Uptown XO, born Jamaal Walton, is an American emcee who currently resides in Washington D.C. As a youth, growing up poor in a single parent household,XO began expressing himself naturally through music. At age 16 he started performing at “open mics” on U Street. Frequently, he started attending an “open mic” called Tru School where he met Oddisee, YU, Slimcat, and Gadget.

XO put out his first project Takeover and with Wale the Timeless Ep; Takeover 2 with the help of Charles Keys, Us vs. Them and Realmatic. Studio 43 and XO partnered up and put out Monumental and One One Ten. Around that time Oddisee formed the Diamond District with XO & Yu and they put out an album called In The Ruff that they toured Europe and the US with. The album was critically acclaimed by De la Soul, Q-tip, DJ Premier, Pete Rosenberg,etc. In August 2011, XO put out his 8th solo project entitled Monumental Vol.2 which was highlighted by Spin Magazine as one of the top 50 mix tapes of the year. The Color Grey was released in the summer of 2012 and the next Diamond District album entitled March on Washington is due to be released in fall of 2013 and XO’s debut album, Colour de Grey was released on January 29th, 2013.

Uptown XO’s signature adlib is “XO, baby” and his slogans include “Spread Love” and “Good Vibes Only.”