Quite good...
First of all, Xzibit lyrics must be mentioned: as long as I’ve known Xzibit’s rhymes, I’ve seldom heard an MC that was so down-to-earth, so hardcore as Xzibit was and is. This man flows like hell. On the whole record, nobody is able to top him lyrically. This is one of the tightest of the rough MCs, no joke. As far as lyrics are concerned, he’s quite cool, too. It’s not that type of extreme deep shit, Xzibit stays a representative of his own clique on the whole record. I often wonder about that “I’m holdin’ it down with the West Coast”-style. Don’t get me wrong, I love Cali’s sounds, but for me, Xzibit’s voice and his flow relate him to New York. And that’s what, in my eyes, makes this album interesting….
Executive produced by Dr. Dre, the album has it all, everything you want: rough Rockwilder shit, Erick Sermon and Rick Roc also kick some East beats, Eminem produced a beat on which he raps himself (by the way, this is one of the coolest tracks), Soopafly is holdin’ it down for the West together with the Doctor. Result is an album, which has chosen a sane balance between that rough, fast shit and the laid-back, easy type of stuff . “Check Rimz & Tirez” feat. Defari, Goldie Loc & Kokane, produced by Soopafly and with Kokane singin’ the hook, and you have that West Coast flavour you also find on Snoop’s latest record. “X”, the hit single, is produced by Dr. Dre. And it sounds like that. “Don’t Approach Me” feat. Eminem is a good track about media’s haters and the negative aspects of fame and “Front 2 Back” is a Rockwilder beat that lets the disc explode in the beginning. The album is very versatile, check out the different producers, ‘cause Xzibit’s lyrics are most of all hot.
The album has got a good production and a very good MC. The only reason why it is not that dope I thought it would be is the fact that there are many hot tracks, but none of them burns your mouth, which means that the shit is all cool and you don’t need skip tracks because it’a all cool, but it’s not that pure dope I expected after hearing Xzibit on Dre’s record and others. But nevertheless, it’s a dope record. And, AvireX to the Z himself is always tight. Always.
OVERALL RATING: 4/5
REVIEWED BY: tickyz
ADDED: 2002-06-30
|
