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Hmm. I really hope this album sees at least some concessions to fans of the pre-Dre Xzibit, the guy who made At The Speed Of Life and 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz, rather than the all-out thuggery of Restless. I mean, that album had its moments, but I miss the Xzibit of 'Paparazzi', 'The Foundation', 'Los Angeles Times', 'Eyez May Shine', 'Carry The Weight', 'What U See Is What U Get' - both the productions he used and the rhymes he dropped on tracks like those positioned him as LA's answer to Mobb Deep and Nas (or even someone like Nine) - sometimes thoughtful and morose (to the point of nihilism), sometimes doing brilliant things with words over infectious beats. Whereas almost all of Restless fits pretty much into Dre's re-tooled revival of the whole Chronic aesthetic, which tires really quickly and tends to leave rappers wide open for criticisms which otherwise are usually lazy cliches, but in this case ring true (ie, all they ever rap about is guns, weed, etc...).
Not too optimistic... But I haven't heard any of it yet, and it's a great album cover. |
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