Dmx

* * * DMX "The Great Depression" Def Jam DMX always defies the odds. The fiery, scratchy-voiced rapper from Yonkers, N.Y., released two albums in 1998, an unheard-of move, especially for a relative newcomer. Both collections entered the chart at No. 1, thanks to a die-hard following drawn to his lively raps about the struggle between good and evil. DMX's third album, released in 1999, also entered the chart at No.

Action star Steven Seagal scored a solid comeback with "Exit Wounds," a crime thriller that debuted as the weekend's top film with $19 million. The movie, which co-stars rapper DMX, was Seagal's best opening ever, topping the $14-million debut of "Under Siege" in 1992. "Enemy at the Gates," a World War II adventure starring Jude Law and Ed Harris, premiered at No. 2 with $13.6 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Producer Joel Silver's new Warner Bros. movie, "Exit Wounds," features DMX, a hip-hop star. But DMX's co-star isn't another rap icon--it's Steven Seagal, the pudgy martial-arts master who has faded from view after his days as an early '90s action hero. The odd-couple pairing is classic Silver, who in the past has had action hits with such unlikely teams as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers ("Predator"), Mel Gibson and Danny Glover (the "Lethal Weapon" series) and Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans ("The Last Boy Scout")

Producer Joel Silver's new Warner Bros. movie, "Exit Wounds," features DMX, a hip-hop star. But DMX's co-star isn't another rap icon--it's Steven Seagal, the pudgy martial-arts master who has faded from view after his days as an early '90s action hero.

On last summer's hugely successful "Hard Knock Life Tour," DMX established himself as rap's most exciting superstar performer. With the new "Ruff Ryders/Cash Money Tour," which stopped Saturday at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, the Yonkers, N.Y., rapper made it clear that he's not about to relinquish the title. To open his 45-minute set, DMX descended from a cage that was suspended high over the stage.

Is DMX risking his considerable street cred to warm up to a more mainstream audience? Watch this week for the intense, gritty rapper to perform on NBC's "Saturday Night Live," the first in a series of television gigs in upcoming weeks that include Queen Latifah's talk show, the sitcom "Moesha" and music specials on BET and MTV. The Yonkers, N.Y., rhymer will also stride across the Shrine Auditorium stage in March to be honored as "entertainer of the year" at the Soul Train Awards.

***DMX "And Then There Was" Def Jam It's unlikely that DMX will ever be ranked as one of rap's better lyricists, but he may be one of the genre's most effective. On his third album, the Yonkers, N.Y., native goes straight for the jugular, presenting himself--as he's done in his previous work--as a lost soul struggling for guidance.

Police officers are removing pit bulls from a woman's property in Compton, and DMX is getting worked up about it. "They're taking her babies," shouts the fiery rap star as he watches the TV news report about illegally housed dogs. "Whoever's dog that is, they're going to be sick," he says. "They took my dogs, those [expletive]. They took them for no reason. They did that the same way that they did mine, bringing 'em out of my house all crazy." His agitation doesn't come as a surprise.

Who will have the first No. 1 album of Y2K? Def Jam Records is shooting for those bragging rights with an unprecedented sequence of five big album releases in the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's--a period that record companies have traditionally avoided because it's too late to ride the seasonal sales sleigh. But last year Def Jam stunned the music business by releasing DMX's "Flesh of My Flesh Blood of My Blood" just three days before Christmas.

Rappers Jay-Z and DMX put on sizzling performances Saturday at the Arrowhead Pond, but the audience enthusiasm contributed equally to the electricity of the evening. Because hard-core hip-hop tours have been so rare over the last decade, the young fans cheered every beat and rap with much the same fervor that rock fans may have responded with during the '50s and '60s when rock touring came of age. "The Hard Knock Life Tour" is named after Jay-Z's latest album, the multi-platinum "Vol. 2 . . .