Midnight Sun: Paparazzi for Xzibit

Last Friday I got word that famous rapper Xzibit was going to be at the Yuma Fun Factory for a one-night-only show.

Xzibit, who specializes in the West Coast style of rap, is also famous for the MTV show "Pimp My Ride." I used to watch it and dream that I would get a knock on my door and the "X to the Z" as he calls himself would greet me, take my truck and trick it out. Needless to say, that never happened.

Anyway, I showed up to the new outdoor amphitheater the Yuma Fun Factory has put together that overlooks the Gila Valley.

I ran into Frank Camacho, an employee at the venue who also is a manager at the McDonald's on 4th Avenue. I used to see him every morning when I ordered a sausage McMuffin with cheese for breakfast. I don't eat them anymore because they are stuffed full of delicious cholesterol and my doctor put me on a diet, but I digress.

Anyway I knew who he was and he led me to the stage area.

I stood with other lucky individuals who had clearance to be backstage as we eagerly awaited Xzibit's arrival. I got my camera ready, which I just started using because it is vastly superior to the little point-and-shoot I had been using.

I was all set, but when Xzibit walked in front of me, I pushed the button - and nothing happened. Totally frustrating, but I wasn't about to walk away from that show without a good photo.

He got to business right away, rapping songs that were definitely R-rated. I watched him through my camera lens trying to get a good shot, as my ears took me on a journey he painted with the spoken word.

I like to think I have a fairly good mastery of the English language, but when I write I can sit and think about it for as long as I need, editing for content as I go along. That, I believe, is what makes rappers like Xzibit great. It is their ability to lyricise on the spot, the words leaping from their brain synapses and off their tongues in lightning speed, and all while making sense and telling a story.

After the first few songs, Xzibit cracked wise. He said the people who live in Yuma are probably as sick of hearing jokes about the heat as he is with jokes about pimping rides. I thought that was pretty good.

I watched as he went from one song to the next, eventually singing "Paparazzi," one of his first famous songs from the mid-’90s. It was interesting because at the end of the song, the beat dropped and he said, "Paparazzi" while looking directly at me with my gigantic and unwieldy camera snapping shots.

That made me think, "OMG, I am the paparazzi!" Oh, well. At least I don't follow half-starving starlets down Hollywood Boulevard.

He gave the audience a good show and even promised he would be back with other famous rappers in the future. We'll see. If he does I'll be there, because all in all it was a good show by a talented man.

See you next week under the midnight sun...