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.
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.[1] 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" which peaked at #86 on the Billboard
Hot 100.[1]
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" which
peaked at #50 Billboard Hot 100.[1] 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".[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[citation needed]. Weapons of Mass Destruction
(2004) followed, which also managed to go gold.[5] 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.[6] However the album
was not released by the end of year, thus resulting in a title change.
The new title was announced to be MMX1 and is expected to be released
in 2011.
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.
[edit] 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.[7] Xzibit's
latest role is as the character of Darrell Hughes in the 2009 film
American Violet.[8] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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 yo' car so you can
drive while you drive" or "Yo dawg, I heard you like Windows,
so we put Windows in yo' car so you can crash while you crash".
All of the memes invariably start with the phrase "yo dawg" or "sup
dawg". Two contrasting images of Xzibit's face – one smiling
with laughter and one looking confused and taken aback – have
gained popularity as a meme.
[edit] Controversy
[edit] 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.[9]
Xzibit at the Gumball 3000 Rally, London 2007
[edit] Gumball 3000
In the Gumball 3000 2007 rally, Xzibit drove a black Jaguar XJ220.
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.[10] In an interview with
Dutch radio personality Reinout 'Q-Bah' van Gendt,[11] 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.
[edit] 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.[12]
[edit] 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)
* MMXI (2011)[13]
[edit] 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
[edit] 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)