He’s always held down the West Coast and was praised as a rapper from Los Angeles, but Xzibit‘s roots didn’t begin there. Because of his ties to artists like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, and Ice Cube early on in his career—and because of his sound—Xzibit was assumed to have been born and bred in Southern California. In 2005, various artists joined together for the West Coast Peace Treaty, an event moderated by Steve Harvey. Xzibit gave a speech at the gathering about how they should come together in L.A., and in the middle of his discourse, someone stood up and tried to check him. The man yelled, “N*gga you from Albuquerque!”
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The Game recently recounted the funny story for HipHopDX, recalling that the moment was jarring for him. “It’s like finding out Santa Clause didn’t make these cookies,” The Game recently said. Xzibit has now addressed his 15-year-old West Coast Peace Treaty moment, clarifying his history with how he came to hold down Los Angeles.
“Here’s the thing, I’m not from New Mexico, I was born in Detroit,” Xzibit says with a smile. “I lived in New Mexico, but I was only there for seven years and then I cam here at 17 and then lived the rest of my life here. That being said, it’s very interesting the sh*t that people hold onto. You can easily pick up a phone and Google my name and see that I’m not from f*cking New Mexico! I love New Mexico. I loved Albuquerque, I got a lotta friends there, but I’m not from f*cking New Mexico.” He added that because of that story, some people think he’s from the country of Mexico.
After sharing a few laughs about the incident, Xzibit listed a few other rappers who are hailed as Los Angeles icons but were born in other states. “Kurupt is from Philly! Nate Dogg is from Mississippi. Tupac is from New York! Get the f*ck outta here!” Xzibit added. “It doesn’t f*cking matter. If you’re gonna throw the stone, n*gga, throw the stone at everybody… And even if I was from Albuquerque, you let an Albuquerque n*gga come here and take all of Los Angeles. Holla at me.” Check out the funny clip below.