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
. He had released a new album once every two years since his 1996 debut At the Speed of Life
until his most recent Full Circle
(which was released in October 2006) until 2008.
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XZIBIT TICKETS
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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.
[1] 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.
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".
[2]
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.
[3] 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,
[4] 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.
[5]
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
.
[6] Xzibit's latest role is as the character of Darrell Hughes in the upcoming film
American Violet [7]. He has also done some basbeball 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.
[8] 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.
[9]
Gumball 3000
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.
[10] In an interview with Dutch radio personality Reinout '
Q-Bah' van Gendt,
[11] 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.
Discography
- At the Speed of Life
(1996)
- 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz
(1998)
- Restless
(2000)
- Man vs. Machine
(2002)
- Weapons of Mass Destruction
(2004)
- Full Circle
(2006)
- The Hangover
(TBA)
Filmography
- The Breaks
(1999), Jamal
- Tha Eastsidaz
(2000), Blue
- The Slim Shady Show
(2001), Knuckles
- The Wash
(2001), Wayne
- Training Day
(2001)
- 8 Mile
(2002), Mike
- The Country Bears
(2002), himself
- Full Clip
(2004), Duncan
- Strong Arm Steady
(2004)
- CSI: Miami
(2004), Dwayne '10-Large' Jackman (Episode Rap Sheet
)
- The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
(2004), Abbott – voice
- xXx: State of the Union
(2005), Zeke
- Derailed
(2005), Dexter
- Hoodwinked
(2005), Chief Grizzly – voice
- The Boondocks
(2006), himself – voice
- Gridiron Gang
(2006), Malcolm Moore
- The X-Files: I Want to Believe
(2008), Agent Mosley Drummy
- American Violet
(2008), Darrell Hughes
- Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
(2009), Big Fade
- Fencewalker
(2009), TBA
References
- Birchmeier, Jason. "Xzibit". Allmusic. Retrieved on February 1, 2009.
- Allmusic. Xzibit charts. Accessed November 24 2007.
- Xzibit Biography.
- http://www.hiphop-elements.com/article/read/4/5187/1/ Uniform Resource Locator|URL accessed on [
- Weapons of Mass Destruction. RIAA. Accessed November 24 2007.
- Threesome mark spots for 'X-Files'
- American Violet
- EURweb.com - Black Entertainment | Black News | Urban News | Hip Hop News
- Rapper calls Rove Live 'racist' | PerthNow
- Xzibit loses drivers license in Holland, www.eminem.net, accessed on May 2, 2008
- YouTube - FunX interview Xzibit