''Man vs. Machine'' is the fourth studio album by American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Xzibit Alvin Nathaniel Joiner (born September 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Xzibit (pronounced "exhibit"), is an American rapper, actor, television presenter, and radio personality. Xzibit began his musical career after the release of his ...

. It was released on October 1, 2002. Special guests include

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

, Snoop Dogg, Eminem,

M.O.P M.O.P. (short for Mash Out Posse) is an American hip hop duo composed of East Coast rappers Billy Danze and Lil' Fame. The song " Ante Up", was released on their '' Warriorz'' album in 2000. The group has frequently collaborated with DJ Pre ...

, and Nate Dogg. Producers on the album include Rick Rock,

Bink Bink may refer to: * Bink Video, a video format popular in many video games * Bink (The Magicians of Xanth), a character of the Xanth series by Piers Anthony * Bink (producer) Roosevelt Harrell III (born February 20, 1972) professionally know ...

Rockwilder Dana Stinson (born February 2, 1971), better known by his stage name Rockwilder, is an American hip hop record producer and rapper. A long term friend of Def Jam rapper Redman, Rockwilder got his start producing for East Coast hip hop artist ...

Erick Sermon Erick Sermon (born November 25, 1968) is an American rapper, musician, and record producer. He is best known as one-third—alongside PMD & DJ Scratch—of 1980s/1990s hip hop group EPMD and for his production work. Career Sermon started prof ...

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop du ...

, and

(who was also the executive producer). The album debuted at number three on the ''Billboard'' 200 with over 156,000 copies sold in its first week. Since then album was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was the last album released by

Loud Records Loud Records, LLC. is a record label founded by Steve Rifkind and Rich Isaacson in 1991. Loud is a hip hop label that released material by acts such as Wu-Tang Clan, Big Pun, Mobb Deep, Krayzie Bone, The Beatnuts, M.O.P., Tha Alkaholiks, Pete ...

before it went defunct the same year.

Music

The track "My Name" which features Eminem and Nate Dogg, is a diss track aimed at

Canibus Germaine Williams (born December 9, 1974), better known by his stage name Canibus, is an American rapper and actor. He initially gained fame in the 1990s for his ability to freestyle, and eventually released his debut album Can-I-Bus in 1998 ...

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, entrepreneur, and DJ. Early life Jermaine Dupri Mauldin was born on September 23, 1972, the son of Tina (Mosley) and Michael ...

, and Moby. Two of the songs from ''Man Vs. Machine'' were featured in the 2005 film ''

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also c ...

''. The specific songs were "Choke Me, Spank Me (Pull My Hair)" as well as "The Gambler", which played during the film's opening credits. Eminem's manager, Paul Rosenberg, makes a guest appearance on the album by performing a "Paul" skit (which is a skit that is commonly used for Eminem's studio albums).

Commercial performance

"Man vs. Machine" debuted at number three on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and number one on the US

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated ...

chart, selling 156,000 copies in its first week of release. The album spent a total of 19 weeks on the "Billboard" 200 chart. On November 12, 2002, the album was certified

by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 copies. It was certified shortly after a month of being released. As of November 2004, the album has sold 593,000 copies in the United States.

Reception

In a retrospective review, Mitch Findlay from ''HotNewHipHop'' said: "Once again executive produced by Dr. Dre, who provided production on two tracks and mixing engineer credits on seven, ''Man Vs. Machine'' emerged at the peak of Xzibit's musical popularity. His work on ''Restless'' had ushered him from an acclaimed underground presence to a household name, an equal affiliate to Snoop Dogg, Dre, Eminem, and his Golden State Project groupmates Ras Kass and Saafir. With ''Man Vs. Machine'', Xzibit continued to build on the foundation of its predecessor, albeit with a slight gaze toward a more futuristic aesthetic; such qualities were largely realized by Rick Rock, who contributed production on tracks like "Symphony In X Major" and "Break Yourself.". He singled out songs like "Multiply", the Dre-produced songs "Losin Your Mind" and "Choke Me, Spank Me (Pull My Hair)", "BK To LA", "My Name" and "Harder" as highlists. He also said: "If there's anything keeping ''Man Vs. Machine'' from unmitigated greatness, it might very well be the inconsistent hooks. Slight blemishes aside, X's fourth studio album is an insanely listenable, crisply mixed, and nostalgic reminder of a classic musical era."

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. Notes * signifies a co-producer * signifies an additional producer Sample credits * "Heart of Man" contains an interpolation of "

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

", written by David Paich and

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (; April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work with the rock band Toto but is one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working o ...

Singles

"My Name" "Multiply" "Symphony In X Major" "Choke Me Spank Me (Pull My Hair)"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2002 albums Xzibit albums Loud Records albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Dr. Dre Albums produced by Rick Rock Albums produced by Mr. Porter Albums produced by Erick Sermon Albums produced by Bink (record producer) Albums produced by JellyRoll Albums produced by Eminem Albums produced by DJ Premier Albums produced by Ty Fyffe