Many are looking at Xzibit and his successful rap career coupled with his burgeoning film and TV career, which are topped off by his charisma and they are saying X-Z is the new Renaissance Man. Everywhere you look Xzibit is seemingly there. He recently caught our attention in the movie Grid Iron Gang.
He has a new album out called 'Full Circle' which has Keith Shocklee of the Public Enemy Bomb Squad as one of the executive producers. He's also one month into his worldwide tour. If that's not enough, Xzibit has also decided to return to his roots and go the independent route.
For those who don't know, for the past few years Xzibit has been attached to Sony Records. It was a result of the merger between the mega label conglomerate and his original home Loud Records. One would think with all that corporate muscle behind one of the country's more visible pop icons that Xzibit would be on a whole other level right about now.
Unfortunately such was not the case.
In our recent sit down, Xzibit explained that Sony tried to pimp his popularity from the MTV show 'Pimp My Ride'. They figured all they had to do was put out his record and not really promote it since he was on TV everyday.
Xzibit noted that it was a shortsighted move and that his TV show had nothing to do with his music career.
He said in order to be successful he would have to be more immersed in the Hip Hop arena. All the TV show does is get you noticed, the rest is up to you.
He noted that Sony didn't give him the promotional support that was needed which in turn made him feel like he was trapped. Now that he's off the label, he feels free and comfortable going back to a time when he did slamming classics like 'Paparrazi'. Sony was always looking for the big MTV-like pop jams.
Xzibit talked to us about his tour and his decision to include Bay Area legend San Quinn. He noted that whenever people talk about the West Coast they always forget to include the Bay Area which he feels set the foundation for the independent game that everyone benefits from. He says this industry inspired separation of the two regions has prevented people from fully being able to reach their full economic potential.
He wants to change that and make sure that when people say Cali, they see the entire state and not just LA. San Quinn is a good representation for the Bay.
During the recent show at SF's Slims Nightclub, San Quinn stopped his set and asked the audience to please show lots of love and gratitude to X for reaching out and giving him a big opportunity.
Artists up and down the coast are well aware of the big underlying problems effecting Cali artists which can be attributed to some of the big commercial stations, most notable Clear Channel giant KMEL and their refusal to play many of the independent releases from artists out of LA.
Basically what happened was when E-40 brought attention to the Bay Area's hyphy movement, many of the LA stations begin playing a lot of the independent artists out of the Bay. The deejays who were in position to play music outside the stated playlist wanted to build on the momentum of the Hyphy Movement and show some west coast unity.
Hence for a period of time you would hear lots of Bay Area music being bumped in LA.
As the Hyphy thing began to grow many of LA's independent artists began to release their own product and quite naturally approached the Bay stations to see if the love that was being shown to Bay artists in LA could be reciprocated. Sadly, the Clear Channel stations (KMEL) refused to open the doors and make room for the LA artists.
A couple of the high profile deejays in LA like Julio G of KDAY reached out to their Bay counterparts like music director Big Von to try and get some traction but to no avail.
This in turn led to a backlash of sorts, because it was made to look like the Bay was hating on LA and not helping grow the movement. The truth of the matter is that the Bay is a one radio company town and if one or two people refuse to open up their playlist and get down it can cause misperceptions.
That’s one of the downfalls of media consolidation. The reason why this is important is because when one starts to approach other stations outside the state, video outlets, record labels, concert promoters and distribution companies, they look at the amount or lack of airplay one is receiving in neighboring cities as an indicator to their success. So if a Bay Area artist says he's hot and is getting airplay in his hometown, people began to wonder why that success didn't translate down to Los Angeles and vice versa.
It’s a dirty little trick commercial stations do which were outlined in last month's FCC Hearings in LA when REM bass player Mike Mills testified. It stifles growth or in this case shortchanges and undermines unifying movement efforts put forth by regional artists.
As of late many of the Bay and LA artists have been trying to find ways to build those bridges in spite of radio politics.
Xzibit reaching out to San Quinn represents one of those on going efforts.
Xzibit describes himself as a soldier in this west coast movement. He doesn't want to be a king.
'Kings get overthrown', he explained.
Xzibit touched upon another problem plaguing LA and that’s the rising Black Brown tensions. He details his feelings in his new song Black and Brown and offers up his insight as to why two major minority groups are at the brink of a major upheaval.
Xzibit said it basically boils down to folks fighting over crumbs
During our interview Xzibit gave the full run down as to why he departed from his longtime group Strong Arm Steady. He blamed the breakup on bad business moves by his fellow group members and Talib Kweli not being fully honest about the status of him actually signing to his label. If you recall a couple of months back when we interviewed Talib he talked about how had just signed Strong Arm Steady to his new label.
Xzibit says that he had never signed, nor was in agreement with the terms in which he was being asked to sign to. He wished the group and Talib much luck and said there were no hard feelings.
#147 - Podsafe country jamboree!
None of the regular stuff - just country music as I prepare for a big day of driving tomorrow.(Time: 24:23)Linkies Call in and leave a voicemail for the show! 206-202-3644 The Well-Rounded Radio Mix is born!
Some background: There was a brief period of time when I thought I wanted to be a DJ, due mostly to some great New York radio including WNYU's New Afternoon Show and Jeff Foss on Hofstra University's radio station. It led to me going to New York University's Film, TV and Radio program, where I promptly got caught up in the film and video side of things and never really pursued radio there at all). So, suffice to say, I never really wanted to be a disc jockey, but what I have often aspired to do was create some really great mix tapes (and, sometime in the early 90s, mix CDs) for friends over the years.
