XL Middleton

He's one of the few Japanese hip hop artists making noise on the West Coast, and definitely the only one whose musical format falls (somewhat) into the funk-laden style that the West is known for. Meet XL Middleton, the Pasadena, CA-based artist/producer who has been hard at work for years, albeit under the radar of most rap fans. Still, his melodic blues-funk style has earned him accolades all over the internet on websites from dubcnn.com all the way to HipHopDX.com, where his collaborations with Sly Boogy and Slaughterhouse's own Crooked I made the rounds. A tour of Japan in 2006 was also a huge success.
A quick look at the iTunes store, YouTube, or even a Google search will quickly reveal the underground following that Middleton has already amassed through word-of-mouth and internet buzz. He has released volumes of work, in the form of albums & mixtapes, some of which have been picked up by record labels in Japan & re-released, to great success. More recently, XL has been taking the world of online video by storm, with astounding high-quality visuals to match the already-heralded XL Middleton sound. Visit his Youtube page at: www.youtube.com/xlmiddletonmusic