Xzibit has recently upped his profile as the presenter of MTV's Pimp My Ride, a programme that's devoted to telling us what the self-respecting rapper is driving this season. Back in the studio, meanwhile, the West Coast's answer to Jeremy Clarkson is busy trying to prove that he's the natural heir to Dr Dre's throne. But while his fifth album ticks all the right boxes - gangland violence, police brutality, the war in Iraq - there's something rather flat about the delivery that prevents it from really taking off. If you're going to sound as grim and humourless as Xzibit does here, you really need to have some serious things to say - and unfortunately, most of his barking vocal performances are distinctly on the superficial side. In addition, his po-faced celebrations of gun culture suggest that perhaps he shouldn't be so quick to seize the moral high ground. Weapons of Mass Destruction isn't a bad album - it's just not good enough to justify the hype.
