XZibit

Alvin Nathaniel Joiner (born 18 September 1974) better known by his stage name Xzibit (pronounced as “exhibit”), is an American rapper, actor, and television personality. He is also known for hosting MTV’s Pimp My Ride and the Yo Dawg Internet meme. He released a new album once every two years from his 1996 debut At the Speed of Life until his most recent Full Circle which was released in October 2006.

Career

Xzibit began his music career as a member of the Likwit Crew, a loose collective of West Coast rappers which included King Tee, Defari, and Tha Alkaholiks. He appeared on King Tee’s album, IV Life (1994), on the song “Free Style Ghetto”, and then on Tha Alkaholiks’ Coast II Coast (1995), on the song “Hit and Run”. After touring with Likwit Crew in 1995, Xzibit signed to Loud Records and released his debut album, At the Speed of Life (1996). The album produced his first breakthrough single “Paparazzi” (#86 Billboard Hot 100).

Xzibit expanded his following with a series of albums beginning with 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz (1998). Often considered Xzibit’s best album, it produced the single “What U See Is What U Get” (#50 Billboard Hot 100). He made a number of high-profile guest appearances in 1999, joining Snoop Dogg on the Dr. Dre-produced hit “Bitch Please”, and appearing on Dr. Dre’s 6x platinum album 2001, on the songs “Lolo”, “Some L.A. Niggaz”, and “What’s the Difference” with Eminem.

Xzibit at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards in Miami.

Dr. Dre invited Xzibit to perform on his American Up in Smoke Tour in mid-2000, which featured Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and Ice Cube, among many others. Loud Records released Xzibit’s Restless that year with Dr. Dre as executive producer, which produced the single “X” . The song became the rapper’s biggest hit since “What U See Is What U Get”.

Xzibit returned with another album, Man vs. Machine (2002), yet again he fell a bit short of mainstream success, although he did manage to go gold. He continued to collaborate with his closest West Coast colleagues, primarily Ras Kass and Saafir with whom he formed The Golden State Project rap collective, and Tha Liks, along with bigger names like Snoop Dogg and Eminem. His allegiance to the West Coast and former colleagues continued to win him much respect from his fans. Weapons of Mass Destruction (2004) followed. which also managed to go gold.

Film career

Xzibit has appeared in several acting roles on the big screen. He portrayed Duncan in Full Clip in 2004 and Dexter in Derailed in 2005, and he played Chief Grizzly in the animated movie Hoodwinked that year. He also played Zeke in XXX: State of the Union in 2005, and in 2007 he co-starred along with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the movie Gridiron Gang. He also had a cameo role as a freestyling co-worker of Eminem’s at New Detroit Stamping in 8 Mile. He played an FBI agent in 2008′s The X-Files: I Want to Believe. Xzibit’s latest role is as the character of Darrell Hughes in the upcoming film American Violet. He has also done some baseball voiceovers for the MLB.

Video games

Xzibit provided the voice for Abbott in the critically acclaimed 2004 video game, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. Xzibit is featured in the fighting game, Def Jam: Fight For NY, being aligned to Snoop Dogg’s (who lends his likeness and voice to the character Crow) group and fights with kickboxing-like attacks. Xzibit is also in the video game for Pimp My Ride. Xzibit is the main player’s “guide” in NFL Street 2 and appears as a quarterback, and is also the narrator of the tutorial mode. His song “The Mad In Game” was in Madden NFL 2001 and he was an unlockable character on Team ECKO. His song “Klack” appeared in the racing game Juiced. Another song, “L.A.X.”, appeared on the soundtrack and trial for the racing game Need For Speed Underground 2, while “Paparazzi” was featured in the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 soundtrack.

Controversy

J-Ro and the Likwit Crew

Xzibit had started his career with the Likwit Crew, but after being “co-signed” by Dr. Dre and associating with his camp in the late 90s, Xzibit began to distance himself from his former crew. Xzibit later claimed that he could have gained fame without Tha Alkaholiks, the flagship group of the Likwit Crew, and criticized the crew’s founder King Tee. J-Ro would respond on “Look Out (Tha X Homie)”, a simmering criticism of Xzibit which, among other claims, dismisses his gangsta posturing as a supposed Crip, and criticizes his previous attacks on Jermaine Dupri while ignoring Snoop Dogg’s criticisms. Xzibit did not respond to J-Ro, and things have calmed down since then. Xzibit has since resumed collaborations with The Alkaholiks, King Tee and Defari. His latest collaboration with Tha Alkaholiks was in 2008 performing in L.A which was recorded and is to be released on DVD in July 2008.

Rove McManus

In June 2007, Xzibit left the Rove Live studios in Australia before an appearance. Media outlets reported that it was due to Xzibit not being given stand alone billing on the program despite not being booked in advance. According to Xzibit he walked off the set after taking offense to comments made by a Rove employee, who after informing Xzibit that his performance time would not be to his liking allegedly said: “you know we came a long way just having you on the program.” Xzibit took this to be a racist remark, staff allege they were referring to him being a late booking.

Gumball 3000
Xzibit at the Gumball 3000 Rally, London 2007.

In the Gumball 3000 2007 rally, Xzibit drove a black Lamborghini Gallardo. During the first day of the rally, Dutch police seized his driver’s license for doing 160 km/h where only 100 km/h was allowed. After the penalty, his co-driver, producer Fredwreck Nassar took over the wheel and they were allowed to continue. In an interview with Dutch radio personality Reinout ‘Q-Bah’ van Gendt, Xzibit says that he mistook the kilometers for miles. Ultimately he never got his license back from the Dutch Police and had to apply for a new one in the United States.

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Posted in: Rap,Singer