Xzibit

Xzibit

Alvin Nathaniel Joiner IV (born September 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Xzibit (pronounced as "exhibit"), is an American rapper, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting MTV's Pimp My Ride. He released a new album 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 was first introduced to rap at a young age by his best friend Daniel Johnson and Tyrome Freesway, he 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 (1995), 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, who 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. Xzibit is also working on his new upcoming studio album MMX (which stands for 2010 in roman numerals); the follow-up to his 2006 release Full Circle and is set to be released sometime in 2010.

Xzibit appeared March 31, 2010 on The Mo'Nique Show and discussed the broad strokes he has so far drawn in his wide-reaching career. Mo'Nique celebrated the rapper/actor/host for his "Jack of All Trades"-esque behaviour.

He was added to the permanent design team for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition for the Fall 2010 season after several guest appearances during the 2009/2010 season.

Film career

Xzibit has appeared in several acting roles on the big screen. He has 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 2009 film American Violet. He has also done some baseball voiceovers for the MLB. In Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, he portrays a mob boss named Big Fate.

Video games

Xzibit provided the voice for Abbott in the critically acclaimed 2004 video game, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and its extended 2009 remake The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena. 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.

Internet meme

Xzibit has gained something of a cult status in a pictorial internet meme. The meme is based on the closure of Pimp My Ride episodes, where Xzibit says to contestants something along the lines of "We heard you like TV, so we put a TV in your car so you can watch TV while you drive". This phrasing has been adopted as the basis for the meme, producing ironic and idiosyncratic phrases such as "Yo dawg, we heard you like cars so we put a car in your car so you can drive while you drive" or even "Yo Dawg, i heard you like Windows, so we put Windows to you car, so you can crash while you crash". Also, all of the memes invariably start with the phrase "yo dawg" or "sup dawg". Also, two contrasting images of Xzibit's face – one smiling with laughter and one looking confused and taken aback – have gained popularity as a meme.

Controversy

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, although the staff claim that they were referring to him being a late booking.

Xzibit at the Gumball 3000 Rally, London 2007

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 licence 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 (100 mph = 160 km/h). Ultimately he never got his license back from the Dutch Police and had to apply for a new one in the United States.

Financial trouble

According to public records, as of late 2010 Xzibit owed more than $959,523 in delinquent federal taxes. He also tried to file for bankrupcy twice, in July 2009 and January 2010, but both times his bankruptcy filings were dismissed due to various reasons. The problems started after Pimp My Ride was cancelled, he earned $497,175 in 2007, and after the cancellation he only earned $67,510 in 2008.

It is currently unknown if Xzibit can outrun the financial problems but might be still standing as he is still X to the Z Xzibit.

Discography

Main article: Xzibit 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)
• MMX1 (2011)

Filmography

• The Breaks (1999), Jamal
• Tha Eastsidaz (2000), Blue
• The Slim Shady Show (2001), Knuckles
• The Wash (2001), Wayne
• 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)
• 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), FBI Special Agent Mosley Drummy
• American Violet (2008), Darrell Hughes
• Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), Big Fate
• Fencewalker (2009), TBA
• Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (2010), Celebrity Guest, Design Team (2010–)
• Malice n Wonderland (2010), Jabberwock
• Detroit 1-8-7 (2010), Russell Pitts

Video games

• The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (2004), Abbott (voice role)
• Def Jam: Fight for NY (2004), Himself
• NFL Street 2 (2004), Himself
• Pimp my Ride (2006), Himself
• The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (2009), Abbott (voice role)

External links

• Official Xzibit website
• Sony Music's Official Xzibit website
• Official Xzibit Fansite
• Xzibit at IMDb
• Template:MySpace