After dropping a pair of light-selling albums in the mid-90s, Xzibit broke into the hip hop mainstream in 1999 by ripping up the Snoop Dogg hit single B Please. A few months later, the X-Man popped up on Dr. Dre’s 2001 album and in return, the good Doctor executive produced Xzibit’s breakthrough album Restless.
Two years ago, Xzibit was being hailed as the man who would carry the West Coast torch into the new millennium and Restless was slickly-produced and lyrically heated enough to give fans hope. On his new album, Man vs. Machine, Xzibit fails to build upon his own well-deserved hype.
We start out promisingly enough with Release Date. While X takes us through the last few hours of a soon-to-be-paroled inmate, the Rockwilder beat throbs with a haunting pulse and a layered synth.
Unfortunately, the examples where the production and Xzibit’s lyrics work well concurrently are few and far between. The very next track, Symphony in X Major features one of the worst hooks of all time (think bad opera) and a mediocre Dr. Dre cameo.
Speaking of Dre, he’s the executive producer once again, yet he only contributed beats for two songs. The first, Choke Me, Spank Me… is hindered with another ridiculous hook and uninspired subject matter. The second, Losin’ Your Mind, is marginally better, but completely wastes the efforts of a Snoop Dogg guest spot.
There are a pair of standout tracks that deserve mention, though. My Name continues the “feud” with So So Def’s Jermaine Dupri. Sure, it’s been a pretty one-sided feud up to this point and this track shows why. Eminem rides with X on this track (and supplies a very good beat) and the two completely destroy Dupri.
X saves his best for The Gambler. A refreshingly original track featuring electric strings, horns and a blazing chorus from Anthony Hamilton. The rest of this album doesn’t come close to matching the heat from this cut. Amazingly, the album’s worst track follows the best. Missin’ U has commendable subject matter (an ode to X’s late mother) but the space-age production sounds like unused stock from the Jetsons.
