DMX, the hardcore hip-hop star whose ominous, snarling raps chronicled the violence and struggles on American streets, has died. He was 50 years old.

The rapper's longtime lawyer confirmed DMX's death to AFP, after a statement from his family widely shared on social media said the artist, born Earl Simmons, died after nearly a week on life support following a heart attack.

"Earl was a warrior who fought till the very end," the statement read, saying the rapper died at White Plains Hospital north of New York City, with his loved ones by his side.

"He loved his family with all of his heart and we cherish the times we spent with him," the statement read. 

The family said information on a memorial service was forthcoming.

The agitated rapper - who reigned over the late 1990s and early 2000s with hits including "X Gon' Give It To Ya" and "Party Up" - was among hip-hop's darkest stars, laying his inner demons out for the masses in gritty, hard-driving anthems that gained him commercial and critical acclaim.

Raised in the New York suburb of Yonkers, the artist endured a grim childhood, growing up in the projects with his mother and siblings where he suffered abuse.

At 14, he entered a cycle of incarceration that would persist throughout his life, committing robberies that regularly landed him in jail.