TV One kicked off a two-night special to honor Earl “DMX” Simmons and his final interview, which aired Sunday.

Three weeks before his passing on April 9 from a heart attack at age 50, the rapper sat down with the hit autobiographical series Uncensored to reflect on his life and legacy.  X remembers his 2012 experience on the VH1 series Couples Therapy with his former wife, Tashera Williams, who birthed four of his 15 children.  The New York rap icon recalls therapist Dr. Jenn orchestrating a surprise visit from his estranged mother, Arnett Simmons, whom he hadn’t seen in years at the time. 

“I guess during one of the counseling sessions or whatever, I mentioned some things with my mother,” X explained. “…the lady said, ‘how would you feel if you saw your mother right now? I said, ‘I don’t know. Of, course, I love her, but I don’t know.”

He then took an emotional pause before explaining how it felt to reunite with his mother, who said “I love you,” and apologized for abandoning her son as an adolescent. 

“She walked in the door, and I think it’s at that point right there…I just let everything go,” X continues. “She crying, I’m crying. It wasn’t a hurt cry it was like, ‘yes, this is what I need.'”

For more on the life and legacy of DMX, tune into TV One’s tribute special, DMX: The Icon, airing tonight at 10 p.m. ET.

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