“To live is to suffer,” DMX resignedly says at the beginning of “Slippin’,” which appears just past the midpoint of 1998's Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood. Though the album sticks to gangsta wisdom throughout, it finds the rapper’s moods varying enough to almost qualify it as a series of EPs collected under one title. DMX is equally convincing on the reflective “Slippin’,” which looks back on a convict’s choices, and “Coming From,” which matches his boasts with Mary J. Blige’s thoughtful choruses, as on the celebratory “It’s All Good” and “Keep Your S*** the Hardest.” DMX’s growling voice occasionally suggests a blues singer’s expression, while relatively minimal beats such as “No Love 4 Me” keep the record booming. Both complex and brutal, Flesh of My Flesh is hard to turn away from.