Rapper DMX arrested, charged with DUI

Patrick Ryan | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption DMX lights cigarette during DUI arrest Rapper DMX was arrested and charged with DUI in Greenville, SC after he lit up a cigarette while taking and failing a field sobriety test.

Arrested near Greenville%2C S.C.%2C Thursday night

The rapper has previously been charged with animal cruelty and reckless driving

UPDATE: The South Carolina Highway Patrol has confirmed that DMX was charged with driving under the influence.

Earlier Friday, DMX's publicist, Domenick Nati, had denied the charge. "Allegations about DMX being arrested for drunk driving are false," Nati's statement read. "He was arrested early this morning but quickly released. X was given a breathalyzer test and easily passed it."

Nati told USA TODAY that the rapper was pulled over because he wasn't wearing a seat belt.

The rapper was seen driving "erratically" Thursday night at about 9 p.m. when he was pulled over on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to Sgt. Bob Beres of the South Carolina Highway Patrol's media relations department.

After failing a field sobriety test, he was transported to the Greenville Detention Center and charged with driving under the influence, not having a driver's license and not wearing a seat belt, Beres says.

No further information was provided regarding his release.

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Once again, DMX is acting a fool (up in here, up in here).

The Party Up rapper, 42, was arrested near Greenville, S.C., early Friday and charged with driving under the influence, according to the Associated Press.

DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was also charged with not having a driver's license.

Simmons has faced a number of charges in recent years. He was arrested last year in South Carolina on suspicion of driving without a license, and faced multiple 2008 arrests in Phoenix on charges ranging from animal cruelty to reckless driving.