
-Hey, where all the people at? -Here we go.
-DIRECTOR: Roll camera. -MAN: How's that level?
-EARL: Yeah. -DIRECTOR: Come on, roll camera.
-Cameras please. -DIRECTOR: Music loud.
Here we go. Let's play that song. Play that.
I'm the fucking plague I'm global warming
I'm the Ebola virus My niggas is pirates
Prepare for violence Silence
-(GLASS SHATTERING) -RADIO ANNOUNCER: On Hot 97.
Speaking of music and producing people,
I'm hearing...
that DMX has a lot of momentum right now.
We just shot the video for "Just In Case."
-Me, him, Ross. -Mm-hmm.
-He looked very good in that. -So, how close are we to like
-this thing really happening? -So, my thing is like,
he's in that zone, so let's go.
Right? And when X is in the zone, like,
greatness happens. And, like, a lot of those times,
he was battling with other things,
you know? So this is the most clearest
that I've seen him in a long time.
He's focused, he's showing up...
(PHONE RINGING)
(PHONE BEEPS)
-(RINGING CONTINUES) - (MUSIC PLAYS OVER SPEAKERS)
-(JENN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY OVER PHONE) -CLARK SLATER: Hello? Hello?
-Hey. -CLARK: Hey, Jenn.
-JENN: Hey, what's good? -CLARK: I was just calling
to see if you've heard from X. Um...
You know, today is the big interview day
for the documentary.
JENN: And you haven't spoke to him? Has Pat caught you up?
CLARK: I have not been able to reach him.
Nobody seems to be able to give me,
like, any kind of communication.
JENN: I don't know what's goin' on.
CLARK: All right, well, we're gonna wait
as long as we can, 'cause we got everybody here,
and it's like a really, really expensive day for us.
We have to make it happen today.
JENN: If you don't hear from him,
I'd say about like 6:00...
um, we might have to figure somethin' else out.
(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING)
AUTOMATED VOICE: You have reached the voicemail box of--
(PHONE HANGS UP)
CHRISTOPHER FRIERSON: We got a text from Pat, finally.
Apparently, like he couldn't get a hold of X either.
X had a meeting, and no one's heard from him since.
Spank, Desiree, Meech, everybody else
-cannot get a hold of him, so... -(PHONE RINGING)
PAT: Yo. Chris...
-CHRIS: You hear me? -PAT: Yeah, I got you.
What I was saying is, like-- I mean, it started with--
I just kept getting excuses about stuff.
And I hadn't heard from him a couple days,
and I knew the longer we stayed in New York,
the longer it was gonna...
The more risk we were at.
-JENN: Hello? -CLARK: Hey, Jenn.
JENN: Hey.
CLARK: Do they think X is gonna do
his performance later?
JENN: Um, can I call you back about that?
- (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) -(PHONE RINGING)
DESIREE:
-CLARK: How you doing? -DESIREE:
MAN: I know I hadn't talked to you in a while.
I just wanted to, like,
see how you were doing, and how X is doing.
DESIREE:
-CLARK: Yes. -DESIREE: So why you even here?
CLARK: And how did he respond to that?
DESIREE:
(PHONE RINGING)
-CLARK: Yeah. -PAT: Yo, tonight was a disaster, bro, like...
I don't know if you've dealt with anybody
that does that drug, bro.
But it's nasty. Like, it's dangerous.
He was up for, like, four days. Cooped up in his house. Just...
He's not a criminal, he's an addict.
You know, he needs help.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
UNCLE BUCKEYE: Okay, this is raveen.
This is where he sneaked down and he would buy his crack,
so I used to come on, get up, you know, come outta the store,
come on down and say, "Yo man, what the fuck, man?
You don't know who's watching this,
and you're just, you know, getting your shit right.
Come on, get outta here."
And I'd pull him out the hallway, he'd sober up.
Then he would vanish.
Then you don't see him, then you don't see Earl
in about three or four weeks. You know, he would just vanish.
He's been the same dude his whole life.
And that's why it's hard for him to change
because he is the same dude.
He ain't ever shy away from the truth.
He always speak the truth.
He always let it be known, you know what I mean?
He's fighting demons.
-He's human. -He's like us.
-Ain't no downhill. -Ain't no downhill, man.
'Cause you bounce back.
-Yeah, you bounce back. -MAN: And he always do bounce back.
When you from the 'hood, you bounce back.
-We never doing bad. -He got love in the hood.
(SIREN WAILING)
MAN: We're praying hard that he will
bounce back, get back in the studio,
get back to Hollywood. Doing himself...
doing movies, and making music.
