On Saturday, April 24th, DMX took his last ride through the streets of New York. Flanked by thousands of motorcycles, his blood red casket sat atop a monster truck with the words “Long Live DMX” emblazoned on the side as it made its way from his hometown of Yonkers to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where friends and family were gathering to celebrate the life of the late rapper who died April 9th at the age of 50. It was a legendary sendoff for an artist who poured his soul — with all its conflicts, its traumatic pain and its fierce love — into his music, forever bonding himself with the millions of people around the world who listened.
As the procession arrived at Barclays, the motorcyclists, many wearing leather vests bearing the Ruff Ryders logo, popped wheelies and burned their tires into the street, sending a thick fog of smoke into the air above the intersection on Flatbush and Atlantic. As fans danced and sang along to enduring DMX hits like “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem” and “Party Up (Up In Here),” enterprising sellers hawked commemorative T-shirts, and members of the Nation of Islam passed out newspapers with a portrait of the rapper’s face on the cover. On the big screen outside of Barclays, a picture of DMX with angel wings appeared next to a line from his 1999 song “Fame”: “We each have a star, all we have to do is find it/ Once you do, everyone who sees it will be blinded.”
LIVE REVIEWS
Slayyyter played her take on Turnstile’s ‘Birds’ onstage for the first time in Atlanta. You can watch footage of the performance below.
Slayyyter is currently touring with her ‘Wor$t Girl In The World’ show. She added the cover to her set at The Eastern on Monday night (September 21).
She sang ‘Birds: Slayyyter Version’ near the end of the main set, following ‘Brittany Murphy’. She then came back for an encore featuring ‘Brand New Chanel$’ and ‘Beat Up Chanel$’.
It was her first live performance of the song. She originally recorded it for Turnstile’s ‘Never Enough: Versions’, a collection of reworked tracks released on August 28.
The 22 track release brings together new interpretations of songs from Turnstile’s fourth album. Contributors include Elton John, Hayley Williams, Blood Orange, A. G. Cook, Faye Webster, Four Tet, Oklou, Floating Points, Nourished By Time, Alex G, Julien Baker and Mustafa.
Panda Bear recorded a new take on ‘Magic Man’, while Dying Fetus gave ‘Birds’ another interpretation rooted in death metal.
See Slayyyter perform the track live and listen to her studio recording here:
Slayyyter trades the original song’s hardcore intensity for a bigger electronic sound that feels at home alongside her latest album, ‘Wor$t Girl In America’.
Turnstile first released ‘Birds’ on their 2025 album ‘Never Enough’. The song won Best Metal Performance at the 2026 Grammy Awards, where the album also won Best Rock Album.
In its five star review of ‘Never Enough’, NME pointed to ‘Birds’ and ‘Sole’ as reminders of Turnstile’s hardcore beginnings. It also praised the album for “furthering their unique, pop-facing take on hardcore”.
Slayyyter will join Turnstile on another stage next month. She and Die Spitz are set to support the band at the University of Kansas in Lawrence on October 6 for the ‘Never Enough Tour Pt. 2’.
It has been a big year for Slayyyter. Her third album, ‘Wor$t Girl In America’, came out in March, and NME’s review highlighted its mix of “brash, sleazy pop” and late 2000s indie sleaze sounds.
Last month, she performed Hole’s ‘Violet’ for triple J’s Like A Version. Courtney Love called the cover “a delight” and encouraged Slayyyter to “keep wiping the floors with us”.
A few weeks later, Slayyyter took ‘Wor$t Girl In America’ to Reading Festival. NME’s live review declared that there was “undoubtedly a star before us on stage” and praised her “rasped, rocked-up delivery” and growing confidence as a performer.
