Why Xzibit's History With MTV Has Been Rocky

Posted by Kelle Repass on Sunday, May 12, 2024

Many would agree that rapper Xzibit owes a lot of his a success occupation to his hosting stint on MTV's hit truth show Pimp My Ride. Though he first gained repute within the '90s as a part of the West Coast hip hop scene, it become his look on the collection that catapulted the "Get Your Walk On" hitmaker to mainstream good fortune, having been the face of the show which ran for 3 years and spanned a total of six seasons.

However, it would marvel you that Xzibit, now 47, doesn't glance back on his time on Pimp My Ride with great fondness. In truth, he has had numerous lovely arguable things to mention about MTV and its dad or mum corporate ViacomCBS since the display's conclusion in 2007.

8 Who Is Xzibit?

Alvin Nathaniel Joiner, higher identified by way of his degree identify Xzibit, is a rapper and television presenter who first gained reputation with his debut album At The Speed Of Life in 1996. He broke into the mainstream as host of MTV’s hit fact display Pimp My Ride within the early 2000s. He has also delved into performing; as an actor, Xzibit is perfect known for his position as Shyne Johnson in the Fox series Empire. He has additionally seemed in function movies, comparable to Gridiron Gang, The X-Files: I Want To Believe, and, more not too long ago, Sun Dogs.

Though he in the past declared bankruptcy, Xzibit is now valued at approximately $2 million, in keeping with Celebrity Net Worth.

7 What Is Pimp My Ride?

Pimp My Ride is without doubt one of the most popular shows to ever air on MTV. It follows Xzibit as he's taking a ruined automotive to the West Coast Customs (and, starting Season 5, to the Galpin Auto Sports) for a big renovation. The display premiered in March 2004 and ran for 6 seasons till December 2007. Its good fortune prepared the ground for a number of world adaptations, including Pimp My Ride International and others primarily based in the UK, Brazil, Indonesia and France. It likewise impressed some spin-offs, maximum notably Trick My Truck which aired on CMT in 2006.

Related: How Xzibit's Net Worth Plummeted When 'Pimp My Ride' Got Cancelled

6 How Xzibit Truly Felt About His Pimp My Ride Stint

Appearing at the Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM in 2018, Xzibit mentioned his stint webhosting Pimp My Ride and the way this has affected his rapping occupation and legacy. “In the beginning, I felt like it harm my career. I wasn’t in a position to excursion, I wasn’t able to proceed construction Xzibit as an MC," he said. “All of a sudden, it became almost bigger than the music. It was worldwide, it was on MTV, it was on these networks that were pushing it around the world, more than they were pushing my music.”

The Detroit-born rapper, however, acknowledged the impact Pimp My Ride has had on his career; specifically how the show helped catapult him to stardom and become a huge thing even for non-rap fans. He said: “I love Hip-Hop, I love being here, I love creating it, I love being a part of it. So, when it came to Pimp My Ride, it became soccer moms and sh*t like that coming up and really recognizing me.

"Now, as I look back at it, whether or not other people know me from song or film or TV, I’m simply glad to be known.”

5 Is Xzibit Willing To Do A Pimp My Ride Reboot?

Despite the show's massive success, the "Mr. X-to-the-Z" rapper admitted that he is not very big on the idea of doing a Pimp My Ride reboot. Speaking with HipHopDX back in 2018, he mentioned, “I don’t think I might be available for that. God bless ’em man, what I’m sayin’. I know they most definitely will with another host or whatever.”

Xzibit mentioned that individuals would repeatedly communicate to him about the potential for a reboot, however insisted that he's now not interested, pronouncing he is satisfied the place is now. "I’m glad it had such a dope impact across the board with so many different people, you know. I think it’s dope man," he said. "But, it’s like ‘eh, I don’t know. I like what I’m doin’ now.”

Related: Whatever Happened To Xzibit After 'Pimp My Ride'?

