How audiomack links taught me to relax and embrace Dom Kennedy p.2

by Dan-O

The Original Dom Kennedy

A year older and more seasoned The Original Dom Kennedy is a tougher piece of art than From The Westside with Love. The production steps up to the next level as Hit Boy takes shape as a fully formed speaker blowing scientist. I could listen to Chuck Inglish’s Goodbye beat on a loop for days without getting over it. It’s just a banger that pulls you in and wont let you leave and so utterly satisfying that you might miss Dom rhyming Tofu at Nobu with Whole Foods. This mixtape is probably known for Dom going at Funkmaster Flex on The Homies “I heard Funk Flex say that Pac ain’t sh#t, and I hope when you see him that he slap your mouth.” Looking back the line doesn’t seem bold or audacious but necessary. It’s surprising that more artists didn’t call Flex on that ridiculousness. I digress! It’s a tight 12 track showcase of Dom fitting his style into the West Coast genre.

He’s always loved and repped the greats but his content is much different from theirs. He wants to get girls, eat well, and completely unapologetically not much else. The songs skew from playa on From The Westside with Love to Pimp on The Original Dom Kennedy. Turn Me Out is a little more in your face about his ability with the ladies but the sneer doesn’t come at the cost of the women. Over the monstrously trance-inducing THC produced Bet You Want Me (Now) you see a great example of his easy understanding with females “Spoiled LA girls I give my life to you. I just took this time out to write to you. It be so good I don’t want to say goodnight to you. We so close but I don’t want to say wife to you…” He always speaks of his sexual partners with warmth but from a healthy distance. Later on in the song he charts out the milestones of a new relationship and projects when it will end pausing for a moment and then continuing with his love of the game. His frustration really doesn’t crack through(cause it doesn’t seem to be there) and by the end you can make the case that he really doesn’t have a complex relationship to women at all. He loves them the way he does movies; he reexamines the classics with an eye on what’s new.

This project is packed with brutal bass and pimpish funk (see Designer Sh*t) but the bonus track When You See Love is really what makes Dom’s music survive so cleanly. It’s a song that could have been on The Wood soundtrack (do you not know what that is? Great movie!) showcasing a gentle loving chorus that gives way to a muttering friendly Dom seducing the woman of the song with a great Tom Hanks reference. He ends his last verse by saying grace and it’s not even weird even though it’s totally weird.

stream or download The Original Dom Kennedy below: