Fans from across the U.S piled into Irving Plaza to see one of the leaders of the New West in Dom Kennedy last Tuesday night (Jan. 28). The venue was packed from the door, but it was clear to see the fans were all die hard Dom Kennedy fans upon his arrival on the stage. Dressed in his signature L.A. Kings Wayne Gretzky throwback jersey, the Leimert Park legend began his performance to his self titled track “Domonic.” Kennedy showed he was worth the price of admission, weaving through tracks off his album Get Home Safely and some of his cult classics with ease. Dom showed no need of a hype-man, as the charismatic MC interacted with the crowd and even took requests, which kept all in the building locked in from track to track. Just when you thought the hour long set could get no better, Kennedy surprised the fans by bringing out former XXL Freshmen Kendrick Lamar to perform a fan-favorite off of good kid, m.A.A.d city.
- Now he’s back with the highly anticipated Get Home Safely, which looks to set the bar even higher for Dom, if not the rest of the rap world. It’s been a long time coming for Dom Kennedy’s.
- Get home safely 😳 okay my co. 2019-12-05T07:37:10Z Comment by Wesam Fouad. 2019-11-21T15:35:11Z Comment by HENTAIBABY99. 2019-10-12T05:44:46Z Comment by Travis Trapmane Starling. Still hard now to this day. 2019-09-29T21:05:34Z Comment by danieleverd. 2019-09-08T14:35:07Z Comment by Shylah Maaele.
After the show was over, XXL sat down with Dom Kennedy to discuss the origin of the OPM crew, learning how to play an instrument for Get Home Safely, what it will take for him to sign to a major and more. —Christian Mordi
XXL: You dropped the Yellow Album, which was well received. What did you learn from that album that you realized you wanted to keep or change from your music with Get Home Safely?
Dom Kennedy: I approached the Yellow Album with the most honesty and creativity as I could. After putting out my first project in 2008 and coming into the Yellow Album, I was searching for something to say. By that I mean what was important to me, what was important that was going on around me. I spent a lot of time searching for new sounds. People began to ask me things like, 'What do you want your legacy to be?' or 'How or what do you want to be viewed as?'
Get home safely. Purchased on itunes. Lets Be Friends 2. All Girl Crazy 4. If It Don't Make Money (Ft. Oct 15, 2013 Review: Dom Kennedy Focuses On Feel-Good With ‘Get Home Safely’ LP. The Cali MC swaps lyricism for cool-out tunes Everybody is talking about West coast rappers.
I realized a lot of artists come in and they do a lot of different things but few search or accomplish something that has never been done. I was looking to add something to the game rather than taking what the game was giving me. Looking back at the Yellow album, it taught me to give something back and create something new. I done made a lot of money, did a lot of awesome shows, but I wanted to show people with Get Home Safely this was a thinking and growing man when you heard the music.
After the Yellow Album dropped, you were able to tour across the world for the first time. How was the experience and how did it influence the creative process of Get Home Safely?
Going overseas just reaffirmed everything I felt after creating the Yellow Album. It showed me that honesty can go a long way. I have had a lot of cool moments but when I performed in London you would've thought I was James Brown. From that moment on I knew I was never going back. I was only going to get better.
You have been releasing mixtapes under OPM since 2009 and albums since 2011, but despite the success the crew has had as an independent movement, many people are confused about exactly whom comprises it and what it represents. So for those out of the loop, tell them about the OPM movement and how it came to pass.
OPM company was created out of necessity. The first project we did was From The Westside With Love in 2010. It is a play on words because its not what we are about but what we need.
If I say to Nipsey Hu$$le lets link together and do something awesome and we can make money and thats when all parties start to listen. We can work to move forward for a better cause. We are here trying to inspire a generation of kids who didn't have a Dom Kennedy. What I am doing I never seen nobody do. When I first started rapping I remember hearing people argue about if a rapper could even come out of L.A. that wasn't in a gang. That hadn't been done before. Not at least in the sense of a rapper who had the respect and trust and could move the people on a bigger scale. I knew this coming in so I decided not to hide this but to put this in people's faces. It's OPM this is our goal.
My dad lived in New York in 2005 and that was my first time coming out here. I wasn't even rapping at the time. I was over there in Central Park looking at one of the Trump buildings. He said 'Look at this building, got his name on it. All these rich people getting over, they don't use they own money they using other peoples money to get rich.' That's self-explanatory. I looked at that and said I can do that for my people. My homies. We do concerts, music and clothing.
