Buckle you're seat belts, Xzibit comes at you At the Speed of Life

"X-to-tha-Z" Xzibit has always been one of the most underrated acts in hip-hop music. His illuminary and intelligent, yet vicous lyrics and delivery have secured him a spot in being one of my personal favorite emcees, who are seemingly forgotten about at times. His rugged voice is haunting and terrifying, and when he picks up the mic, he is amazing to his own. Before his days with west coast producing icon Dr. Dre, Xzibit ran with the Alkaholiks, a group of menacing west coast emcees. Xzibit shines out upon them as a gem when it comes to rapping, and he proves it his absolute best on his 1996 debut album At the Speed of Life, and im sure the Millenium Falcon would be proud....


Track List & Rating

1. Grand Opening Interlude (NOT RATED)
2. At the Speed of Life. (5 Stars)
3. Just Maintain f/ Hurricane Gee (4 Stars)
4. Eyes May Shine (5 Stars)
5. Positively Negative f/ King Tee (5 Stars)
6. Don’t Hate Me Interlude (NOT RATED)
7. Paparazzi (5 Stars)
8. The Foundation (5 Stars)
9. Mrs Crabtree Interlude (NOT RATED)
10. Bird’s Eye View f/ The Alkaholiks & Hurricane Gee (3 1/2 Stars)
11. Hit & Run Part II (3 Stars)
12. Carry the Weight (5 Stars)
13. Plastic Surgery f/ The Golden State Project (5 Stars)
14. Enemies & Friends (5 Stars)
15. Last Words Interlude (NOT RATED)



The title track "At the Speed of Life" is the first real track that kicks off the album. We are treated to a gritty, grimy, sort of noise filled street track with loud drums and some eerie backdrops, giving Xzibit the perfect beat for him to lay down his opening street rhymes to kick off the album. Xzibit mixes complex, introspective and intelligent lyrics with hard-hitting and clever street braggadiocio, mixed together with a powerful delivery to give us a menacing opening track. Xzibit attacks commercial and mainstream rap hard, hitting them with gripping punchlines... and this is only the beginning.

"Just Maintain" is a relatively good track where Xzibit tackles on the subject of comparing the underground style of hip-hop to the mainstream, ripping then down with hard hitting verses, backed by a thumping, bass-driven track. The only downfall of this track is Hurricane Gee's mediocre performance. This is only fodder to prepare us for "Eyes May Shine", where Xzibit gets back on the right track, with intelligent, well-written lyrics. The atmosphere of the track is haunting and abstract, with some very-well placed violins, screetching whistles, and low-key piano. Xzibit gives us menacing braggadiocio and battle lyrics, in the same format as the title track, which is purely rugged.

Xzibit is joined by Likwit Founder King Tee on "Positively Negative". King Tee gives us a superb performance with Xzibit, as they both annihilate the rhymes with extremely clever braggadiocio, giving it an early 90's feel of hip-hop music. The minimalistic xylophone beat is a perfect backdrop for these two emcees to spit on.

The most famous Xzibit track in the history of his career has to be "Paparazzi". With an intensely melancholy beat which is sheer production perfection, we get a soft xylophone driven track, with bass, drum, haunting orchestra-like vocals, and some soft violins to give it sort of a sad, sombre feeling to it. Xzibit touches on the topic of emcees using hip-hop for money instead of as an art form, which is what Xzibit and other true respectable emcees do. His powerful performance and angry sort of sound are just a cover-up for the weak-minded, as his lyrics are extremely well-thoughtout, written, and delivered intelligently.

DJ Muggs lends us his producing talents for the introspective track "The Foundation". On here, we get a beautifully orchestrated high-key piano loop, hard bass, and drum loop mixing together. The subject matter is innovative, unique, and pulled of masterfully by X-to-tha-Z. The format is basically Xzibit writing a letter to his unborn son about Xzibit's own past, narrating to his son the right and wrong ways to go in the path of life, sort of explaining that Xzibit himself never really took the right path, but he does not want his son to follow him. The intellect and complexity of the lyrics are perfect for the song, and is one of the major standouts on At the Speed of Life.

"Birds Eye View" is the obligatory crew-joint, featuring top-notch flows from Xzibit, Hurricane Gee, and the rest of The Liks crew. The beat features a soft, low-key bass track with trumpets and some haunting violin. Everybody comes off strong, except the weak link Hurricane Gee, which comes off below-average as before. "Hit & Run Part II" is easily skippable, as it is a club track aimed at mysogony and bringing down women as objects. Its fact that this is typical west coast subject matter, but Xzibit's lyrics are just plain weak and seem forced, not to mention the beat is boring. Not to mention it doesn't flow with the feel of the album.

Xzibit gets back on track with "Carry the Weight". We get a retrospective track as Xzibit reflects on his life, his hustle, his mother's passing, his family, and the streets. Xzibit's delivery and lyrics are well-written, and match beautifully with the excellent, melancholy production with violins and pianos, giving it that familiar atmosphere of a sad past, but a relatively better present. Xzibit's lyrics speak out, as he vividly describes a variety of momens in his life and his struggle. Definetely a classic.

Xzibit joins the legendary emcees Ras Kass and Saafir to form the Golden State Project, his second group besides Tha Liks, on "Plastic Surgery". These emcees give us an extremely creative, well-written, and classic track as they rip the mic apart with vivid stories of hospital life. However, the secret within the track is that all of the medical references are simply part of a huge extended metaphor to compare medicine to hip-hop. This creative metaphor gives us some extremely hot punchlines, specially from the great Ras, who compements Xzibit perfectly. The beat is a jazzy, soft track.

"Enemies & Friends" closes the album out. Xzibit gives us pure creative street poetry at its finest. Xzibit educates the listener on surviving on the streets. Xzibit's lyricism is top-notch, as well as his menacing voice, and his flow. This is one of the more thought-out tracks by Xzibit. The feel of the track is haunting, with some violins, soft guitars, and thumping bass and claps to give us a deep feel to it. Definetely an excellent song.

At the Speed of Life is an amazing look into the mind of Xzibit. We get a glimpse of creativity, well-written lyrics, storytelling, narratives, and a personal look into Xzibit's thoughts, on wax. His menacing delivery and flow is perfect, and each beat has its own personality, even though some aren't as good as others. This is an amazing album which i am proud to say is in my collection. Xzibit proves that the west coast is a about a lot more than pimping and gangstas...

4 1/2 Stars.... Rounded up to 5 Stars