What started as a respectful working relationship has grown into a strong bond between Dr. Dre and Xzibit. The rules are simple: Don’t betray him. Don’t lie to him. Don’t fuck with his family. Bring something to the table. Xzibit still lives by these rules.
The rapper explained why he would never tolerate anyone disrespecting the Good Doctor on The F Y’all Podcast with C.T. Fletcher. According to him, the key is respect, care, and work ethic. From recording a joint with Snoop to going on tour with Dre and Eminem, to becoming friends, Xzibit stayed loyal – and Dre reciprocated.
I did a song called “Bitch Please” with Snoop. It was the first time I worked with Dr. Dre. I walked in the studio. Wrote my shit in 15 minutes. Laid it. He gave me some pointers. Laid it. Thanked them for the opportunity. I left.
Here’s the thing about Dre. People get around Dre and immediately get all kinds of thoughts of grandeur. You know, “This is my time to shine!” or “This is my thing!”. So the fact that I came in, thanked him for the opportunity, and left, and didn’t try to slide him on tape or ask for something… He gets asked for shit 75 million times a day. But I didn’t do that.
And then they used that as a single, and it worked. So he was like, “Hey man, what’s up, it’s Dr. Dre. Hey man, you want to get on this album?” He always positioned the shit like I have the authority. He’s like, “Yo, man, you feel like jumping on this track?” “Yeah! What, right now?”
So, I get to the studio, and he brings up the beat again. It’s “What’s the difference?” Then he does it again. He’s like, “Hey man, you feel like you want to go on tour with us?” I was like, “Yeah!”
The organic nature of how we started as a working relationship is how that started. And then, he was even talking about that on the Up in Smoke tour. He’s like, “Hey, you can either come out before Warren, or you can wait, and then you can come out and do two songs on my set”. Yeah! That’s not a fucking decision! So, then we became brothers.
Dr. Dre has been a mentor, an ear, an advisor. He cares. And I can’t say that about all my counterparts. I can’t say that about everybody that I’ve done music with, but Dr. Dre takes a very strong stance when it comes to me. And not everybody does that.
When you with him, you with him. Don’t betray him. Don’t lie to him. Don’t fuck with his family. Bring something to the table. I’ve always strived to do that. And let me tell you right now, Dr. Dre has helped me immensely in my life, in my journey. He’s helped me out of situations that… It was a bottomless pit, and then here comes this nigga, swooping down, like, “Come on, let’s go”.
You can never say nothing to me about Dr. Dre and not get socked in the face. He is my guy. He will always be my guy.