Xzibit Scores Big With Restless

March 13, 2001 -- Though his latest album is titled Restless, Xzibit — who is halfway through a national tour in support of the breakthrough album — has no need to be uneasy.

"I don't have any complaints about how my career is going," the rapper says. "I had put out two successful albums. I mean, they weren't platinum out the box, making millions and millions of dollars — but they were solidifying a statement that I'm a true artist and that I'm consistent with my music."

Indeed, his first two LPs (40 Dayz and 40 Nightz and At the Speed of Life) stalled out after selling around 150,000 copies each — Restless, on the other hand, recently brought home some platinum for the rapper.

Playing the underrated MC was respectable enough, but in an industry of hype and superstars it only took him so far. Xzibit needed a window of opportunity to open somewhere — anywhere — and it finally did when a guy named Andre Young, better known as Dr. Dre, began recruiting hungry artists to join his Up in Smoke team.

Already loaded with a stellar lineup of stars (including Snoop Dogg and Eminem), Dr. Dre was looking to round out the lineup for the blockbuster summer tour, and something drew him to Xzibit.

The rapper says Dre offered more than a moment in the spotlight. "He showed me how to take time and figure out exactly where you want to go and to start something and finish it," remembers X, who also guest-rapped on Dre's 2001. "That's the one thing I've really seen in Dre. When he puts his mind on something or when he starts something, it's no half-assin' about it."

With new lessons learned, his raspy voice, and funk-filled grooves, Xzibit is not letting up. Though he's still on the road, he's already begun work on a new album, Man vs. Machine, which he hopes to release late this year.