Xzibit opens up about nearly signing with Aftermath, his experiences recording 2001, and the way Dr. Dre’s relentless consideration to element reworked his method to music.
Xzibit nearly signed with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Leisure, labored carefully on 2001 and witnessed firsthand the legendary producer’s meticulous method, he revealed in a latest dialog.
“There was some extent the place Jimmy [Iovine] and Dre tried to signal me… however Steve Rifkind, who ran Loud Information, mentioned, ‘Xzibit is like my son. We began collectively, and we’re going to complete collectively,’” Xzibit mentioned.
Although the contract by no means materialized, Dre’s affect on Xzibit’s profession was simple.
Regardless of not being signed to Aftermath, the rapper benefited from Dre’s government manufacturing on a number of albums—an honor hardly ever prolonged to artists exterior the label’s core roster.
Xzibit make clear the precision and self-discipline Dre demanded in the course of the recording of 2001, the 1999 traditional that outlined an period of West Coast Hip-Hop. One of the crucial uncommon strategies?
An idea Dre known as “mastering the thirteenth be aware.”
“Dre put the beat up and advised us to remain within the pocket of the ‘thirteenth be aware’—which is silence. He calls that ‘mastering the thirteenth be aware,’ and in case you get it proper, it modifications the entire really feel of the monitor,” Xzibit defined.
Dre’s detailed method didn’t cease at timing. Each verse needed to begin with a reference to West Coast rap historical past.
“He advised each MC to begin their verse with a traditional West Coast lyric. I used ‘Pistol Grip Pump’ by Quantity 10: ‘I used to be raised in a hood known as what-the-death!’”
For Xzibit, these periods had been extra than simply one other studio expertise—they had been a masterclass in musical precision. Regardless of by no means formally signing with Aftermath, Xzibit’s partnership with Dr. Dre formed the trajectory of his profession.
From 2001 to the legendary Up in Smoke Tour, their collaborations left an simple mark on Hip-Hop.
Ultimately, contracts matter lower than the work itself, and for Xzibit, the bond he constructed with Dre stays probably the most necessary of his profession.