Like I said a lot of people
is praying for him and pulling for him in Yonkers.
You know, young and old.
But this is where he came from.
(MILD-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYING)
PAT: He lost a lot of weight.
-MAN 2: Really? -PAT: A lot, yeah.
He's not the worst I've ever seen him,
but he's pretty bad.
Like if you'd seen him...
you'd be like, "Holy shit."
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(MAN LAUGHING)
Come on, man, I almost didn't recognize him.
JENNA BOURDREU: I told him the first day he was here,
I said, "Listen we're not geared to treating celebrities.
We've never had a celebrity come through here."
-MAN: Yeah. -And I was like,
"But we'll meet you where you're at
but you're gonna have to meet us halfway."
And he has.
-Where you going? -My grandchildren had an order.
Okay. So, you actually dress up for court.
-Yeah. -Yeah, right. Who does that?
-Who does that? -Right.
JENNA: When he first came here, it was like,
"Oh, no, no. I don't want to go to group,"
you know what I mean? And then slowly it was like,
"All right, I'll try this group."
-"All right, I'll come here at this time." -MAN: Right.
And even, like, coming here, on his own every day.
We're not driving him, we're not pickin' him up.
-MAN: Right. -JENNA: He's coming here on his own.
EARL: "I've been stabbed in the back
by those I needed the most.
I've been lied to by those I loved.
And I felt alone when I couldn't afford to be.
But at the end of the day, I had to learn to be on my own,
to be my own best friend.
There are going to be days when no one
is going to be there for me, but myself."
MAN 1: You get a text like that every day?
Every day.
-MAN 2: You have no idea who it is? -EARL: Nope.
MAN 2: Have you ever responded, like, "Who's this?"
-Nope. -MAN 2: Just let 'em come in?
Yeah, you know. Ain't no sense in fucking it up.
"Who's this? Oh, you've been getting them.
-I didn't know. Shit." -(MEN LAUGHING)
(PHONE RINGING)
What's goin' on, my brother?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm back on track. Know what I'm saying?
Everything happens for a reason.
All right, stay in touch.
All right, my nigga.
Where is Exodus? Where is Exodus?
- Here I am, here I am - How are you today, sir
Run away, run away
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
MAN: Good to see around here.
-EARL: Thank you, brother. -MAN: Hey, God bless you.
-Take care. -Yeah.
-Gonna drop anything new on us? -Yes, sir.
WOMAN: Is it on the picture?
(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING)
MAN: I mean when you heard that he relapsed...
-XAVIER: Yeah. -MAN: ...what was your...
(EXHALING DEEPLY)
It's like asking how's your day.
That's how common it becomes. (SNIFFLES)
I look back on how my dad would behave.
I started to see...
that it wasn't so much the drug that would
make him angry...
but the pain that he was enduring.
So, my mom, she asked us,
"Hey, listen. I'm going to see your dad.
Do you wanna come?"
(SIGHS) I said, "Okay, okay."
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
EARL: Let me guess. Lemon water, huh?
-You already know. -EARL: (INDISTINCT)
Get the fuck out with this lemon water shit.
We're supposed to evolve, Earl.
(ALL LAUGHING)
EARL: I'd drink the lemon water if there was sugar in it.
It's new sugar lemon. (LAUGHS)
Look at that other one too. (LAUGHS)
Cheers.
TASHERA SIMMONS: Well, he got an excuse, but you know me, Yonkers.
-EARL: Right, right. -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
TASHERA: He getting so damn big.
-EARL: Yeah. -TASHERA: I'm like, dang.
EARL: Know how late we're gonna be. Like, you don't wanna be.
Wonder where he get that from? Is that me?
(LAUGHS) I'm just kidding.
That's a lot to it. You know what I mean? You know.
-Ripping layers and layers. -EARL: Yeah.
And some shit like I didn't wanna revisit at all.
It's like you don't know how it's gonna leave you, like damn.
(EXCLAIMING, LAUGHING)
I'm saying, the drugs were a symptom
of another problem.
Of a deeper, rooted, you know what I mean?
So, you feel like you making some progress with that?
One on one. You digging deep?
EARL: Like the past couple of months
before I even relapsed,
I was like, "Yo, I need to talk to somebody."
It's just the constant associating,
you know, drugs and alcohol with having a good time. You know what I'm saying?
This is real. We're having a session, okay?
-(LAUGHS) -(LAUGHS)
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)
That was crazy.
We're gonna try the other ones too.
-Girl, that's-- I love this. -PAIGE: That's a good picture
compared to our kids' one.
