New Xzibit Interview

[Umaga]

XzibitCentral.com: XzibitCentral.com has interviewed you at a number of stages in your career:
First one you were stuck on Sony Music, Second time you were getting off Sony - So what’s it like flying solo being a completely independent artist?

 

Xzibit: I mean its a lot more work involved, you know, you don’t have the luxury of promotion budgets that seem to never run out, you know what I’m saying, big budget videos... But what you do have is ownership - and those things in comparison are night and day, you know a - video budget, a radio promotion budget will be gone and you'll be charged and you don’t see the results but ownership is forever so down the line when these songs are going to be licensed out there's other avenues for your music to be generated that you have the ownership and you can dictate how that goes and that’s what you have for the rest of your life.




XzibitCentral.com: What's in the works for your own record label, Open Bar (Entertainment)?

 

Xzibit: Right now we're just going to focus on Xzibit, keep this going. I'm really not feeling any signings right now - there’s a lot of work to do here on the home front so were going to work that angle and make sure that we do in the future is for sure and concrete and on the table and ready to go.


 

XzibitCentral.com: How was the feedback you received from the fans after Full Circle?

 

Xzibit: It was crazy you know what I’m saying! A lot of people appreciate the music, a lot of people expected some mature music and that’s what they got, real solid hip hop music, straight forward.


 

XzibitCentral.com: Tell us about the new video clip for Thank You.

 

Xzibit: Well we just did a video for "Thank You" in London, you know we just filmed the first part of it, while we've been out on the road - I've been out here for 2 months so i pulled together an all female orchestra and they nailed the song and we filmed it - one night at one of the concerts we just threw some camera's up and it came out crazy so now we're just going to put some more edits in it, you know, put some more images that we need to keep the song in context and its going to be crazy.


XzibitCentral.com: Will we see that on Xzibit.com first?


Xzibit: We'll see it, we’ll see it somewhere first (laughs).




XzibitCentral.com: What recent issues have been the biggest influence in your music?

 

Xzibit: Umm, well the issues at hand have been real personal - Full Circle is just a real reflective album - it's self analysing, once again, you know which makes it reflective for me to reach back and appreciate what I fell in hip hop about - what I feel in my heart, my soul, I'm hoping that the audience can relate to it.


 

XzibitCentral.com: There's rumours on the internet that you and Crooked I have beef with DMX?

 

Xzibit: Man, come on, man, no! I haven’t talked to Crooked I in a long time, and I haven’t seen DMX. The last time I saw it was like wassup, you know what I’m saying, wassup man - I don’t got no problems with no rappers, it’s not that serious. I haven’t talked to Crooked I, I haven’t talked to DMX, I don’t even know what the rumour is - what’s the rumour?


XzibitCentral.com: I just saw it on Wikipedia on your page, there's a feud with DMX upcoming...


Xzibit: Oh now we scheduling beefs? We can schedule beefs!? I didn’t know that! It's upcoming beef that’s going to go down? Nah man come on. Yo - Crooked I is my dog, DMX is my dog, and you're hearing it straight from me.

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: The Gumball 3000 Rally sounded like a good time, what were some of the highlights from the rally?

 

Xzibit: Man it was a lot of driving, I got to meet the president of Albania, I drove a Lamborghini through parts of Europe that I otherwise would have never seen in my life and it was a great bunch of people a lot of cats came out, a lot of comradery - it was cool.


XzibitCentral.com: So what was the story in Belgium was it?


Xzibit: Yeah I got speeding ticket, got a fine, I don’t know the difference between Miles and Kilometres you know what I’m saying, it’s all numbers to me. But it was all good man, you know it is what it is; I got a fine and had to pay the fine, so there it is.

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: So now you've got your own website, Xzibit.com, what have you got planned for it?

 

Xzibit: Well we're just going to keep building it, you know the traffic is steadily growing every day, every week, and now we're just making it interactive. You know this a way and a step into the future that people need to really pay attention to - this is direct connect with my fans, this is how they know they know its me and the way that we communicating is pure - its not filtered through a marketing promotion "well we want to push this" and it's not to be manipulated. Its straight direct connect with the fans, straight to the artist, and that’s how its supposed to be.

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: So Japan is the next stop (on the tour), I understand your son Tremayne will join you in Japan?

 

Xzibit: Yes, yes - but I'm not gonna give you any information cause if there’s stalkers out there, f*ck you, know what I’m saying! Yeah my little dudes comin' but that’s it! You know its secret service around this mother f*cker! (hahaha…)


XzibitCentral.com: So you’re doing the [Live Earth concert]?


Xzibit: Oh yeah, Live Earth. Yep, Al Gore called up all the homies and we're going out to Tokyo to get down, you know what I’m saying, he's throwing the big gig so we're gonna go party with Al - He's trying to save the earth man, you know.

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: You've been on tour for months now, what’s the first thing you want to do when you get back to the states? Not to make you think about it just before...

