Rapper DMX arrested again; DUI, no license, seat-belt charges

Rapper DMX has been arrested again, this time on suspicion of DUI.

The rapper, 42, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was arrested Friday in South Carolina and charged with driving under the influence as well as not having a driver’s license, according to Greenville County officials who spoke to the Associated Press.

A trooper received a call about a possible DUI driver and then saw the hip-hop star driving erratically in his Plymouth station wagon, a spokesman for the South Carolina Highway Patrol told E! News.

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The trooper suspected DMX was inebriated and administered a Breathalyzer test, which the rapper reportedly flubbed. He was then taken into custody and charged around 3 a.m. He was additionally charged with driving without wearing a seat belt, E! said.

A new mug shot was taken, and jail records said that Simmons had been released about 4 a.m., TMZ reported, though it remained unclear if he had hired an attorney.

DMX recently released “Undisputed,” his seventh studio album, but has made more headlines lately because of a string of run-ins with the law.

In February, the “Ruff Ryders Anthem” rapper was arrested after police said they saw him leaving a gas station in Greer, in northwestern South Carolina, and charged him with driving without a license. He was taken to jail, then released after paying a fine. His then 5-month-old daughter was said to have been a passenger in the car at the time.

Just prior to that, DMX had completed a stint behind bars after his probation was revoked for the same reason, and because he refused to submit to a drug test.

He was previously arrested on charges of speeding after officials said he was driving 102 mph in a Phoenix suburb. In 2008, he was arrested on drug and animal-cruelty charges following an overnight raid on his house.

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