EARL: We're here, we're healthy.
We're smiling.
-You know what I mean? -Right.
I wanted to tap out a few times.
I'm like...
"How would my babies look at that?"
-You're my boy. -Yeah.
-(BOTH LAUGH) -XAVIER: Bring it in, man.
EARL: Stay warm.
Hats off. (LAUGHS) The tiny jacket, hats off!
WOMAN: I love you too, nigga.
-EARL: Here, this is mine. He's mine. -XAVIER: Oh, man.
-EARL: You're mine, you're mine. -Yes.
EARL: Mine. Mine.
Mine.
I'm proud of the man you've become.
Thank you. (SNIFFLES) Thank you.
Lot of exits you could've took...
to not be the person you are.
You stayed on that highway.
-You stayed on that highway. -XAVIER: I did.
-You stayed on that highway. -(SOBS)
(SNIFFLES)
EARL: It's all right. It's all right.
At the end of the day,
-we're still here. -Yes.
EARL: We're still here.
There's so much that we've lost. We're still here.
(WHIMSICAL MUSIC PLAYING)
You're my family.
-XAVIER: You at... -EARL: Yeah.
TASHERA: I gotta give Earl a hug! You gonna go over there
and go have a moment with your family, nigga!
I was like, "You mean y'all gonna go do this shit
when I'm on camera?"
As much as you pushed for this,
as hard as you worked to get us to that point,
-and you missed it. -Thank you, love.
I love you too, baby.
TASHERA: It's fun having kids, I swear.
-MAN: Where did you guys first meet? -In Yonkers.
MAN: And you guys were together for how long?
So, we was together from our 18 till...
So, what is that, 20 something years?
All his handwriting.
If you'll notice, we separated in '06,
and that's exactly where it stops.
-(EARL LAUGHING) -(LAUGHS)
EARL: It was kinda sad to go, man.
-TASHERA: Really? -I guess when I was leaving,
they were just telling me, like, you know,
how much it meant for me to be there.
I inspire some people.
That's when it hits you though, you know what I'm saying?
-Yeah. You're leaving. -EARL: When you walkin' out, like "Yo, I did it."
Let me leave, and then, like, we're gonna miss you, man.
You gotta know when to put it in and how much to put it in.
There's just something about it. There's a way you gotta do it.
-Damn. (LAUGHS) -(LAUGHS)
EARL: (LAUGHING) That is...
-That's a big-ass claw. -Oh, it's a huge claw.
-Little hot. It's a little hot. -GIRL: Did it to me too.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-EARL: What you talking about? -GIRL: Here.
EARL: He wrote the plan, it's his plan.
He knows what's gonna happen.
So, whatever little things happen in between,
they've been accounted for.
And look at what it comes down to. Family, friends.
("THE WAY WE WERE" BY GLADYS KNIGHT PLAYING ON TV)
GLADYS KNIGHT: Hey, you know, everybody's talkin'
about the good old days, right?
Everybody. "The good old days, the good old days."
-Life was slow. -GLADYS: When life was slow.
-Oh, so mellow. -GLADYS: And oh, so mellow.
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
-Try to remember. -GLADYS: Try to remember.
-And if you remember... -GLADYS: And if you remember, then...
-...follow. -GLADYS: ...follow.
Oh, why does it seem that the past is always better?
-We look back and we think... -GLADYS: We look back and we think
-the winters were warmer. -Warmer.
GLADYS: The grass was greener.
-The skies were bluer. -GLADYS: The skies were bluer
-and smiles were... -Smiles were...
GLADYS: ...bright.
(SINGING) Can it be It was all so simple then
Or has time Rewritten every line
And if we had the chance To do it all again
Tell me...
I got it. I'll do that, I'll do that.
Just have a moment right now.
This is a beautiful song.
Memories
Like the corners of my mind
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
Misty watercolor memories
Nothing like it.
- Of the way it was - Of the way it was
- Scattered pictures - Scattered pictures
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave To one another
- For the way we were - For the way we were
- Oh - Oh
Can it be that It was all so simple then?
Or has time Rewritten every line
And if we had the chance To do it all again
Tell me, would we? Could we?
Memories May be beautiful and yet
What's too painful To remember
We simply choose to forget
So it's the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember
The way we were
Remember
The way we were
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
("'TIL CHRIST COMES BACK" BY BILL FAY PLAYING)
Pain was all you knew
But I think You're comin' through
Like applause inside a zoo
When a lion gets out
When shadows take your hand
And mist is on the land
Hold onto your mind
'Til the Christ comes back