Your manager Archie once said on Twitter: “Don’t be so thirsty to give percentages away, there’s some shit you can do on your own.” How important is it to your movement to do as much as possible in-house and not reach to outside sources to develop things?
It's not about not reaching to outside sources, its more about more about not complaining when shit don't go your way when you do. We not trying to go hungry because you're waiting for your check in the mail for some shit you did like a year ago. It is about feeding yourself and making sure you have whatever you need. A lot of times it comes down to being lazy, working or not.
It seems like hip-hop is getting better at moving independently. You are having a very solid career as a independent artist. If I remember correctly in 2013 Interscope did come calling to sign and you passed. Are majors still nipping at your heels and if so what would it take for you to sign with one?
A lot of money. Same reason Derek Jeter plays for the Yankees and Kobe Bryant plays for the Lakers. If not I can make decent money by myself. I don't need a signing bonus like that. It isn't like I am just coming out and a $100,000 signing bonus is a lot of money because it is not. If I had just started then I would be like 'Ima be rich.' But knowing what I know now, hell nah.
If times are different why are deals worse?
The Internet done messed shit up for them. They shortcomings is my wins, and my shortcomings is they wins. At some point they labels need to realize that it's about coming together for both of us to survive and how do we do it. Its about giving people something fair, especially about giving young black kids a right to own something they created. Not just be on TV or on the side of YouTube talking about 'Oh, catch my new song.' Because when you do that's when it works. Think of Jay Z, Russell Simmons, Suge Knight, that's when folks is making hundreds of millions when people is listening.
I heard with Get Home Safely you guys were able to sit down with a distributor at Best Buy and get the album pushed in stores as well. How much of an impact did it have on sales of the album?
It was around the time of the Interscope conversations. We had already had a relationship with iTunes via SXSW. We met the lady with Best Buy a little later down the line. She kept in touch with me and genuinely interested in what we was doing. We showed her the layout and when we wanted to put the album out. She saw the quality and said 'when you guys put it out hit me up I will buy some.' Archie and I were thinking about it, and figuring out if we needed independent distribution, but she wanted it directly off of us. Nothing in between. It helped us a lot in regards to the people taking what we do more serious and the business aspect of things.
You often talk about how when you were younger you were influenced by Biggie and OutKast due to the fact you could listen to their music and get of sense of where they are from. I get that same feel of what California is like upon listening to the album. Was this a goal you had coming into it?
From day zero, that was always my number one goal. I always wanted to paint an accurate picture of myself and other people I knew within my music. I feel like Get Home Safely was the pinnacle of that.
Give me a couple words to describe the creative space you were in while making the album.
Humbled and honored. What inspired me to get on this path was the loss of a homeboy, my real first best friend since the second grade Phillip Johnson. He had passed away a little over a year ago. When you're young you cry a lot. I went to a lot of funerals for a young dude, and I am not saying I didn't cry then. Being older you can internalize it more and reflect more. I was honored to have known this person and the people I do know and to be able to tell their story.
This album you worked closely with The Futurisks who added live drums and bass for this project. How important was that to you and how did you contribute to this process?
The music side of the album was the fun part. I bought a guitar and everything. On the 'Honey Buns Interlude' that was me on the guitar. I was studying a lot of great artists. People that transcended their time and genre with their work. I wanted to one of those people. I am honest enough like always to start somewhere and not be afraid of what people think I am suppose to say or do.
Dom Kennedy Get Home Safely Zippy
How do you gauge success?
By the amount of people that you can help. The moments I feel like I have done the most that I could regardless of whatever situation I am in at the moment. Using my resources to the best of my ability. I recorded a lot of the shit on the Yellow Album. That why you hear the door close in the beginning of the album, that me hitting the spacebar and running in the booth. Not too many people recorded themselves on some beats and did it that big. If it is only a couple people, that's successful to me.
Released on his own imprint, Other People's Money, independent rapper Dom Kennedy returns with Get Home Safely, an album of chilled-out and narrative hip-hop. While Kennedy's flow is less than acrobatic, he tends to make every word count in a way that, even when he's just talking about chasing girls in 'South Central Love,' feels Hemingway-esque in its economy. Get Home Safely isn't an album that's going to turn a house party upside down or bring a dancefloor to its knees, but that's not really Kennedy's intention. Instead, the songs feel like casual slices of life, painting a picture of Kennedy's world in a way that's relatable and engaging.
Dom Kennedy Get Home Safely Zip Download
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| 1 | Dom Kennedy | 03:35 | Amazon |
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