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HipHopSite: In preparation for Napalm, you did a tour with the troops in the middle east. What made you want to do this, and how does it apply to the album itself?

Xzibit: The tour was to support the soliders, I knew I was going to spend two weeks out there. The song “Napalm”, was already done. So when I found out that I was going out there, I decided to take Matt Alonzo out there with me to catch the visuals, because I wanted to do a documentary, and I also wanted to shoot the video for “Napalm”. It just so happened that we were able to go into Sadaam’s palaces. We didn’t have any idea what we were going to see, we just knew we were going to Iraq, so that’s where that came from. The decision to go with “Napalm” as the backbone of the album was because it was just so agressive; it just lent itself to the message behind the entire meaning of the album.

HipHopSite: So seeing that part of the world, where would you say that you’ve seen living conditions that are worse: in the poorest neighborhoods in America, or in war-torn Iraq?

Xzibit: Well, I wasn’t really able to go out with the civilians, I was only really with the military transport. So I could only go to certain bases, so I can’t really comment on the living conditions of the Iraqi people. From what I did see, on the bases, it is a war zone. I definitely know that any war zone is kind of hectic for any civilian, so I could just imagine what they are living like.

HipHopSite.Com: On the album, you have a track called “Louis XIII” that reunites the Likwit Crew. Do you think the world will ever see an entire Likwit Crew album come together?

Xzibit: I don’t know, I never say never. It would have to be organized and put together, so, you never know. I’d like to see it happen.

HipHopSite.Com: How did that collaboration with you guys and Dr. Dre come about on “Louis XIII”?

Xzibit: I got the beat from Dr. Dre, he said “See what you can do with it,” and when the album was being recorded, I had an idea to bring everybody in, and we knocked it down. Everyone was in the studio when we did that song.

HipHopSite.Com: Speaking of Dr. Dre, have you had any input on any of the various incarnations of Detox?

Xzibit: (Laughs) Oh god, here we go. (Laughs). Yo… I mean, I’ve been in the sessions with Dr. Dre, when he was working on this record. All I can say is he has records, and he works on his own timetable. It’s hard for me to speculate on that, so I won’t.

HipHopSite.Com: On the track “1983″, you spoke on a falling out with the Shady Records camp, or Paul and them. Have you spoken with Paul or Em since then?

Xzibit: I saw Paul and Em at Coachella. We spoke briefly. I told Paul that the track existed, but he never got around to sitting down with me and listening to it. So, I gave him a heads up, it’s no disrespect or starting beef, it’s just how I felt at the time, and my interpretation. I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to speak about it, but there is no beef or no problems.

HipHopSite.Com: You did a guest spot with It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia?

Xzibit: It was a promo….

HipHopSite.Com: So they never did a full episode.

Xzibit: No, you jackass, it was a promo! (Laughs)

HipHopSite.Com: (Laughs)

Xzibit: It was a promo! You guys didn’t get the joke! Motherfuckers were really thought I was going to be on the show, that’s crazy!

HipHopSite.Com: Nah, because I saw the promo, they are all standing around the TV, it looked great. But I hadn’t seen the season premiere yet, so I wasn’t sure if they actually put you in the episode or what. So tell us how that came about.

Xzibit: The gang got together, and picked the best scenes that they liked out of all the seasons. Then they called me, Andrew Dice Clay, a UFC guy, couple other actors, and we re-enacted the scenes from the show. And the promo was supposed to be the regular cast was giving the producers so many problems that they hired new actors. It was a joke.

HipHopSite.Com: Nah, I get it.

Xzibit: Man, I had people sending me bottles of champagne to my house, like “congratulations!” I’m like, you fucking idiots! It’s a joke, it’s a joke guys!

HipHopSite.Com: It was well executed, I think it came across.

Xzibit: Yeah, that’s good. Hopefully it got traction.

HipHopSite.Com: So I have to ask, is the Golden State Project with Ras Kass and Saafir dead in the water?

Xzibit: I’m never going to say never. You never know what could happen.

HipHopSite.Com: Wrapping up, what can we expect after Napalm?

Xzibit: I’m going to actually tour in support of the album with a tour called Collateral Damage. We’re going to run through South Africa and run through the rest of the states, so, it’s going to be cool.

HipHopSite.Com: Anything else you’d like to add?

Xzibit: Thank you for the support, listen to the record, and I’ll see you out there.

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1 Responses to "Xzibit: The Smell Of Napalm In The Morning (Exclusive Interview)"
  • Tom says:

    cool interview pizzo! Bought the album last week, and its very solid. Looking forward to the HHS review.

  • Comments (1)

    Tom

    October 18th, 2012 at 8:55 pm