Detroit rapper Xzibit, who came to fame when Eminem still had to fight for his reputation on the independent scene, talks about his relationship with Marshall and his place in the culture.
His new big interview on the Big Boy Neighbourhood show cast a new light on Xzibit’s career, principals, beliefs, and relationships with some legendary players. Here is a segment where he discusses with a host his connection with Eminem.
Big Boy: Man, talk to me about the relationship with Eminem.
Xzibit: Eminem is dope, man.
Big Boy: Early on, was there a competitive nature when y’all would either do something together or, you know… Because Eminem is a lyricist. You’re a lyricist. Was it not not competitive? Like, “Man, if he’s getting in that booth I know how I got to come to you”.
Xzibit: You can’t come in and think that you’re gonna do average. Or think that you’re gonna skate
by on swag .You can’t swag right into this. You’re gonna have to say something that is gonna leave a hole in the concrete. So when I think of Eminem I think of things that I saw him overcome, and the things that he’s been able to build and keep his dignity and his respect with the culture is amazing.Big Boy:How do you feel with what Eminem is to hip hop and what Eminem was to hip hop. What we know is like, man, this dude!.. Amazing… And then you fast forward and now you’ll see some people that don’t give him that. Does that bother you?
Xzibit:Absolutely. Absolutely it does. Because it’s not easy to do what what he’s done, what I’ve done, what Royce done, what Crooked Eye has done, Rass Kass has done. Being a lyricist is like trying to be a Samurai against the AR-15. You know what I’m saying, you got people with budgets, dancers, lights… All kinds of, you know, lip syncing, Pro Tools… Then you getting up there with just your memory, a microphone, and a back beat. It is a difficult path to walk, but I I see when people are so easily try to dismiss, hit Eminem. And that’s just not with Eminem. This is with all of our greats. Hip-Hop eats its own. I’m not gonna it eats it’s young because it’s a young men sport. But you don’t see rock and roll cats telling Rolling Stones they need to get off the stage. Or going to the concert, standing in front of them, and then acting like they don’t want to be there. Motherfucker, you bought the ticket! You’re in front of us! Enjoy yourself! I think it’s strange that hip hop has this thing, and I don’t think it’s from the crowd itself. I think that the powers that be think there’s only certain amount of seats in hip hop. So you gotta vacate these seats to make room for the the next person. Instead of expanding its growth and enjoying this growth they want to limit the seats and the amount of people that you can pay attention to. Which is garbage.
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