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49-431: On March 25, 2013, Dom Kennedy announced his second studio album would be titled Get Home Safely and announced it would be released in summer 2013. In September 2013, during an interview with HipHopDX , he spoke about what fans can expect from the album, saying: "Man, they can expect the highest quality music they’ve definitely heard from me, and they’ve probably heard from a lot of genres—not just Hip Hop. I’m introducing

98-680: A buzz throughout the south side of L.A. In particular, the song "Watermelon Sundae" was widely played on local radio stations and performed live throughout the area, bringing more attention to Kennedy's music ambitions. Around this time, Kennedy's cousin Madison was a film student at Loyola Marymount University , sparking the beginning importance of visuals in Kennedy's later projects. After his 25th Hour debut, Kennedy released 2 additional mixtapes in 2009; Best After Bobby (the title referring to "Bobby" Robert F. Kennedy ), and Future Street/Drug Sounds . For

147-399: A foundation to sustain" and adding that "When artists have one big record and go run with that, it doesn't work because they never had a foundation to begin with." The same article cited examples such as Cardi B , Camila Cabello and Jason Derulo releasing four or more singles before their album releases. In the 2000s, a common trend developed to release a lead single months in advance of

196-460: A lot of chances, but they were calculated. There weren’t any accidents." Kennedy spoke about the process of releasing the album, saying: "There haven’t been no push-backs really. We’re in the process of mixing it right now. My original intent was to put out the Yellow Album —and I never wanted to sell that—and then charge people now, when I’d really need it. That was my plan, to put this out right at

245-526: A major hit throughout the underground hip hop scene in L.A. Gaining over 100,000 internet downloads, With the success of From the Westside With Love , Kennedy became a major player on the independent circuit, traveling for performances throughout and outside the country; including a show in Djibouti , Africa . Kennedy also began releasing an extensive amount of visual material at this time, including From

294-435: A picture of Kennedy's world in a way that's relatable and engaging. " Chayne Japal of Exclaim! gave the album a four out of ten, saying "Although Dom Kennedy has established himself as a trusted representative for hip-hop's resurgent West coast scene, new album Get Home Safely does little to reinforce his status or display any evolution from his mixtape days. At its core, this is an ordinary hip-hop record; Dom reflects on

343-514: A two-year junior college in California, majoring in business management. In an interview with Dr. Josh Hamilton in October 2012, Dom gave his reasoning on why he entered college and what his plan B would be. "I mainly focused on business management while I was there, not really thinking about music per se at first, but just on life. You know, like damn if I wasn't rapping or doing anything with music that

392-418: A web of serenity for you to kick back and relax to, then Get Home Safely will take you right to your door." Gregory Heaney of AllMusic gave the album three and a half stars out of five, saying " 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

441-403: Is a great body of work.” It represents something bigger than just $ 10 or just one person." In the same interview, he spoke about his favorite song on the album, saying: "Man...to keep it real, without sounding wack, all of them. But you know, each for different reasons. There’s a song on there called “Black Bentley,” that I can say I’m proud of for writing. I’m proud that I stayed up until 6:30 in

490-549: Is also known for his guest appearance alongside Belly on Nipsey Hussle 's 2019 song " Double Up ", which entered the Billboard Hot 100 . An independent artist, Kennedy's releases are distributed by his own label, the Other People's Money Company, or simply Other People's Money (OPM). His 2012 single, "My Type of Party" (featuring TeeFlii ) was ranked by Complex magazine as among the 50 Best Songs of that year. Dom Kennedy

539-556: Is an American rapper from Leimert Park, Los Angeles , California. His fourth mixtape, From the Westside with Love (2010), was met with critical acclaim; its sequel, From the Westside with Love II (2011), served as his debut studio album and entered the Billboard 200 . His second and third albums, Get Home Safely (2013) and By Dom Kennedy (2015), both peaked at number 23 on the chart and were met with continued praise. Kennedy

