''Man vs. Machine'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper Xzibit. 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 Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

, M.O.P, and

Nate Dogg Nathaniel Dwayne Hale (August 19, 1969 – March 15, 2011), known professionally as Nate Dogg, was an American singer and rapper. He gained recognition for providing guest vocals for a multitude of hit rap songs between 1992 and 2007, earning the ...

. 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, Erick Sermon, DJ Premier, and

(who was also the

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

). 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 by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). It was the last album released by Loud Records 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, Jermaine Dupri, and

Moby Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...

. Two of the songs from ''Man Vs. Machine'' were featured in the 2005 film '' Domino''. The specific songs were "Choke Me, Spank Me (Pull My Hair)" as well as "The Gambler", which played during the film's opening credits.

'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 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 gold by the

(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", written by

David Paich David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist and singer of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the ba ...

and Jeff Porcaro.

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