There is a fair bit more to Alvin Nathaniel Joiner — aka Xzibit — than just being a rap veteran, movie actor and host of the MTV show, ‘Pimp My Ride’.
Raised in Detroit, Xzibit then spent much of his later teenage and adult life on the west coast. “That’s right,” Xzibit says. “I spent nine years growing up in Michigan. I had a pretty turbulent life as a child but it made me into who I am today. Of course I had ups and downs – you can’t prepare for the rest of your life in just one day – and my challenges made me stronger. Some of those things bring you up and others take you down; that carries over to my music.”
In 2014, Xzibit is planning his next full-length studio album, as well as working on a new project he calls Serial Killaz, a crew he formed with Cypress Hill’s B-Real and rising star Young De. But for a young Xzibit, it was his introduction to Dr Dre that opened all kinds of doors to the music industry. “Musically, when Dre approached me to do ‘Bitch Please’ with Snoop Dogg, to the time that we did the ‘Up In Smoke’ tour, that was the biggest exposure for me, you know? I couldn’t have asked for anything more than that. That was an opportunity to work with the very best right there – and how many people can say they had the chance to do that?”
Not many. Which of course begs the question, are Xzibit and Dre still tight? “Dre and I, we family, man. We actually spent New Year’s on a super yacht powwowing in the Caribbean! We spent 12 days on the water with our families, just having a good time.”
While his onstage persona portrays a very different lifestyle, it seems family life is paramount to Xzibit’s existence. “Man, my greatest love is my family, they come first. Without them, I wouldn’t be doing half of what I do. Music comes naturally, of course – but acting requires practice. And doing shows, that’s hard work. But family makes it worth it, so they definitely come first.”
When queried about the current state of music, Xzibit isn’t too caught up in old school practices. “The reality is that the music is always changing and you gotta take the good with the bad. The hip hop state of play is always changing, fans are getting into new and different things, you’ve got social media and all that. Nowadays, all you need is a laptop and you got music, man. That can be a double-edged sword because you can have bad music with great marketing. It means the crowds have to listen deeper and really know what they’re listening to.”
Appropriately, we move on to a discussion about hip hop’s golden era. “Man, there was a golden era in hip hop, like there have been great eras in every genre of music. There was such diversity in the music – it was the king. Growing up and looking at these guys and looking back now, that was an experience. You had guys like Public Enemy, Ice Cube, the whole West and East movement — and then to become a part of the whole movement yourself, man, that is great. To be accepted by Dr Dre and work with Snoop and Eminem and go on tours that created opportunities – it was definitely influential to be surrounded by all of that.”
Now Xzibit is returning to Australia for a series of live shows, including Brisbane. “We’ve really bought the standards up, man. The show sounds real good; we got music from the first album all the way up to ‘Napalm’ and the Serial Killaz crew. My boys from Cypress Hill, we about to put a whole new dynamic and twist on things and I’m ready. We’re really going to push things and do something special. The team is ready to showcase what we’re doing, push some boundaries, you know?”
Xzibit Tour Dates
Wed Apr 23 — Adelaide Uni BarThu Apr 24 — Plantation Hotel (Coffs Harbour)
Fri Apr 25 — Lamana Gold Club (Port Moresby)
Sat Apr 26 — Sound Check Festival @ Chalk Hotel (Brisbane) (w/ Funkoars, REMi, Briggs, Demrick, DJ Invisible, I Am D, Young Blood Comedy)
