Mello Music Group dropped something intriguing today beyond the new Jonwayne record. Digging into Oddisee’s seemingly endless vault, the District of Columbia’s Uptown XO takes a break from documented activism and tag teaming performances with marque artists to drop this heavy re-imagined version of “Ride’n” that he featured on in 2008. Laying shout outs to his DMV region before connecting with the downbeat of yU’s take on the minimal snare and phantom sample brings about an opening for DC’s apostle Wale to blasts through elevated poetic word play. Two thirds of Diamond District joining forces with this top emcee in Washington delivers a cut that rides smooth, but still touches on source topics of stress and unmitigated struggle in their home city. Not bad for a dude about to tour the country with J. Cole on the What Dreams May Come Tour.
XO follows Wale’s verse with an echo effect of his voice that accentuate and matches the tough tone from the welcomed throwback effort. Seemingly paired by their shared region, but also XO’s constant grind in recent history, seeing these two artists that claim deeply contrasting MMG organizations works better than expected. No flash or gimmicks, just bars and a reminder that D.C. hip-hop needs to be paid some mind.
