Weapons of Mass Destruction

On MTV’s Pimp My Ride, Xzibit is an affable, almost giggly presence. But as a rapper, he’s not fucking around. Xzibit A: his latest album, which opens by splicing several George W. Bush speeches into a power-mad fusillade and rarely lets up from there. “Cold World” begins as a typical tale of American ghetto struggle, but the third verse extends its reach to Iraq, where the plight of the poor is even bleaker. It’s not that X-to-the-Z fancies himself a gangsta Karl Marx fomenting proletarian revolt (he’s a capitalist, son!), he just knows a messed-up scene when he sees one. Conversely, there are a few too many tunes about guns and thugs, and there’s nothing profound about the gurgling party romp “Saturday Night Live” or the click-clack club track “Hey Now.” But lively production and Xzibit’s gravelly flow ensure that even when he’s got little to say, he sounds good saying it.