Stop Sleepin: XO

Jamaal Walton, aka X.O., has been representing the uptown, Northwest side of Washington D.C. for a minute now.  He’s released a handful of projects on his own, and has collaborated with Diamond District (a group consisting of X.O., Oddisee, and YU).

His music and sense of style has caught the attention of clothing labels like Durkl and Rocksmith, who have engaged in cross branding opportunities with the artist.

His most recent project, Monumental, produced entirely by AB the Producer, dropped on June 30th as a free download.  Having one producer on the project, really solidified the cohesiveness of the mixtape, as it flows smoothly from the beginning to the end.

The project was released with Kenny Burns and Studio 43, who have also put in a lot of work with that other D.C. resident, Wale.

One of the standout tracks on Monumental, “For Real Niggas Only,” aka “F.R.N.O.,” takes us through the Northwest side of D.C. in the following video.

XO – “F.R.N.O.”

X.O. talks about keeping it 100 over the smooth laid back track with:

“This aint for everybody,
You gotta be real,
It’s like a fraternity, how I burn the weed still,
Flickin’ ashes, thinkin back, I learned to be real,
Intention’s like a weapon, I kept my shit concealed,
I studied the game, just like a math lesson,
Now I’m never alone, like Smith and Wesson,
Fake niggas got Aids to me,
But you see, I know them well like ABC’s,
And we can see that you just here to provide balance,
And put obstacles in the game, make it a challenge,
But if you real, shit you above average.”

AB’s production on this track, and throughout the entire project, works really well with X.O.’s flow.  Big shout out to Colin for directing the sick video!

Other standout tracks from Monumental are “She Wanna” and “Crabs In The Barrel.”

Building off the success of Monumental, X.O. has been hard at work making sure his next project, One One Ten, is well received at the beginning of 2010.  His team recently released the following video for “Do It,” directed by Philthegod.

XO – “Do It.”

Touching on his determination, X.O. spits lines such as:

“No room for mistakes, like I got two strikes,
So I take my first swing, like I struck out twice,
I do it for them ladies, the ones with the babies,
Sharpie on a dollar bill, sayin save me,
We doin this to make history,
And we humble like it’s a mystery.”

X.O. spits these verses between the extremely catchy hook:

“Hat low, all black on,
When I Do It,
D.C. city streets conquered,
I Do It,
For the ones locked in a box,
When I Do It, I just Do It, I just Do It,
Stay strong, keep your head up,
When ya Do It,
Stay calm stack your bread up,
When ya Do It,
Its the game you need to stay ahead of,
When ya Do It, so just Do It, ay just Do It.”

That hook’s been stuck in my head since I started writing this article!

If you’re in the D.C. area on January 1st, you’ll want to head over to K St. Lounge for One One Ten’s official album release party.

Luckily, we don’t have to wait until 2010 to get new music from X.O., as his next single, “Take Home,” drops today at 4PM (see below).