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Alvin Joiner, or Xzibit (as he is more affectionately known), released his sixth album in his 10-year career last week. In all honesty, no one is really sure what it is that Xzibit really does. Is he a rapper? A television show host? An actor? He?s kind of like Ice Cube, but without the massive success and maybe not as talented. Xzibit is hardly regarded as one of hip hop?s more witty or clever lyricists, but nonetheless there is something intriguing about his work. Call it a guilty pleasure. We know it?s corny, we know it?s trite, but we like it anyways.
Many wonder where Xzibit would be with out ?Pimp My Ride.? Before the clich? show captured our childish imaginations, it was widely believed that Xzibit?s 15 minutes of fame had transpired.
His debut album, ?At the Speed of Life? was an underground hit in 1996. He managed to maintain his status as one of the west coasts most promising artists after his second album, ?40 Dayz and 40 Nightz,? mirrored the quality of ?At the Speed of Life.? His work may have come and gone unnoticed to consumers, but the major producers of the West Coast community were listening attentively to the young up and comer.
In 2000, Xzibit got his big break when Dr. Dre asked him to feature on his gargantuan success ?Chronic: 2001? and join artists such as Eminem, Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg on the ?Up In Smoke Tour? that following summer.
His work with Dr. Dre gave Xzibit the commercial audience he had worked so hard for.
Xzibit?s work afterwards has been big budget albums pitched to big audiences.
The three albums he released in 2000, 2002 and 2004 all were greeted with shaky reviews. Critics expected the edgier and grittier Xzibit from the late ?90s. What they got was an artist who had finally made it and wasn?t going to throw caution to the wind. His work since 2000 has been very ?safe? in that he sticks with the sound he knows he can do. Of the three, his ?Restless? album of 2000 managed to go platinum while ?Man vs. Machine? in 2002 and ?Weapons of Mass Destruction? of 2004 clocked in with gold.
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