DMX Files Lawsuit for Unpaid Royalties

After almost a decade of repeated legal mishaps, DMX is finally making an effort to tie up the loose ends in his professional life. The Yonkers native, who is currently serving a six-month prison sentence in Arizona for parole violation, filed a lawsuit against Rich Kid Entertainment on Monday, April 26, alleging that the company owes him multiple back payments for his music royalties.

The lawsuit details that Rich Kid Entertainment and its related entities have failed to compensate DMX for all the funds they've collected from his hit songs in the past few years, in addition to allowing several record labels to reproduce his work without his permission. Feuds over unpaid funds is not out of the ordinary in the music industry, but this particular case raises some eyebrows because of the delayed move to seek legal aid.

According to the Associated Press, the lawsuit explains that DMX, real name Earl Simmons, failed to take action in a more timely matter due to his multiple legal run-ins and jail sentences in the past few years. "From 2000 through 2008, [DMX] was in and out of jail and changed representatives numerous times. These were some of the factors contributing to any delay."

In addition to his current stint, the 39-year-old rapper spent almost three months in an Arizona jail in 2009 for theft, drug possession and animal cruelty charges. In 2008, he plead guilty to attempted cocaine and marijuana possession in Miami, Fla. In 2006 he was arrested for refusing to wear a seat belt and becoming aggressive on an airplane in London. And finally, in 2004 he was arrested for posing as an undercover federal agent and crashing his SUV through a security gate at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

DMX's wife Tashera Simmons recently revealed plans to file for a divorce and release a book about her life with the troubled rapper. The book will be titled 'Strength of a Woman.'