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Xzibit - "40 Dayz & 40 Nightz"  Loud

 West Coast Hip Hop

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I liked the first Xzibit album, even though he only seemed to be able to flow in that harsh voice on all his tracks, and listening to this album, you can hear how he has evolved. He's down with the Alkaholiks who feature rappin' bout their favourite subject on "Let It Rain" with veteran King T. The track sounds like it's almost about to break into the Biggie "Kick In The Door" instrumental, which ain't a problem with me (yeah, you know I loved that one) !

"Chamber Music" kicks off the album with a hark back to the early '90s, proclaiming "I refuse to make just another record in the crate, I think not" over the beat that evokes memories of the futuristic scenes in Terminator with the war-like music. Xzibit's flow is harsh and on point. This is followed up with the singles "3 Card Molly" and "What U See Is What U Get", both which are quality. The former unites the Golden State Warriors of X-to-the-Z with Saafir and Ras Kass over a sparse piano laden track. The latter demonstrates how he's worked in the lab to improve his flow and delivery.

Mr Meth and Jayo Felony join the party for "Pu**y Pop" produced courtesy of Soopafly, sure to get the joint jumpin'. "Nobody Sound Like Me" uses a Quincy Jones sample to possibly give another song with commercial possibility, but as ever the X man's flow provides the edge. Xzibit is still a great lyricist, trading rhymes with Defari on "Handle Your Business" with DJ Pen One providing the nice xylophone-using beat. "Shroomz" is a tale about what that magic stuff do, while Aftermath's DJ Glove crafts "Focus", showing the breadth of producers encompassed in this project. Just shows how versatile he can be with a whole horde of producers. The discordant violins on "Deeper" add to the track while the flow is kept vicious, whereas "Inside Job" is a short but effectively-told story, oozing quality.

Maintaining the West coast, while keeping the hard edge, I don't see why this can't be successful in the East as well as the West. The production in some cases even sounds more like something that could have come out of NY but that said, it's obvious he's a Cali native, and you can see that with the slang and a track like the previously available "L.A. Times". - Roni


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