Weapons of Mass Destruction is the fifth studio album by American rapper Xzibit. It was released on December 14, 2004, through Open Bar Entertainment, Columbia Records and Sony Urban Music. Recording sessions took place at Encore Studios in Burbank, Soundcastle Studios and Khalil's Home Studio in Los Angeles, N House Studios in Studio City, Hit Factory in Miami and Teklab Studios in Cincinnati. Production was handled by DJ Khalil, Jelly Roll, Hi-Tek, DJ Battlecat, Denaun Porter, Mystro, Rick Rock, Sir Jinx, Thayod Ausar and Timbaland, with additional producer J. R. Rotem. It features guest appearances from Strong Arm Steady, Jelly Roll, Busta Rhymes and Keri Hilson, and contributions from Butch Cassidy, Dion Jenkins, Dontae Winslow, Mashica Winslow, Suga Free, Tone Trezure, Truth Hurts and Dee Ray. The album was supported with three singles: "Muthafucka", "Hey Now (Mean Muggin)" and "Criminal Set", as well as accompanying music videos for the latter two.

Critical reception

Weapons of Mass Destruction was met with mixed or average reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 57, based on eight reviews. Steve Juon of RapReviews found "the only thing really disappointing about Weapons of Mass Destruction is that Xzibit seems to have once again forsaken his Alkaholiks homies". Vibe critic called the album "brimming with energy and depth", while Blender reviewer stated: "Xzibit reinvents himself as a rapper invigorated by current events". An E! Online editor found that "sometimes it sounds like he's trying too hard". In mixed reviews, Dotmusic critic wrote: "ethical incontinence notwithstanding, Xzibit is an undeniably charismatic vocalist, with a gift for pure, jolting, testosterone-packed aggression that leads to some rather magnificent moments". Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone found it "dragged down by too much unremarkably brawny fare" and marked "Cold World" as a key song. Chuck Mindenhall of Entertainment Weekly resumed: "ultimately as unrewarding as it is conflicted". In NME negative review, it says: "the beats are from the worst Ice Cube album ever made and the rhymes are sub-Coolio".

Commercial performance

In the United States, the album debuted at number 43 on the Billboard 200, number 19 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 11 on the Top Rap Albums with approximately 81,000 copies sold in its first week of released. On February 2, 2005, it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over 500,000 units. According to Nielsen Soundscan data as of October 2006, the album has sold approximately 283,000 copies in the US. The album made it to number 27 in both Germany and Switzerland, number 42 in Australia, number 62 in the Netherlands, number 69 in Austria, number 71 in Flemish Region of Belgium and number 77 in France. In the United Kingdom, the album peaked at number 85 on the UK Albums Chart, number 84 on the Scottish Albums Chart and number 14 on the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart.

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Certifications