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588-405: Is just my way of doing it therefore I guess it’s natural. But I’m not trying to do anything, you know, different or to say, ‘This is new.’... I set out to do it the way they did it, just in my own way. Kennedy has rapped over a wide range of past and present hip hop beats in his career, consistently bringing the element of L.A. and West Coast hip hop to his music. Such beats include Big Poppa on

637-459: Is sometimes used interchangeably with "lead single". The term is used to describe an album's main promoted song, usually released on the same day as the album and promoted on South Korean music programs . This term is used regardless of the song's title or whether or not it was the first single from an album to be released. For example, " Boom Boom Bass " is considered the title track from Riize 's 2024 extended play Riizing despite not sharing

686-412: Is the album I’d want to make. It tells more so about me as a person." He also spoke about if the album sounds like anything else he's done, saying: "It’s both in a weird way. It’s a completely new thing, but the quality is going to be there because it’s not my first album. If the first time you heard of Dom Kennedy was Get Home Safely , and then I never did another CD after that, you’d probably think I

735-434: Is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band , usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut single", is the first single released by a new artist. Artists often choose songs that are more up-tempo , yet representative of the album's sound, as lead singles. Such songs are often catchier and attract

784-556: The Best After Bobby mixtape, Kennedy collaborated with West Coast heavy hitter DJ Sour Milk and the Los Angeles Leakers, producing an instant buzz in underground circles across the country. Within the first hours of dropping the mixtape, Kennedy amassed over 10,000 downloads, officially solidifying his name among some of the top rappers in L.A. However, with the release of From the Westside With Love in 2010, Kennedy became

833-524: The Hill " as double lead singles from his album ÷ , although these songs were both released on the same day, 6 January 2017. The 1995 Oasis single " Some Might Say " would go on to appear on the group's second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? , though at the time it was a standalone release, with " Roll with It " acting more as a lead single. In South Korean music , the term " title track "

882-505: The Rap you’re hearing nowadays." He went on to discuss what inspired "Black Bentley", saying: "Man, just life! Different phases. Last year, I lost someone important to me, and that makes you ask yourself a lot of questions. I’ve been growing up. I went overseas for the first time in my life last year, off the Yellow Album. That’ll change your whole perspective, on a world tour. The more you travel,

931-555: The U.S. also in 2011 in Djibouti , Africa . Following the release of From the Westside With Love II , Kennedy headlined at The Key Club in West Hollywood, California , alongside fellow West Coast rappers Overdoz, Epic Twelve, and Black Cobain. Marketed as the show on "7.1.11", the event was sold out, prompting another show the following week, marketed as the "7.7.11" show. In 2012, Kennedy traveled throughout Europe and

980-794: The United States for his Yellow Album World Tour. The tour started in London in October and wrapped up in San Francisco in December. In early 2013, Interscope Records attempted to sign Dom Kennedy, however he chose to remain independent. His second studio album Get Home Safely was released through his The Other People's Money Company record label on October 15, 2013. The album featured guest appearances from Skeme , Krondon , TeeFLii , Ty Dolla Sign and Nipsey Hussle . Get Home Safely debuted at number 29 in its first week, selling more than 10,000 copies in

1029-706: The United States. On June 2, 2015, Dom Kennedy released his third studio album entitled, By Dom Kennedy . The album peaked at number 23 on the Billboard 200, selling 9,000 copies the first week. On December 23, 2016, Dom Kennedy released his fourth studio album entitled, Los Angeles Is Not For Sale, Vol. 1 . Dom Kennedy teamed up with Hit-Boy in order to create their own Hip-Hop group entitled Half-A-Mil. They would go on to release three self-titled EP's that dropped sporadically throughout late 2016 into mid 2017. Then later officially released their debut album Courtesy Of Half-A-Mil on November 24, 2017. In 2019, Kennedy

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1078-416: The Westside With Love music videos for songs such as "1997", "Locals Only", and "The 4 Heartbeats". In early 2011, Kennedy released his 5th studio mixtape The Original Dom Kennedy , a tape meant to reflect Kennedy's individuality and sound as an artist. In an interview with MTV News reporter James Lacsina, Kennedy described the project as something that was a testament to himself in the rap game as well as

