DMX Sprung Early

DMX Sprung Early

01/06/2006 5:32 PM, E! Online
Josh Grossberg

Stop the presses: DMX has been behaving himself.

The trouble-prone rapper was granted early release from New York's Rikers Island jail after serving a month of what was supposed to be a 70-day sentence for a parole violation.

"He got some time off, two-thirds, for good behavior and also accrued some credit for time spent previously in jail," a spokeswoman for the Queens District Attorney said Friday.

DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was sprung on Dec. 30, according to the D.A.

His attorney had earlier expressed hope that DMX would be released in time to perform a scheduled New Year's Eve concert in South Africa. No word on whether he made the gig; calls to the rapper's lawyer and publicist were not immediately returned Friday.

The 34-year-old Yonkers-born hip-hop star was ordered to jail on Nov. 19 by Criminal Court Judge Dorothy Chin-Brandt. The sentence was handed down a month after he pleaded guilty to violating the terms of his sentence in a 2004 case that involved him plowing his SUV through a security gate at New York's JFK Airport while high on Valium and then telling bystanders he was an undercover federal agent. DMX was initially sentenced to 60 days, but the judge tacked on an extra 10 after the rapper showed up late to court. He blamed his tardiness on an asthma attack.

The driving-impaired DMX was separately busted for driving with a suspended license in the Bronx last April after he accidentally slammed his SUV into a car that in turn rammed a police cruiser. That collision landed DMX a seven-day jail term and $500 fine, but he caught a break and was allowed to do the time concurrently with his other sentence.

Now the rapper looks to resume his idled career. He has reportedly quit his longtime label, Def Jam Records. DMX nixed an offer to join 50 Cent's label, G-Unit, and instead has bolted to Sony Music with the hope that the conglomerate will do a good job softening his image.

We're not sure how much the Sony move will help, but anything that will get him in the studio and off the roads can't hurt.