Still, even teetotalers will likely get a buzz off Tha Liks, whose eight years in rap's public eye haven't dulled their sense of humor. These guys are happy drunks, not the mean and nasty kind, and they provide a party on plastic that's positively contagious. Alkaholiks graduate Xzibit helps brighten "Bar Code," which is built around the all-purpose chant "Put your bottle to your lips/When I sip, you sip, we sip!"; Busta Rhymes makes up for his spotty recent recordings with a cameo on the bouncy "Bully Foot"; and Defari, King T and Kurupt get with the program as well. The Neptunes, for their part, lend production acumen to "Best U Can," the album's lead single, and while the results are a bit slick by Alkaholiks standards, the tune's so insanely catchy that it hardly matters.
At first glance, X.O. Experience seems like a goof, and considering that its cover and liner send up the look of Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced?, that makes perfect sense. But the pleasures it offers shouldn't be shrugged off. At a time when lotsa hip-hop platters are pure attitude, the Liks' latest is completely lacking in pretense. Anyone thirsty for a good time should belly up to the bar.