Have been making mixes since my college years and, unfortunately, haven't had as much time in the last years since I've been doing this other thing, namely Well-Rounded Radio. I recently added a featured called a Well-Rounded Radio Rave where I shine a spotlight on a particular artist, but honestly with so much great music being sent to me from bands and musicians all around the world, I decided to add a new type of show to the feed, with an hour-long mix of "quality music from any genre" and call it the Well-Rounded Radio Mix. Many of these came to me by way of , which is a great online service where musicians can create an electronic press kit and submit their work to various festivals and opportunities, including .
And yes, I know I'm not the first to work within this format: that honor goes to many fine folks in the radio world, of whom someone like New York's is a long-time hero (get well soon, Vin), and Bob Boilen at NPR's , and DJs at , , , the , who all do it particularly well. So give a listen to the following hour-long mix. Consider buying these artists' music, whether it's on a shiny piece of plastic or as a digital file.
Buy a t-shirt or a hat. Go see them live. Tell a friend about them and share your good taste in music.
Sign up to their email list or subscribe to an RSS feed. And tell them Well-Rounded Radio sent you. The way the music business works is changing drastically and for the better.
Support the music you like and love and help change it. We've made it easy to connect with them, too, if you listen to the show via the mp4/m4a file posted above on this blog, which includes a link from their album's artwork to their web site (at least using ). And for any lawyers listening, these are all non-RIAA artists who have submitted their work to me for promotional purposes.
1 , who also opened the show, with a piece called Tetrishead. Keating is a cellist and composer based in San Francisco, California who has studied in the US, England, and Italy. She's been exploring non-classical musical forms since '95, working with modern dance, experimental theater, performance artists and both popular and improvised music.
A new album is due in late 2006. 2 reminded me a bit of Olive and Dido--remember when Dido came out and you liked her, before they played those three songs to death? Well, Una has a similar electronic feel and dynamic vocals.
Fading in C# Minor is from their second EP, The Rain is Over and Gone, was also featured in episodes of PBS' Roadtrip Nation. 3 New York-based has a special place in his heart for Bryan Ferry and David Bowie, I would betcha. Noir has also produced a number of electronic and dance music acts, artists and DJ's.
Here's his song Sisyphus from his very strong debut, Art of the State. 4 From Toronto, Canada, debut is one of the stronger albums I've heard of late. Just about every track was worthy of playing on this show, but I've selected a song called My Stupid Life.
The Dirt Farmer, singular, cite Elliott Smith, The Pixies, Magnetic Fields, LCD Soundsystem and Weezer as influences. 5 are based in Brooklyn, New York and sent me an EP called Viva! With some very solid sounding indie rock; the EP is due to be released this fall.
The band includes Ev Gold on voice and guitars, Chris Tropeano on bass guitar, Pat Fusco on drums and percussion. 6 That was the title track from CD What Remains. Manning's music brings to life the myriad of issues that arise from parenting a child with autism, which Manning is with his wife.
His songs are written from both his perspective and sharing the stories of other parents. The album can also be looked at the larger theme of how people face, deal with, and come to terms with traumatic circumstances. 7 CD Ain't No Good Life comes from Flint, Michigan and hits a number of electric blues styles.
Rusty Wright plays Lead guitar, slide guitar, lead vocals. His wife Laurie LaCross-Wright Lead and harmony vocals as well as rhythm guitar and harmony lead guitar. 8 is father and son due David and Adrian Mowry who are based in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area.
Their CD, Hearts at Home, touches on folk, country, bluegrass, and soul and I particularly liked that track, It Hurts Me Too. 9 I wasn't quite sure what to think of when I first heard her CD, Fly Trap, but song by song, she won me over and I thought the song Entitled was one of her best. Enns is based in Seattle, Washington and studied classical piano at the Royal Conservatory of Toronto.
10 is a strong singer/songwriter based here in Boston, Massachusetts. This song, Stop the Rain, is from his 2005 CD, McKinsley Steel, and he just recently released a new disc, "This Train's Not Goin' Slow. 11 mixes country, folk, and some orchestral instrumentation on his EP, Higher Ground.
Silver lives in German and the US and his EP is interesting in offering up both full-band and solo versions of several songs. This song is called Come Back Home. 12 is a New York-based singer songwriter who used to perform in a band called Finally Balanced.
I picked a song called Silent Prayer from this CD The First to feature. 13 Alaskan-based homegrown, folky sound has a touch of humor in it but he also ranges across more serious fare and he scores points for his original approach. 14 are from New Hampshire and are probably a lot of fun to see at your local watering hole, having a laugh here and there with their funny lyrics.
This track, Old Hippies, is off their album, The Cabal Breakers. That's it for our first Well-Rounded Radio Mix. Hope you enjoyed.
Drop me a and tell me what you think. And don't forget to some Well-Rounded Radio-branded t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, mugs, or babygear. We'll use any profits to put toward Well-Rounded Radio's efforts and keep the show growing.
To find out when new interviews--and mixes--are available, subscribe to our . Tell a friend about Well-Rounded Radio and . And remember.
..don't be a niche.
I mentioned that I am beginning to produce a podcast totally outside of the topic of technology and business.
Please visit the for some insight into one of the most incredible private humanitarian efforts, and the private stories of those who have participated in the world wide eradication of polio.
News RSS