Xzibit has made a name for himself as both a rapper and an actor, but he is perhaps best known to this day as host of early 2000s TV favorite “Pimp My Ride.”
That’s why the multi-hyphenate was invited to take part in Sparq Diagnostic’s three-act Reverse celebration at the Rolling Greens event space in Los Angeles on Friday as the tech company rolled out the latest innovation in AI for cars.
“To me, you can tell a lot about a person by the kind of car they drive. It’s an extension of who we are, so that’s why I feel cars are so important to me,” Xzibit said during a fireside chat with Sung Kang, Kurt Busch, Cliff Avril and moderator Emelia Hartford. “Unless we’re going to go back to riding f—king horses, you what I’m saying? Cars are going to be around for a long time.”
The futuristic event also featured some of the most recognizable cars from throughout Hollywood history — including:
- 1998 Toyota Supra MK IV (“Fast & Furious 2”)
- 1999 Nissan Skyline GTR R34 (“Fast & Furious”)
- 2002 Nissan Silvia (“Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift”)
- 2003 BMW M3 GTR (“Need for Speed”)
- 2002 RX-7 FD (“The Italian Job”)
- 2003 Mini Cooper (“The Italian Job”)
- 2010 Audi R8 (“Iron Man”)
- 2008 Chevy Camaro (“Transformers”)
- 2005 Audi S8 (“The Transporter”)
- 2014 Aston Martin Vanquish (James Bond)
- 2023 Porsche 911 Carrera S (“Bad Boys”)
“I think that what we’re doing here today — especially with Sparq — we’re going into the future … I don’t think we’re all going to start driving Teslas tomorrow,” Xzibit further explained. “I love what technology does, but I definitely think that we should still keep control of what we’re doing. Once it’s proved to be safe and proven to be beneficial to what we’re doing and advances what we’re doing — I think we just need to take baby steps.”
However, Busch pointed out that professional drivers are already embracing the next era when it comes to cars. “The future will be an AI-type system,” he shared, “because in NASCAR, we used to have like one or two, maybe three top cars to go for a championship. Now we have 12, and you’ve got to learn each one of them. But yet, the technology behind it backs it up.”
Still, Xibit isn’t too worried — as long as we can keep a nice balance: “It’s nice to have the option of maybe the car can take itself [somewhere] or stay in the same lane, but I will still want to be able to take control and then go drive off-road.”
Although, he did say he isn’t in love with the idea of seeing someone asleep behind the wheel if they’re able to completely give over control to their tech. Other notable stars in attendance were Wiz Khalifa, 310babii, Warren G, Quavo and Cody Walker, just to name a few.