 

Xzibit: I will probably end up doing three things at once (hahaha..), I’ll probably be doing three things at the same time, know what I'm saying. I want to drive my car very fast, I want to drive my Bentley, cause I just miss driving and I’ve been missing it since the Gumball rally, I want to drive my car. Then, i want to feed my dogs... And you know the other things (hahaha..) - I prolly you know, I’ll be hanging out man. I'll be at my house for a minute, that’s for sure, sleep in my own bed. Wow, you've got me thinking about the crib - F*ck you Justin! (hahaha..).
Xzibit: Liz [Member of Xzibit's management team], what are you going to do when you get home?
Liz: I've still got to work
Xzibit: YEAH! (Xzibit laughs hysterically)
Liz: But then I'm going to go home for a week - he [Xzibit] doesn’t know that yet, I’m going home for a week.
Xzibit: Hey man you're on the internet right now, your stalkers are on you!
Liz: I'm going to Boston
Xzibit: (Xzibit laughs) OH MY GOD! The stalkers are on you man, they are on you, see and when they are at the airport saying "Elizibeth" (hahaha...)


 

QUESTIONS DIRECT FROM THE FANS

 

XzibitCentral.com: Now these ones [next questions] are direct from the fans - the fans sent in a few emails. From your collection of work, do you have a favourite track and album?

 

Xzibit: Of my stuff? Umm favourite track and album, umm I don’t know man its hard – I’ve said it so many times, its like trying to pick one of your kids you like the best, you cant really do that. I think I appreciate all my records differently - I look at my records like this, like its kind of like a recorded time of my life - better than a video tape, better than an audio tape - its kind of like pictures and reflections of where I am mentally and physically at that moment, that I can see because of the way I’m spittin' and the way I talk so it's like I can rewind 10 years of my life, which is a spectacular thing to do you know what I’m saying because you can tell from pictures at that moment, but on albums it brings back memories of the times and dates and movements and shit. I can really put myself right there with that shit, so that’s how I look at my records - I cant really separate it and be like - well this song is that because some songs like "At The Speed Of Life" was cracking to us just as hard as it was cracking for Dre when we did "Bitch Please". Like going out, rocking the shows, how the response was, you know it’s different for me.

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: Do you play any video games?

 

Xzibit: Yeah, yeah I’ve got all the systems - come on I've got a little boy - he's not going to let me get away with not playing no video games. We've got all the systems every one lined up in front of the TV with a switch box - (OK play this one!)

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: One of the guys wanted to know will you ever have an album chopped and screwed?

 

Xzibit: I did one already - Paul Wall did it for me - when I first put out Weapons [of Mass Destruction]. Yeah I put out Weapons of Mass Destruction and Paul Wall chopped and screwed it.

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: Who was your biggest inspiration to make you start, or what was the biggest inspiration?

 

Xzibit: Just my love for the music. I was always in to writing, my mother was a writer, my father was an educator, so they always had me in a book. Comprehension was strong so when you just have that much just sitting there idle and then you find something that actually funnelled and used it, you know that’s what Hip Hop was to me - I had all this shit sitting up there, but then this was a way for me to be creative with it, so it wasn’t boring - cause its one thing that somebody says ok now sit down and write me a paper, sit down and write me an essay, sit down and put this together, put that together, but then when you find something that you have interest in, it was cool to me, like listening to "Big Daddy Kane" and "Eric B" and "Rakim", you know all the things that attracted me and made me fall in love with hip hop was started because I could write and I could do it myself and that’s where it started from.

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: Were you ever told that you couldn’t do it and that you would fail, and how did you over come that?

 

Xzibit: Ahh man, people always tell you that, they tell you that right now! (hysterical laughter) You know what I’m saying, but you've got to look at them and be like, If your not doing it yourself then you really don’t have room to speak on anybody else - I personally can give a f*ck less about what someone says I cant do - I say I’m the shit until somebody proves me wrong. Nah if you've got something to say to prove me wrong, so be it, but until then, that mother f*cker aint showed up yet so until then I guess you can keep on saying what you've got to say because I’m not really going to sit there and waste breath and energy to try to argue with a mother f*cker when I’ve got other shit I could be doing.

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: How do you stay level headed and focused on the fans and your career when there are so many distractions that draw you away from it?

 

Xzibit: I don’t know man, I do get distracted some times but I do have a good team behind me - its by no means done by myself so I cant take the credit for doing that - I have a large group of people that support me and a small group of people that work with me to help me make the things happen around me that happen. We've got to take the good with the bad, we appreciate our wins as much as our losses and shit its a growing process, no bodies got the answer, no body can say I’ve got the definitive way to win because some times that shit works and then it stops working, you know what I’m saying, but if you persevere and stay consistent that’s how you get longevity and that’s where I’m at with it.

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: I got this email from a crazy Buddhist, they said they swear that the set of the Concentrate video looks just like their house and she's like "we must have communicated telepathically"


Xzibit: Hahaha Oh shit see, see, communicating telepathically with the fans! See!


XzibitCentral.com: But for real, where did you get the inspiration for the video?


Xzibit: Umm you know the inspiration came from RT and Little Lex, myself coming together wanting to fit the vibe and the context of the song with the visual so that’s where it went, it naturally went there, you know it was just about what we were going to do with it so it didn’t seem repetitive - We've seen those kinds of images before but we wanted to do something different so that’s where the martial art theme came in and the long shots, levitation, you know it came together nice all the elements.

