XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been run and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. Although only releasing an average of six albums a year, XL has worked with Adele, Arca, Azealia Banks, Basement Jaxx, Beck, Dizzee Rascal, Electric Six, FKA Twigs, Giggs, Gil Scott-Heron, Gotan Project, The Horrors, Yaeji, Jai Paul, Jungle, King Krule, Lemon Jelly, M.I.A., Nines, Peaches, The Prodigy, Radiohead, Sampha, SBTRKT, Sigur Rós, Tyler, the Creator, Vampire Weekend, The White Stripes, and The xx. The label releases albums worldwide and operates across a range of genres. History 1980s and 1990s The label was launched in 1989 to release rave and dance music. It was originally an imprint of Beggars Banquet's more commercial dance label Citybeat, which was known for records by acts such as Freeez, Rob Base & EZ Rock, Starlight, Dream Frequency and the Ultramagnetic MCs. However, with the success of acts such as The Prodigy and SL2, XL superseded Citybeat in its lineup. During the early 1990s, XL releases were dance oriented ranging from Belgian techno (T99's "Anasthasia") to breakbeat hardcore (SL2's "On a Ragga Tip") to drum and bass (Jonny L's "I'm Leavin'"). This period of XL's history has been recorded on the XL Recordings Chapters compilation series. In 1993, Halkes left XL to form the EMI-owned commercial dance label Positiva, and subsequently his own independent commercial dance label Incentive. After Palmer retired in 1996, Russell took over the running of the business. Russell later broadened the musical horizons of the label, whilst maintaining a credo of working with artists he saw as original and inventive. In 1994, the label released The Prodigy's second album, Music for the Jilted Generation which debuted in the UK Albums Chart at number one, and in 1997 it released the third album by The Prodigy, The Fat of the Land which entered the British and American charts at number one and went on to be number one in 26 countries. 2000s June 2000 saw the release of Badly Drawn Boy's The Hour of Bewilderbeast which won the 2000 Mercury Music Prize. The next year, The White Stripes third album White Blood Cells was released together with reissues of the band's previous albums, The White Stripes and De Stijl. In 2003 XL Recordings won the Music Week A&R