Before the Dr. Dre co-signs, before Pimp My Ride, before Empire, there was a 22-year-old from Detroit by way of Albuquerque who wanted to rap better than everybody around him. On October 15, 1996, Loud Records released Xzibit’s debut album, At the Speed of Life. Thirty years later, it still sounds like what it was: a West Coast record that cared more about bars than the bag.
This week in The Archive, we go back to the album a lot of fans still call an underground West Coast classic.
Who Was Xzibit in 1996?
Xzibit was born Alvin Nathaniel Joiner on September 18, 1974, in Detroit. After his mother died, his family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and he landed in Los Angeles in his late teens. He started rapping at 14 under the name “Exhibit A.”
In L.A. he fell in with the Likwit Crew, the circle around King Tee and Tha Alkaholiks. His first professional credit was Tha Alkaholiks’ “Hit and Run” on Coast II Coast in early 1995, and he followed it with a spot on King Tee’s IV Life. Albumism notes he once called himself the “dysfunctional member of Tha Alkaholik family.” Touring with the crew is what put him in front of Loud Records, the New York label home to Wu-Tang Clan and Mobb Deep.
The Album: Key Facts
- Released: October 15, 1996
- Label: Loud / RCA
- Executive producers: Xzibit and E-Swift
- Recorded: 1995 to 1996 in Los Angeles and North Hollywood
- Length: 15 tracks, about 49 minutes
- Guests: Hurricane G, King T, Ras Kass, Saafir, Tash, J-Ro and Ron Hightower
- Photography: Brian “B+” Cross
The Producers Behind It
The beat list reads like a map of mid-90s rap that wasn’t chasing radio. E-Swift of Tha Alkaholiks handled “Just Maintain,” “Eyes May Shine” and “Plastic Surgery.” Thayod Ausar produced the title track, “Carry the Weight” and the single that broke Xzibit, “Paparazzi.” Cypress Hill’s DJ Muggs made “The Foundation,” built on the piano intro from Billy Joel’s “The Stranger.” Bronx legend Diamond D of D.I.T.C. produced “Bird’s Eye View” with Tash and J-Ro. Craig Sherrad and DJ Pen One rounded it out.
The result is dark and moody, with odd samples and plenty of room for Xzibit to rap. Albumism describes the production as “unorthodox” and dark, and that’s a fair read.
“Paparazzi” and the Message
“Paparazzi” came out first, on May 27, 1996, months ahead of the album. Over an operatic string sample, Xzibit went after rappers who make up stories for money and fame and care more about image than music. In a year when a lot of rap was getting shinier, it landed as a statement of purpose.
The song peaked at No. 83 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 61 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and No. 9 on Hot Rap Songs. It did even better in Europe: Top 20 in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Finland and Austria, and Gold in Germany. That overseas run built Xzibit a European fanbase early in his career.
“The Foundation” followed in October 1996. It hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 and No. 16 on Hot Rap Songs. “Eyes May Shine” went out as a promo single, and a remix with Mobb Deep came later.
Charts and Sales
At the Speed of Life peaked at No. 74 on the Billboard 200 and No. 22 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. It reached No. 19 in the Netherlands and also charted in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and Germany. We couldn’t find an RIAA certification for the album. It wasn’t a commercial monster, and that’s part of the story: it built his name with rap fans first.
The Golden State Connection
Track 13, “Plastic Surgery,” put Xzibit next to Ras Kass and Saafir, two of the most respected lyricists on the West Coast at the time. Albumism notes the three later formed the Golden State Warriors (later the Golden State Project) and signed to Dr. Dre’s Aftermath, though only a handful of their songs ever came out. It’s one of the great “what ifs” of late-90s West Coast rap.
Cultural Impact
Albumism places the album as a West Coast alternative to the gangsta rap that dominated the mainstream, running parallel to the East Coast backlash against the “shiny suit era.” It mixed battle rhymes with personal storytelling, and it proved a lyric-first rapper could come out of L.A. without being boxed in.
The songs also lived on outside rap. The “Paparazzi” instrumental plays at the end of “Pax Soprana,” a season one episode of HBO’s The Sopranos. “Paparazzi” was also on the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 soundtrack in 2001, which introduced it to a whole new generation of kids holding PlayStation controllers. “Just Maintain” showed up in the 1997 film Conspiracy Theory.
What Came Next
The debut set the table. 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz followed on August 25, 1998. Then Dr. Dre pulled him into his circle: “Bitch Please” with Snoop Dogg, three songs on Dre’s 2001 including “What’s the Difference” with Eminem, and a slot on the 2000 Up in Smoke Tour. His third album, Restless (2000), with Dre as executive producer, peaked at No. 12 and went platinum. From 2004 to 2007 he hosted MTV’s Pimp My Ride, and he later played Shyne Johnson on Empire.
For a lot of people, that’s the Xzibit they know. At the Speed of Life is the reminder of where it started: a hungry MC trying to out-rap everybody in the room.
Tracks to Start With
- “Paparazzi” (prod. Thayod Ausar)
- “The Foundation” (prod. DJ Muggs)
- “Eyes May Shine” (prod. E-Swift)
- “Plastic Surgery” feat. Ras Kass and Saafir (prod. E-Swift)
- “Bird’s Eye View” feat. Tash and J-Ro (prod. Diamond D)
Where to Stream It
At the Speed of Life is listed on Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube. Run it back this week for the 30th.
Sources
- Wikipedia: At the Speed of Life
- Wikipedia: Xzibit
- Wikipedia: 1996 in hip-hop
- Albumism: At the Speed of Life at 25
- XXL: Today in Hip-Hop
