XL Middleton is rapper, producer, singer, & keyboardist from Pasadena, California. He is best known for the 2004 song “Feel So West Coast” and the song “Only In Cali”, recorded in conjunction with San Diego rapper Young Sau. He is known to be popular among European fans of West Coast rap, as well as in Japan, where his album “Middle Class Blues” was released in 2010 & sold nearly 3000 copies there alone.
XL’s style tends to fall into the uptempo, melodic sound typical of the West Coast region. He has cited DJ Quik, Battlecat, & Warren G. as strong influences to this portion of his sound. He is also known to mesh this sound with the slower, bluesier feel of Houston rap, a la Devin The Dude or UGK, which Middleton is known to be a fan of.
Middleton plays his own keys on his tracks, which often include complex piano riffs, driving bass lines, sharp horn stabs & wailing synthesizers. He is also known to employ the sounds of live guitarists & percussionists on his tracks, lending itself to a more musical feel than most hip hop music.
He has collaborated with a wide range of artists which includes Crooked I, Sly Boogy, Bad Azz, Techniec, Down, Fingazz, Big Gemini, Young Keno, Foesum, Bigg Steele, Bo Roc of The Doveshack, The Twinz, & many others. He toured Japan in 2006, doing shows in cities including Tokyo & Yokohama. |
