DMX, the actor, still puts on a rap show of strength

Already two songs into his set and his shaved head dripping with sweat, DMX posed a rhetorical question to the packed house Monday at the House of Blues. “Ya’ll ready to get this ... started?” As his devotees gave their affirmation with cheers, shouts and barks (DMX has a thing about dogs), the fiery rapper launched into his raucous “One More Road to Cross,” igniting a 50-minute performance that affirmed DMX’s standing as one of hip-hop’s most intense figures and passionate performers.

The Yonkers, N.Y., rapper burst on the scene in 1998 with “It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot,” the first of his five albums to debut at No. 1 on the sales chart. With a gravelly voice and raps that detail his struggle with the angels and devils inside him, DMX offered a forceful style of rap that was both spiritual and bone crushing.

Even though his status as a rapper has faded recently as he has made a successful transition to film acting, DMX showed Monday that his stage presence has not diminished. He stormed the stage with only a DJ backing him, bouncing, jumping and running as if he were on a treadmill working out to his own music.

What makes DMX striking is his ability to deliver the same rough, brutal type of music regardless of topic, and on Monday he convincingly played his hard-core, party and sex-themed material. DMX closed his show with an impassioned prayer asking for strength. But it was hard to imagine his needing more than he had already demonstrated.