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: A lot of the fans want to know if they can land a deal on Open Bar Entertainment or what they can do to get someone to listen to what they've got?

 

Xzibit: Well I guess lets make submissions to the website - If you've got a video clip or you've got some kind of record that you want to post you can post it there but don’t post no spam because we're going to wipe that shit out, but become a member and post your best shit up on the net and lets see what’s happening!

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: Apparently you've got a lot of fans in France, do you think you will ever visit France maybe on your next world tour?


Xzibit: I just came from France; I did a show at the Paradis mo mon (sic) right? Paradis mo mon (sic), Paradis mo mon (sic)... (Background laughter) Don’t laugh at my French!

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: Have you ever been on stage and totally forgot the next line?
Xzibit: Yes! Yes I have.
XzibitCentral.com: What did you do to regroup?
Xzibit: Nothin'! You just keep going, and you pick up the next word, and look real crazy!

XzibitCentral.com: Do you still jump of the stage into the crowd?
Xzibit: No, nah I haven’t done that.
XzibitCentral.com: How did it feel when you used to do it?
Xzibit: It was great, it was great?


 

XzibitCentral.com: This question came before the whole rove shit happened, but what do you think of the comments left on Myspace and websites like XzibitCentral.com?


Xzibit: I mean come on its comments, they’re opinions, its not fact, its not scripture, its not life altering, you know they are opinions.


XzibitCentral.com: What do you think about the good posts and comments?


Xzibit: I think, yeah that’s what I’m talking about, they are great, I appreciate that the fans be able to come through and actually have direct contact and direct communication with me and you know that’s a good thing - you cant please everybody all the time, so I don’t see the point - If I hate a motherf*cker I wont go to his website and type to him, I will type some hateful shit on my website or somebody who wants to hear that shit, know what im saying, but it just lets me know how lame and pathetic these people [the haters] lives really are, that they really want to, know what I’m saying damn, you guys need to drink a sprite or something, you know, go for a walk, get some air, have some sex if somebody will touch you in that manner, that’s probably what the problem is! Like come on, it’s all gravy though, you've got to take the good with the bad, you can’t please everybody all the time.

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: What's a normal day in the life of Xzibit when you're on tour?


Xzibit: There is no normal day on tour, its all kinds of ups and downs and twists and turns, its goes like that man.

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: What's your favourite overall car?


Xzibit: My favourite car is the Phantom.

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: What does the 38 tattoo on your arm represent?


Xzibit: That’s for my little dude, his name is Trey, he was born on the 8th so its a little more creative than getting Tremayne written on me when he was born, you know everybody does that.

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: In Dublin this girl Claire made a baseball cap for you and was wondering if it actually got through to you


Xzibit: No – But I did get the paper mache Xzibit that was made in France that was given to me in a shoe box... it looked like a voodoo doll but we kept it and it was very nice, thank you.

 

 

XzibitCentral.com: To get the facts straight, on Wikipedia it says your name "Alvin Nathaniel Joiner IV" [the forth]


Xzibit: No! I'm not a forth - there's no 3 other Alvin's! There's no 3 other Alvin Nathaniel's man! Unless you guys know something that I don’t! Somebody added that shit, no dude, I’m named after my grandfather and my father; there’s only 1 you know!

 

 

A MESSAGE TO THE FANS

 

Thanks for the support, thanks for the love, keep in contact and let me finish up this tour and cook up something next for you!

[es-jay]

i wouldnt call that new, but thanks anyway.

[QuietTruth]

Xzibit: Well we just did a video for "Thank You" in London, you know we just filmed the first part of it, while we've been out on the road - I've been out here for 2 months so i pulled together an all female orchestra and they nailed the song and we filmed it - one night at one of the concerts we just threw some camera's up and it came out crazy so now we're just going to put some more edits in it, you know, put some more images that we need to keep the song in context and its going to be crazy.

Oh my God, is it going to be like Paparazzi?

[The King Of L.A]

we miss x's music in the hood.............common x what happen to the speed of light type of music.

[KURUPTION-81]

lol at "I just saw it on Wikipedia on your page"

[Lunatic]

hoping to get a question on a new album

[Major-XZ]

Xzibit: Well we just did a video for "Thank You" in London, you know we just filmed the first part of it, while we've been out on the road - I've been out here for 2 months so i pulled together an all female orchestra and they nailed the song and we filmed it - one night at one of the concerts we just threw some camera's up and it came out crazy so now we're just going to put some more edits in it, you know, put some more images that we need to keep the song in context and its going to be crazy.

Oh my God, is it going to be like Paparazzi?

Well, I Saw It, But I'm Not In Situation To Promote That Ish Yet, But I Can Say It's Way To Much Better Than A "Paparazzi" And All Of His Videos B4... Soon As I Get Anwser, That I Can Show That Ish 2 Ya'll I'm Gonna Do That, 'Till Then Sorry... But It's Gonna B Huge, Trust Me ***Major-X Peace Out***