Coolmixes

With two critically praised albums to his credit, and over 30 guest appearances on other artists' tracks in 1999 alone, Xzibit is, as Snoop Dogg phrases it, "one of the most dominant West Coast underground rappers in the game." Snoop should know--it was Tha-X-To-Tha-Z's smoking verse that pushed Tha Doggfather's hit single, "B Please" (from his No Limit Top Dogg album) into the crossover zone. Xzibit's latest release shows that the artist formerly known as king of the underground battle rhymers is angling to take over the mainstream. He's laid out his blueprint flawlessly. The diabolical Dr. Dre is the executive producer of this project, so it has that platinum sheen. The beats (provided by Battle Cat and Rockwilder, among others) are skull-crackers. Walk-on appearances by the likes of DJ Quik, Tha Alkaholiks, and Compton's favorite crooner, Nate Dogg, help keep things moving. Look out for the Blastmaster KRS-One, who winds up playing the Flava Flav role to Xzibit's KRS on "Kenny Parker Show 2001," and Eminem, who besides rhyming, also produced "Don't Approach Me," which is basically the flip side of Em's own "Stan". --Rebecca Levine

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