Amazon.comIf you merged L.A.'s gangsta-rap tradition with its hip-hop underground, Xzibit would be the bastard progeny. While his Likwit Crew peers, The Alkaholiks, flow with finesse, Xzibit chooses fierceness, exuding a sinister grimness with his gruff delivery. For his sophomore project, Xzibit convinces Ice Cube's old producer, Sir Jinx, to come out the woodwork, resulting in familiar but funky tracks like "Shroomz" and "Chamber Music." Other winners are courtesy of beat makers like A Kid Called Roots, who flexes a subtly sublime track on "Nobody Sound Like Me," and the Alkies' E-Swift, responsible for the thumping booms on "Let It Rain." If you're looking for an ill alternative to L.A.'s reality-rap monopoly, put your money on the "big, bad, insane, black John McClaine," Xzibit. --Oliver Wang