UPDATED 4/25, 6:35 p.m. ET: The Yeezy-commissioned DMX tribute shirts, designed by Balenciaga, raised upwards of $1 million, sources tell TMZ.
The shirts, which sold out in just 24 hours after going for $200 a piece, will see net profits go toward X’s family. But Kanye West’s contribution to X’s family went beyond just the money raised via the hot-selling shirts. Outside of his Sunday Service choir hitting the stage at the late rapper’s ceremony this weekend, Kanye and his team reportedly designed the whole stage set-up, TMZ reports.
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Yeezy teamed up with Balenciaga to pay tribute to DMX.
The Kanye West imprint recently called on the fashion house to create a T-shirt in honor of the late hip-hop legend who died earlier this month at age 50. Balenciaga, helmed by Demna Gvasalia, granted the request, and Yeezy unveiled the design on DMX-Tribute.com. The long-sleeve tee comes in black and features original screen-printed artwork. The front is a portrait of the rapper, while the right sleeve is emblazoned with his date of birth, and the left sleeve with the date of his passing.
Fans can purchase the tee on the dedicated webpage for $200; net proceeds will benefit DMX’s family.
The drop coincides with the rapper’s memorial service at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. The event can be livestreamed on DMX’s official YouTube channel. His funeral service will take place at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday and will be broadcasted live on BET.
DMX died on April 9, one week after he was hospitalized for a heart attack. In the days since the tragedy, fans, friends, and fellow entertainers have been paying homage to DMX through social media tribute posts, many of which remembered the rapper as both humble and selfless.
“Since the day that I met him, he lived his for everyone else,” Swizz Beatz wrote on Instagram. “You ain’t never seen DMX with a Lamborghini, you ain’t never seen my brother with a Rolls-Royce, you ain’t never seen him iced out with no jewelry. He did not care about any of that. He was the biggest … He was the biggest because he prayed for everybody else more than himself. He’d get on the stage and pray for 15,000 people, knowing that he needed more prayers than anybody that he was praying for.”
