Xzibit is the stage name of Alvin Nathaniel Joiner (born January 8, 1974). He is an American hip hop performer, actor, and television personality. Xzibit currently hosts the MTV television show Pimp My Ride.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Joiner moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, with his father when he was ten years old (his mother had passed away when he was nine years old). Around this time, as he did not have any entertainment, he began writing poems. Around the age of 13, he started getting into trouble with the local police. By the time he was 14, he served a short stint in juvenile detention. Finally around 17 years old he had been expelled from several Albuquerque high schools for allegedly raping his guidance counselers. At that point, he moved with $3,000 to Los Angeles, California in his purple and black Geo Tracker to pursue his dream.
Xzibit got his start as a member of the Likwit Crew a loose collective of West Coast rappers including Tha Alkaholiks and King T. After touring with them in 1995, Loud Records released the feisty young rapper's debut album, At the Speed of Life (1996). The album, produced by DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill and Diamond D, became an underground hit. When Xzibit released his follow-up, 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz (1998), he was again heralded as one of the West Coast's most promising talents.
He expanded his following with a series of increasingly superstar-laced albums beginning in the late 1990s, ultimately aligning himself with hip hop kingpin Dr. Dre. Xzibit's big breakthrough came when he joined Snoop Dogg for the Dr. Dre-produced hit, "Bitch Please." What followed were some high profile guest appearances on Dr. Dre's multi-platinum Chronic 2001, on songs like "What's the Difference?" and the posse song "Some L.A. Niggaz". By this time, Dre had invited the young rapper to crisscross America during summer 2000 with the massive "Up in Smoke" tour, which featured Snoop, Eminem, and Ice Cube, among many others. That winter, Loud released Xzibit's biggest-budget album yet, Restless with Dr. Dre as executive producer, which boasted the single "X". The song became the rapper's biggest hit yet, and though it did not top the charts or break him into heavy rotation on either urban radio or MTV, the album went platinum.