XO Records

The Weeknd's label. NAV, Belly, dvsn. OVO adjacent Toronto scene.

The Weeknd established XO Records in 2012 as his creative headquarters, transforming it into Toronto's most distinctive imprint by nurturing artists who shared his moody, production-forward sensibility. NAV became the label's breakout success story, his trap-influenced sound on *Reckless* and *Bad Habits* proving that XO's reach extended beyond The Weeknd's own genre-bending R&B experiments. Though operating in the shadow of Drake's OVO Sound empire, XO cultivated a tighter, more cohesive sonic identity through signees like dvsn and Belly, each artist reinforcing the label's commitment to atmospheric production and nocturnal aesthetics. The imprint's influence rippled beyond Toronto's borders, establishing a template for how rap and R&B could coexist under one roof without compromising either's integrity.