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ENTERTAINMENT

DMX rocks Westchester County Center

Gabriel Rom
grom@lohud.com
Swizz Beatz (L) and DMX perform on stage  in Miami Beach. DMX released a well-received version of "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer."

Born in Mount Vernon and raised in Yonkers, DMX returned to the region Saturday night for a long-awaited homecoming concert at the Westchester County Center.

The multi-headliner show in White Plains, billed as The Empire Strikes Back, featured DMX along with legendary producer Swizz Beatz (with protege Sean Cross) and The Lox, a rap group also from Yonkers.

"It means a lot to me to see him here," said Tasha Young of Elmsford. "He sold millions and millions of records, he was in movies, he did what others in hip-hop didn't do. He was more than a rapper, and we're rooting for him." Young also mentioned that the rapper Jadakiss, a member of The Lox, is known for his racially conscious lyrics with songs like "Why" and "I'm Black."

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The concert comes at a tense time for race relations in the country but the night's themes were based on unity, music and having a good party.

"There's a lot of racial tension out here but we're trying to keep it civil, trying to keep it all about love," said the M.C. before the show started.

The show was a triumphant return for DMX, who has faced a string of criminal and personal issues in recent years. In 2015. Simmons was accused of robbery at a Newark gas station after a performance in April, and he was sentenced to six months in a Buffalo jail in July for failing to pay $400,000 in child support payments. He was released in September. Most recently DMX made headlines for being resuscitated by EMS outside a Yonkers' hotel.

"I saw Biggie live, I saw Tupac live and DMX is up there," said Stanley Townes of New Rochelle. "And look, we've all got our personal problems."