Tha Liks have built up a loyal fan base that shares the group's principal passions: booze, blunt and nice-to-know-ya', got-to-go casual sex. Although these themes might not win the group a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, listening to X.O. Experience from cover to cover it's easy to see why they remain popular. Clever hooks and interesting synth-based arrangements, which feature plenty of quasi-Asian riffs and ear-grabbing dissonances, give Tha Liks' raps a constantly shifting background. And the group members - J-Ro, Tash, and E-Swift - leaven their paeans to debauchery with humor and a touch of parody that softens the pounding tributes to drugs and alcohol featured on "Sickness," "Anotha Round" and "Best U Can," the first track off of X.O. Experience to receive wide airplay.

A self-contained group in the early days, Tha Liks have begun experimenting, and have included the work of outside producers and rapper Busta Rhymes (Bully Foot Skit) on X.O. Experience. Tireless performers, Tha Liks have traveled the globe to promote their work. Their lack of pretension and theiravailability to their fans have helped Tha Liks rise to a position of respect in the highly competitive world of rap.

Kurupt also brings a number of other talented folks into his musical modes on the new disc, such as fellow hip-hop homeboys Xzibit, Nate Dogg, Tha Liks, Daz, MC Ren from N.W.A. and Jon B., as well as some friends from the rock-rap camp like Everlast and Fred Durst and DJ Lethal of Limp Bizkit.

But Kurupt has been mixing it up since he emerged in the early 1990s on Dr. Dre's The Chronic and Doggystyle by Snoop Dogg. He debuted on his own in 1998 with Kuruption, and followed it up the next year with Tha Streets Is A Mutha. He's also released Dogg Food and Dillinger & Young Gotti with his pal Daz, proving himself one of the pivotal talents in the California urban music movement.

Space Boogie also features a collaboration with Kurupt's fiancée, Natina Reed of the R&B group Blaque, who shows off her other skills at the microphone on "It's Over," the new CD's first single. "It was fun," enthuses Kurupt. "We went in there with a cool little beat. I told her to go ahead and write my rap and I'd write her rap. We were just having a ball."

Kurupt seems happy with his life right now, having landed parts in two movies (The Plague Season and Keepin' It Real), and feeling satisfied with his latest CD, saying "This album is the first time I'm able to do whatever I want, however I want."