DC artist Uptown XO (of Diamond District) continues to bring on the visuals for his latest album Colour de Grey. This time the universal relationship track “Needs & Wants” gets the treatment with some beautiful shots. For anyone who’s ever had something good, and wanted something extra, XO lays the narrative out. AB the Pro produced the emotive track while XO and his team at Secret Society put together the video.
iTunes: Colour de Grey – Uptown XO
Diamond District’s Uptown XO has been stepping his visual game up with the help of director Backie T and his newest, Evolution produced by and featuring AB The Pro, is yet another rung on XO’s climb to the top. Get down if you know what’s up.
iTunes: Colour de Grey – Uptown XO
Uptown XO’s new album “Colour de Grey” continues to makes it’s rounds and gain attention. Today DC MC XO spreads love with his newest video directed by Jay Gregory of Cool Kids Forever Films. The ultra crisp, high def drive through the nation’s capital features Uptown XO rhyming over AB The Pro production tackling karma, politics, consumerism, and knowledge.
iTunes: Colour de Grey – Uptown XO
DC’s Uptown XO releases his MMG solo debut today, “Colour de Grey.”
To give people a glimpse of the range within the Diamond District emcee’s new record, we wanted to share the second single “XO Skeleton.” The track lays bare XO’s thoughts over soul-stirring piano keys. Ever progressing, XO continues to hone his skills as both a narrative storyteller and a captivating vocalist.
Used to listen to Mos most of all,
Listenin’ to Jigga wasn’t why I had Os for y’all,
It was my back against the wall,
Lived on my paws,
Dog, sold in the snow and fog,
Summer nights in the city, smelt like smog.Colour de Grey combines braggadocio with quotidian detail that creates a window into a life within the nation’s capital, all capped with alluring veracity.
iTunes: Colour de Grey – Uptown XO (Bandcamp)
Stream: Uptown XO (of Diamond District) “Colour De Grey” [Mello Music Group]
Uptown XO is DC through and through. Born as Jamaal Walton, XO grew up immersed the District of Columbia’s music and culture, leading to the formation of his acclaimed group with Oddisee and yU, Diamond District. Now XO is ready to unveil his Mello Music Group solo debut, Colour De Grey, which features lead single “Finding My Way.” In addition to rhymes from XO, the 14-track project comes complete with guest appearance from Messiah, AB the Pro, Docigapom, Benji, Danni and U St. Face. AB The Pro also provides production throughout the album with the exception of If I Should Die, which is produced by Drew Dave. “Get down if you know what’s up.”
Uptown XO continues to offer raw emotive rhymes that open windows to his world. The cold, gun toting exterior often belies the humanity behind it all. XO offers a story not unlike many with scarface dreams born of section 8, but fresh in its minutia the way only truth can be. The disection of this textured story’s cycle from evictions as a youth to the echos from the fridge; from the sales of kush in orange bubbles, to the understanding of how it employs the lawyers, the judges, the DA, and the jail workers; – all poignantly wrapped in the phrase “damn, ni&&as just didn’t want to flip burgers.” Earnest reflection over ill production. The sometimes morbid take on life culminates with the mantra “I got mouths to feed till they put flowers on me.”
AB The Pro produces the haunting track for Uptown XO to reflect and lay relish over, while director Backie Thomas creates stark visuals, brilliant in color, framing, and movement. It’s all prelude to the new album “Colour de Grey” coming from Mello Music Group Janaury 29th.
PreOrder: Colour de Grey – Uptown XO
Diamond District emcee Uptown XO teamed up with MTVhive today to release the first single from his upcoming solo album “Colour de Grey”. The track, Finding My Way, was produced by A.B. The Pro and features a percussive funk loop that finds XO in an introspective mood – lyrically exploring all he’s been through – from childhood evictions and lost memories, to the battle for his soul: “Lost erything in life and had to start all over / I had to cope with the pain, no I can’t stay sober”
Uptown XO continues the march towards the release of his new solo album: “Colour de Grey.” Today, XO offers a new visual for the track “Rugged” off his pre-album mixtape “The Color Gray.” The track, produced by A.B. the Pro, features Obi Say and Awthentik spitting bars alongside XO who breaks it down to a fraction.
“The old heads gave us the game, and now I’ma give you the jewels”
Fresh from the release of Uptown XO’s newest mixtape “The Color Grey”, the DMV emcee is putting the spotlight on the track “Luxury Shit featuring Tranqill & Kid Daytona”.
AB The Pro produces the soul drenched banger for Diamond District street king Uptown XO. Luxury Shit finds XO detailing how some glorify material things but he’s busy milking the game on the move up. And after a look inside the world of working to rise from XO, London emcee Tranqill jumps in with his trademark sound and a middle finger to the law as he raps about getting his due. Far from done, the Bronx’s Kid Daytona offers his own bars on living in the lap of luxury, “playing father to these hoes like Bruce Jenner.”
The mixtape is here, The Color Grey , so enjoy and get ready for the Mello Music Group debut solo album “Colour de Grey” coming this winter.
Download: http://uptownxo202.bandcamp.com/album/the-color-grey
Grey is not a color that gets much attention. But that’s not how Diamond District’s gritty lyricist Uptown XO sees it. For the DC spitter, grey represents the convergence of two worlds: dark and light. On the anticipated mixtape The Color Grey, XO continues to combine the street and the conscious in a way that’s honest and relevant to today.
The tape, almost entirely produced by AB The Pro, is sonically consistent. Wether a tune about bittersweet summer nights, the popular “Good Vibes,” or a gutter track examining the injustice of the modern prison system, the fantastic “Petey Greene,” the songs knock. The drums crack and the bass lines rumble. Lyrically XO shines, often taking the mood of the music and fleshing it out into a coherent and persuasive song. Few MC’s could so effortlessly spit lines so explicitly political and seconds later detail servin’ in a manner so precise, you know it’s from experience. Hood with a purpose, gutter but not nihilistic, Uptown XO complicates what ground an MC can cover.
Like its namesake, XO’s tape creates something new out of opposites. Fans who prefer thought-provoking music instead of tunes to tune out to, The Color Grey is where it’s at. This is just an appetizer. The full course meal, Colour De Grey, will be served later this winter on Mello Music Group.