4 How Things Fell Apart Between Xzibit And MTV

Xzibit would go on to tell the world the real reason why he refuses to even consider re-launching the series. On the Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM, the "Get Your Walk On" rapper got real about his time on Pimp My Ride and how things were not all what they seemed to be. In one of his claims, Xzibit said that he did not profit off Pimp My Ride the same way everyone on the show had. “I feel like the show was built on my back, my credibility in Hip-Hop. I feel as though it became profitable for everyone else except me,” he said. “When it was over, everybody couldn’t believe that I didn’t want to continue.”

He then proceeded to tell a story about how producers of Pimp My Ride somehow forgot to tell him that he needed to film one more episode for the show. Already working on the X-Files movie at the time, Xzibit said that the production company offered to fly him back to shoot the said episode. “[But] I knew how much they paid for that episode. It wasn’t a regular episode,” he added. “And so I was like, ‘Okay, just give me $1 million.” They refused his offer, however, and instead replaced him with “Ridin’” rapper Chamillionaire in that special episode.

3 Xzibit Regrets Falling Out With MTV

“The show fell apart from there,” said Xzibit, before admitting that he regrets how things ended between him and the show’s creators. “It’s sad, because it was a really dope show. And it was one of the only shows that dealt with wish-fulfillment. It wasn’t about me, it wasn’t about the car, it wasn’t about the kid. It was about wish-fulfillment and people at home watching it feeling like, ‘This could happen to me.’”

Although, the rapper did insist that he isn't interested in a re-boot. “I’ve been asked before. I’ve always turned it down,” he said, adding, “You know, I’m into ownership. The people that have the rights to Pimp My Ride, have done whatever they’ve done with it, [and they] let me know early on that I’m not part of that. So until they’re ready to have that conversation, there will be no Pimp My Ride with my participation.”

Related: How Steve-O Really Thinks About MTV's 'Jackass'

2 Xzibit Claims He Was Cut Out From Pimp My Ride

In June 2022, Xzibit finally aired his grievances against MTV’s parent company ViacomCBS, as he accused the outfit of cutting him out of the profit they made during Pimp My Ride’s successful three-year run. “Hey @viacom_intl why is it you’ve made millions off the show #PimpMyRide I carried on my back and found ways to cut me out?” he wrote on Instagram. “Like saying I would get percentages of all merch sold let alone streaming (which wasn’t even in the contract) and putting in the fine print ‘with my name and likeness’ then proceed to take my ‘name and likeness’ off of ALL the merchandise including DVD sales after Season 1?”

“To top that you guys went back and EDITED all of my music out of ALL entire seasons in order to avoid paying me for my publishing. Let’s talk about worldwide syndication!!!! Wow,” he added. “Hey, guys, my number is still the same. Hit me up. Or… Can anybody hit me with a law firm who isn’t afraid of Viacom to get me right?” He also tagged MTV on his post before adding the hashtags #IveBeenQuietLongEnough and #ItsNeverTooLateToDoTheRightThing.

1 Xzibit Willing To Discuss With ViacomCBS

Speaking to TMZ about his lengthy rant against ViacomCBS, the Pimp My Ride host reiterated that he was not paid enough money by the network despite the fact that it built the whole show off his back. He also accused the firm of cutting his music out of the entire Pimp series for its syndicated episodes and DVD's box-sets despite a previous agreement.

"I knew that I wasn't going, that I wasn't going in an effort to take part in marketing greenbacks. So the compromise changed into 'We're going to make use of your track in each episode. We're going to get you a share of the whole thing going ahead when syndication begins.' But after season one, the fantastic print read 'With my identify and likeness,'" he said. "I by no means in 1,000,000 years concept that they'd return and be as petty as enhancing my song out of every episode that went into syndication."

Though he initially threatened a lawsuit, Xzibit told TMZ that he is willing to have a conversation with Viacom about the issue. He also stressed that he respects the company and is willing to work with them again in the future. "Pimp My Ride changed my existence. It truly put me into the stratosphere as for those who didn't know my tune ahead of, or other folks earlier than I began doing film and TV. Pimp My Ride was a catalyst for all of that," he said. "So I in reality show pride in what that is, but it is also a sore spot because I know I used to be systematically lower out of numerous things that are supposed to have been rightfully mine."

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