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***1/2 Xzibit

RESTLESS

(Loud)

Like a cunning double agent, Xzibit has cultivated friendships on all sides of the hip-hop nation. Having come up as a member of California’s Likwit Crew (the Alkaholiks, King Tee), the Los Angeles native holds it down for Westside gangstas and gets props from underground heads, and recently he rocked stadiums with Dr. Dre, Eminem, and Limp Bizkit. So his third album, Restless, boasts guest spots from Mr. Shady, KRS One, Snoop Dogg, Erick Sermon, and DJ Quik — a seriously diverse crew.

But the cameos don’t dilute his sound — indeed, this star-studded album is the most consistent of Xzibit’s career. Dr. Dre snags executive-producer credits, and his presence focuses the general sound — a slight mutation of the glacial g-funk and baroque beat-downs of Dre’s 2001 CD. And that’s despite the involvement of nine different beatmakers. Xzibit’s main appeal is his rock-solid flow — sternly delivered like a gruff-voiced bulldog or a blunt-smoking drill sergeant — and his no-frills mastery of gangsta topics that continue to amuse and offend. But he’s not without his soft side: he expresses fatherly regret on “Sorry I’m Away So Much” and bares a utopian sensibility on the hard-hitting “Get Your Walk On,” dryly boasting, “When I get through, the world will be a better place, a little Jesus Christ mixed with some leatherface.”

— Michael Endelman