Like the cars featured on his MTV show “Pimp My Ride”, Xzibit’s career is being made over. After suffering a career-threating injury at the hands of some eses last year, and fresh from his stint riding shotgun with the Aftermath camp towards platinum and gold plaques on his last two albums, respectfully, Mr.X to the Z’s driving solo for a change.
Weapons Of Mass Destruction kicks off with a slew of George W. sound bites, leading us to believe X’s political voice will be omnipresent throughout the record. Over producer Thayod’s swinging drum track and church organs, “Judgement Day” finds the former Likwit Crew member spitting : “At first there was a war on Blacks, and then there was a war on crack/And now there’s a war in Iraq”. Then on “Criminal Set”, over Battlecat’s stripped-down four on the floor drum pattern, X flexes on politricks and his lyric-deficient Left Coast peers: “I run a race with the West on my back/While Ya’ll the reason why they say niggas from the West can’t rap” It seems all good until “Motherfucka”, where X’s creative wheels fall off. His tired lines like “Smoke like a chimney” and “it’s not a fucking game, you know my fucking name” lose over Rick Rock’s lazily swinging claps and synthesizers. Luckily, “Tough Guy” finds a revamped Busta Rhymes in the passenger seat, as both MCs spit hot mixtape-ready bars over an Oompa Loompa-inspired Hi-Tek track.
Though Xzibit’s flow consistently impresses, “Scent Of A Woman” finds him sounding too formulaic and contrieved, as his mid-tempo chick rhymes are off pace with Hi-Tek’s swirling violins and lagging drum track. In the end, Weapons political statements are scant, leaving him sounding as if he’s trying to pimp his fans as well
XXL Dec. ’04 issue.
