Last night (September 2), Hip-Hop fans in Atlanta were treated to a rare tour stop from rising West Coast emcee Dom Kennedy
The event was organized by DOSE Promotions, who had a loose theme dubbed “90210” to celebrate West Coast life. Because Kennedy has a diverse fanbase, the theme didn’t resonate as strongly as hoped with the crowd. The Spring 4th venue was light on seating areas, but spacious enough where you could enjoy the event without being crammed tight with other concert goers.
The opening acts ranged from decent (Papa Jae) to comically surreal. The standout on the latter description was a rapper named Reese. Although billed as a solo act, he had a gang of what he referred to as “my little niggas” behind him. So what happens when you get about 15-20 members of your entourage all playing hypeman for a track called “Weed, Bitches, Liquor, Hoes ?” You get a Boondocks moment. Lil B would be proud.
Don Kennedy took the stage around midnight. Although he’s built a considerable catalogue over the last few years, the LA native focused most of the set around his latest and arguably most popular work, From the Westside With Love. The crowd loved every minute of it, and showed their enthusiasm singing every word of tracks like “Still Me” and “1997.” And Kennedy was pleasantly surprised by the fact he had longtime fans who knew his older offerings like “Watermelon Sundae” and “Notorious D.O.M.”
The only hiccup at the show was the lighting. Apparently, the lighting used was too bright and Dom complained early on about it blinding them. The tech crew went to the other extreme and simply turned the lights off. If it wasn’t for a few photographers and videographers in attendance who used their camera lights, the stage area would have been completely dark and obscured the vision of the fans. And even with those small lights, your visibility was likely still bad if you weren’t in the immediate front area.
As a live emcee Dom Kennedy is confident in his material and clear with his enunciation on the mic. He’s not as polished when it comes to improvisation, but that is something that will come with time. The stage area was flooded by groupies and loads of random people. This threw Kennedy off slightly, but he eventually used it to his advantage by questioning a tipsy woman on stage about what his next track should be.
Dom Kennedy hasn’t received the attention yet of a Wiz Khalifa or Curren$y, but talent-wise he is definitely on their level and one of the West’s more promising young artists. He has a good grasp of melody which is paramount in today’s Hip-Hop, especially on the mainstream level. He’s shown he can make catchy, radio friendly songs without sacrificing artistic merit (“The 4 Heartbeats,” “Watermelon Sundae”). And songs like “Locals Only” show the concepts are there.
If you’re not up on Dom Kennedy, take this as an endorsement to get on board.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 
The group that preformed is named pilot music