Do You Remember When DMX Bought Shoes For A Maine Family?

As rap fans in Maine, and around the world, deal with the loss of DMX, we are reminded of the artist's connection with Maine.  It involved a heartwarming encounter with a young family doing back-to-school shopping.

The WMTW story takes us back to September of 2019.  DMX, whose real name was Earl Simmons, was in Southern Maine to do a show at the Maine Savings Pavilion at Rock Row.

Apparently, during his trip to Maine, he decided to do some exploring and some shopping.  One of the stops he made was The Maine Mall in South Portland.  Specifically, he made a stop at Journey's.

Enter Nikki Cutchens and her daughter, Grace.  The residents of Ellsworth had made the trip down to do some back-to-school shopping.  They were at Journey's getting Grace a new pair of sneakers.  As they approached the register with the shoes Grace had picked out, the man at the next register over offered to pay for their shoes.

That man was DMX.  He told the family that he was blessed to have fifteen children and wanted them to be blessed, too.

Interviewed by a reporter from WMTW, then soon to be 7th grader Grace said:

I was actually having a really hard time picking out shoes. I could not figure out which ones I wanted and then we went in that store and I found the shoes that I wanted and we just happened to go pay for them and it happened.  They're technically his shoes. That's what I'm going to say. I have DMX's shoes.

During their encounter with the rap star, he also bought a pair of shoes for Grace's older sister who, at the time, went to college in Portland.

Clearly, the man had a big heart and loved to give back.  He will be missed.

RIP DMX