Debut album by Alvin "Xzibit" Joiner, affiliated with the Likwit Crew. The production is handled by E-Swift, Thayod Ausar, Craig Sherrad, DJ Muggs, Saafir, Diamond D e DJ Pen One. The guests are King Tee, Hurricane Gee, J-Ro, Catashtraphe, Ras Kass and Saafir.
Xzibit delivers texts unrelated to most of his West Coast contemporaries, bragging, making battle raps, telling some street stories and writing about personal topics, rather than sinking back into the gangsterisms of a subgenre that is losing popularity, and rarely succumbing to hedonism and materialism. The rapper stands out for his raw and harsh voice, suited to an energetic hardcore style that flows well on this type of music. The emcee also forgoes the g-funk trend and puts its trust in a selection of boom bap rhythms with an East Coast flavor, with several melodic samples from the seventies and eighties, which contribute to creating an atmosphere that is both relaxed, closer to the Californian sounds, and dark, typical of the New York production of the period. Among the guests no one disappoints, with the exception of Hurricane Gee, whose performance is out of place in "Just Maintain", perhaps the weakest tune of the album. The rest of the album is very solid and coherent.
Published by Loud and RCA, distributed by BMG, appreciated by critics and audiences both at home and in Europe, Xzibit gets one of the best hip-hop albums of the year in its hands, with three strong singles: "Paparazzi", "Eyes May Shine" and "The Foundation". This latest track is one of the finest in Xzibit's career: DJ Muggs delivers an excellent beat, robust bassline, snappy fresh drum, gorgeous piano loop from "The Stranger" by Billy Joel, beautiful strings, angelic female background, energetic rapping by Xzibit dedicating a song to his son. "Paparazzi" is another masterpiece. Snapshots in quick succession, then Thayod Ausar achieves one of the best rhythms of season '96 by wrapping a celestial loop straight from "Pavane (Vocalise)" by Barbra Streisand together with arpeggios and dark strings whose mafia nature will then be legitimized later, when the instrumental of this rhythm will be the epic backdrop to one of the most famous scenes of the themed television series "The Sopranos". Powerful and curiously "flat" deep bass line, explosive hi-hat, impassable drum, hard, totally dry: on this celestial soundscape, Xzibit spits hardcore for four minutes denouncing rappers who are in the game for money and stardom, in a timeless song.
Rating: 8/10.
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