After serving only 18 days in prison, E! Online reports that rapper DMX has been released from the Los Angeles County prison where he was slated to do 90 days time for probation violation.
The hitmaking MC, born Earl Simmons, surrendered himself to authorities on July 26 for a probation violation in connection with a 2002 DUI. It was his second stint in the big house this year, and his third trip to prison in two years. The rapper, 33, was ordered to go behind bars earlier this year for six months after admitting to using drugs while on probation.
According to E!, he also served a full 90-day sentence in 2009 after cutting a plea deal on drug possession and animal cruelty charges in Arizona.
While DMX's early career was categorized by a string of chart-topping hits and film roles (most notably "Cradle 2 the Grave" with Jet Li), he hasn't released an album since 2006's "Year of the Dog…Again" and has been more notable in recent years for his prison stints than his music or acting.
Incidentally, he's not the only celebrity to get out of jail earlier than anticipated: Lindsay Lohan served two weeks of her 90-day sentence before she was released and sent to rehab earlier this month.
According to TMZ, DMX has also battled addiction for several years and went so far as to ask for "Celebrity Rehab's" Dr. Drew Pinsky's help in March. Show staffer Will Smith, who also works at the Pasadena Recovery Center where the show takes place, dismissed the notion that the rapper would be admitted as a contestant, but instead, would need some significant time in a lock-down facility.
"He's looking at nine months to a year of treatment," Smith told the Arizona Republic.
