Man vs. Machine

This article is about the Xzibit album. For the browser game, see Man vs. Machine (video game).

Man vs. Machine is the fourth studio album by American rapper Xzibit. It was released on October 1, 2002 through Columbia Records, Loud Records, and Xzibit's Open Bar imprint. Special guests include Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, M.O.P, and Nate Dogg. Producers on the album include Rick Rock, Bink, Rockwilder, Erick Sermon, DJ Premier, and Dr. Dre (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 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[12] It was the last album released by Loud Records before it went defunct the same year.

Man vs. Machine
Studio album by Xzibit
Released	October 1, 2002
Recorded	2001–02
Genre	West Coast hip hop gangsta rap
Length	67:14
Label	Columbia Loud Open Bar
Producer	Dr. Dre Bink! DJ Premier Eminem Erick Sermon J-Beats Jelly Roll Mr. Porter Rick Rock Rockwilder Ty Fyffe
Xzibit chronology
Restless (2000) Man vs. Machine (2002) Weapons of Mass Destruction (2004)
Singles from Man vs. Machine
"Multiply" Released: March 5, 2002 "Choke Me, Spank Me (Pull My Hair)" Released: 2002 "My Name" Released: 2002 "Symphony in X Major" Released: December 9, 2002

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	59/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Blender	[3]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[5]
HipHopDX	[6]
Los Angeles Times	[7]
NME	7/10[8]
RapReviews	8.5/10[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]
Uncut	[11]

Music

The track "My Name" which features Eminem and Nate Dogg, is a diss track aimed at Canibus, Jermaine Dupri, and Moby.

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.

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 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 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.^[13]

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."^[14]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.^[15]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Release Date"	Dana Stinson Alvin Joiner	Rockwilder	4:06
2.	"Symphony in X Major" (featuring Dr. Dre)	Ricardo Thomas Joiner	Rick Rock	3:55
3.	"Multiply" (featuring Nate Dogg)	Joiner Denaun Porter	Mr. Porter	4:08
4.	"Break Yourself"	Thomas Joiner John Austin	Rick Rock	3:11
5.	"Heart of Man"	David Drew Joiner Saundralin Green David Paich Jeff Porcaro	Jelly Roll	4:08
6.	"Harder" (featuring the Golden State Project)	Drew Joiner Reggie Gibson Austin Green	Jelly Roll	4:10
7.	"Paul" (Interlude) (performed by Paul Rosenberg)			0:27
8.	"Choke Me, Spank Me (Pull My Hair)"	Joiner Andre Young Mike Elizondo	Dr. Dre	3:28
9.	"Losin' Your Mind" (featuring Snoop Dogg)	Young Joiner Ron Feemster Elizondo	Dr. Dre	4:16
10.	"BK to LA" (featuring M.O.P.)	Eric Murray Jamal Grinnage Joiner Tyrone Fyffe Abrahim Mustafa	Ty Fyffe Tydro[a]	4:57
11.	"My Name" (featuring Eminem and Nate Dogg)	Marshall Mathers Luis Resto Joiner Nathaniel Hale	Eminem Luis Resto[b]	4:32
12.	"The Gambler" (featuring Anthony Hamilton)	Roosevelt Harrell Joiner Anthony Hamilton	Bink!	4:55
13.	"Missin' U" (featuring Andre "Dre Boogie" Wilson)	Thomas Joiner Andre Wilson	Rick Rock	5:22
14.	"Right On"	Erick Sermon Joiner	Erick Sermon	3:29
15.	"Bitch Ass Niggas" (Interlude) (featuring Eddie Griffin)			1:43
16.	"Enemies"	Jeremy Jackson Joiner	J-Beats	5:00

Disc 2 (Bonus edition only)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
17.	"My Life, My World"	Harrell Joiner Traci Nelson	Bink!	3:49
18.	"What a Mess"	Chris Martin Joiner	DJ Premier	3:32
19.	"(Hit U) Where It Hurts"	Stinson Joiner	Rockwilder	2:59
20.	"Multiply (Remix)" (featuring Busta Rhymes)	Joiner Trevor Smith Justin Smith	Just Blaze	4:03

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional producer

Sample credits^[15]

• "Heart of Man" contains an interpolation of "Africa", written by David Paich and Jeff Porcaro.

Singles

"My Name" Chart Position Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks # 66 "Multiply" Chart Position Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles # 14 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks # 40 Hot Rap Tracks # 23 Rhythmic Top 40 # 27

"Symphony In X Major" Chart Position Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks # 63 "Choke Me Spank Me (Pull My Hair)" Chart Position Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks # 73

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Man vs. Machine Chart (2002) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[16] 8 Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)[17] 3 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[18] 15 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[19] 15 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[20] 8 Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[21] 2 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[22] 33 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23] 37 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[24] 36 French Albums (SNEP)[25] 12 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26] 20 Irish Albums (IRMA)[27] 56 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[28] 36 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[29] 35 Scottish Albums (OCC)[30] 57 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[31] 28 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[32] 33 UK Albums (OCC)[33] 43 UK R&B Albums (OCC)[34] 7 US Billboard 200[35] 3 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[36] 1

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Man vs. Machine Chart (2002) Position Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[37] 194 Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[38] 34 Canadian Rap Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[39] 18 US Billboard 200[40] 193 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[41] 70

Certifications

Certifications for Man vs. Machine

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[42]	Gold	35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[43]	Gold	50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[44]	Silver	60,000‡
United States (RIAA)[45]	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.