Rapper Xzibit’s Set Is Short, but Full of Passionate Attitude

Attitude can count for everything. Take the rapper Xzibit, a clever lyricist and a tough vocalist with a limited subject matter: booze, women, Hennessey, Hennessey, women, booze, drugs. . . . There’s sometimes more, some of it even topical, but not much.

What carried him in a high-energy performance at the House of Blues on Sunday was attitude and sheer force. Xzibit bounded to the stage with a microphone in one hand and a bottle of booze in the other, jumping and shouting and erupting with real passion.

Xzibit is not the most distinctive vocalist in hip-hop, but he can be sharp and effective, keeping up with rap’s biggest names. He emerged from obscurity during last year’s “Up in Smoke” tour, holding his own alongside Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube, and in the studio for Dre’s “2001” album. Late last year he released his third album, “Restless,” featuring Dre as executive producer and a variety of superstar talent.

But on Sunday Xzibit kept the room bouncing virtually by himself. With DJ Sir Jinx providing sharp beats and thick bass lines, Xzibit performed a roaring, if abbreviated version of Dre’s “What’s the Difference,” and was joined by a crowd of six other rappers for the festive decadence of the self-explanatory “Alkaholik.”

Then it was all over, barely 45 minutes after his set began--less time than the hour Xzibit kept fans waiting after the previous act. Your valet could have kept the car running. Bad attitude.