XO - Take Home

Booth readers already know XO as one-third of The Diamond District, a DMV-based trio with a penchant for gritty, boom-bap inspired beats and aggressive rhymes. As you might expect from a guy whose stage name means “kisses and hugs,” however, the Washington, D.C. native is as much a lover as he is a lyrical bruiser. On Take Home, the lead single off his forthcoming One One Ten LP, the underground rapper teams up with R&B singer Raheem Devaughn to let his amorous side shine. Over AB the Producer‘s uniquely-textured mix of piano, string stabs and synth accents, XO delivers bars laced with vivid lyrical imagery: “Your body [is] shaped like a bottle of cola, so we’re meant to be together like ice cubes and soda.” While I’ll leave it to the ladies to judge the efficacy of XO’s game-spitting, his lustful rhymes and Radio Raheem’s smooth hook vocals most definitely add up to a memorable track. If you like what you’re hearing, you can find more on One One Ten, set to drop – you guessed it – January 1, 2010.