Pimp My Geo

The next thing Xzibit needed was peace, as street life was getting dangerous: “My friends started dying, and I damn nearly got killed in Albuquerque.”

He set his sights on, of all places, California. “I saw the riots on TV, and I was like, ‘That’s where I need to be’?” — his raspy laugh erupts. So in 1992, at age 17, he packed everything he owned into his black-and-purple Geo Tracker. (There was no Pimp My Ride back then.) With $3,000 cash and a highlighted road map marked by his father, Xzibit was on his way to Los Angeles. He had one local contact and no Plan B. “I spent my first night with all my shit in the car, homeless on Venice Beach.”

''Now, I’m not a dumb-ass, I’m not going to let him get his shit and dust me off. So I get up and walk behind him...'' (Photo by Gregory Bojorquez)

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More About

• Xzibit
• Dr. Dre
• Albuquerque
• Pimp My Ride
• Hip-Hop and Rap

But Xzibit’s survival skills kicked in. Heeding his father’s advice about procrastination, he got his hustle on — rapping, even a cappella, at L.A. clubs including Ballistics, founded by Married With Children’s David Faustino.

“King Tee and Tha Alkaholiks were the first rappers I knew with real record deals,” says X. “Rollin’ with them, I felt, ‘This is where I need to be.’ I didn’t have no money, but I was happy.”

Xzibit was featured on the King Tee track “Free Style Ghetto,” off 1995’s IV Life album. He also killed onstage with King Tee and Tha Alkaholiks. It was at one of those shows where Steve Rifkind of the hip-hop label Loud took notice of X’s raw street talents and signed him without even a demo, soon after inking New York’s Wu-Tang Clan.

With more than 3 million units already sold, X is making an aggressive return with Full Circle. “People just see me as a host of Pimp My Ride,” says X, “but there was a whole life before this. Now my job on Full Circle is to connect those dots.”

Full Circle was partly recorded in Manhattan at Planet to Planet, a.k.a. “the Dungeon,” with executive producers Keith Shocklee of the rap-production group the Bomb Squad (Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back; Ice Cube’s AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted) and Jelly Roll. Fourteen tracks of heavy volume, rich sound and lyrics that, like X’s career, veer from gangsta to laughta. Classic cuts include the first single, “Concentrate,” produced by Rick Rock.

As the song’s King Kong bass bumps from his JBL speakers, Xzibit dances freely, throwing up his hands. “That’s in the club, baby,” he declares with a huge grin, and plays some more tracks. “On Bail” is a bangin’ gangsta cut produced by DJ Felli Fel and featuring Daz, Kurupt, the Game and T-Pain. X passionately acts out every line of the amped-up “Family Values”: “?’Cause you my baby girl,” he mimes, then wipes the sweat off his forehead and swigs some water. Finally he puts on “Thank You,” a deep, reflective jam (“Without you, there can be no me”) that sums up Full Circle. Xzibit sits down and closes his eyes, looking as if he’s in a state of deep meditation.

“Two words,” he breathes out. “Just listen. ’Cause you gonna hear where my heart is at.”?

XZIBIT | Full Circle | Open Bar Entertainment/Koch Records

Xzibit plays House of Blues, Sunday, October 15.