1127-447: The album an XL, saying "The track sequencing is one of the greatest strengths of the album; no beat seems out of place allowing you to glide smoothly through the album. That diversity and efficiency is reflected in the lyrical content as well: the frequency of thought provoking songs not-related to women is at an all-time high for him. DK and the OPM crew may not have the major label engine behind

1176-511: The album itself. With album sales continuously declining in the United States, record labels often release singles before the album's release date to online music retailers including iTunes , ranging in price from $ 0.99 to $ 1.29. This trend has become increasingly popular in many markets. In the late 2010s, artists began a trend of releasing multiple singles before eventually releasing a studio album. An unnamed A&R representative confirmed to Rolling Stone in 2018 that "an artist has to build

1225-650: The album release date. It has equally become common for further singles to be released before the release of the album. For example, Usher issued the lead single " Love in This Club " four months before the May 29, 2008, release of Here I Stand . The second single " Love in This Club Part II " was released one month before the album release date. Another example is Justin Timberlake 's 2013 album, The 20/20 Experience , which

1274-571: The album to encourage and reach a lot of people that probably never knew who Dom Kennedy was. But it’s in a great way. Without changing what I do or without compromising the integrity of Rap music or anything, I feel like people will be proud to say that this is their favorite Rap album of the moment. I feel like it’s been few and far between that people are able to say that in our generation. For people interested in Hip Hop and Rap music, I feel like they’ll be proud to say that, “You need to listen to this; this

1323-567: The album would be pushed back until October 15, 2013. On December 28, 2013, Dom Kennedy announced that the Get Home Safely Tour would begin on January 23, 2014 and run through the end of February 2014. Rapper Skeme joined Kennedy for the duration of the North American leg of the tour as the supporting act. On February 2, 2014, the music video was released for "Still Callin'" featuring TeeFLii . Then on February 7, 2014, "Still Callin'"

1372-435: The album’s potential is stunted by casualness eventually blending with complacency over the course of 16 songs. If Pusha T just came out with My Name Is My Name as the “conscious dopeboy,” then Dom's the conscious hedonist—his strengths lying in candor and an unfiltered stream of consciousness that makes him a storyteller not over-telling his story." Max Weinstein of Vibe gave the album a positive review, saying "That’s just

1421-405: The attention of listeners. The subsequent single might then be slower in tempo, in order to demonstrate the range of the album. Female vocalists like Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera often maintain a formula of an up-tempo first lead single with a slow ballad follow-up. For example, two singles were released by Miley Cyrus before her album Bangerz – an up-tempo track, " We Can't Stop ",

1470-429: The city he proudly represents: With The Original Dom Kennedy , it was a time for me to take a stand in music. The way we grew up and our lifestyle, being kids from the inner city of Los Angeles. I just felt like that was missing. Kennedy also took a personal stance in the mixtape against major hip hop DJ and producer Funkmaster Flex . On his song "The Homies", Kennedy takes shots at Flex's disparaging remarks regarding

1519-475: The end of summer. Really, I’m sticking to my plan. We’re looking to sell it independently to iTunes and Best Buy. That’s where it’s going to be. We’re looking at an official date, and when we have to turn it in and all that, we just got that info we’ve been waiting on." On August 28, 2013, he announced that the album would be released on October 1, 2013. On September 5, 2013, the music video was released for "South Central Love". On September 18, 2013, he announced that

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1568-460: The fact that by simply listening to their music, he could feel a sense of where they were from. With his music, Kennedy does the same thing, bringing the feel of the inner city streets of L.A. to anyone willing to listen. In an interview with Hip Hop DX, Kennedy talks about the influence behind the L.A. sound in his music: If anything, and I can only speak for myself, I think that I’m trying to do it like DJ Quik did it, or Ice Cube did it, but this

1617-600: The late California rapper Tupac Shakur : "Shit I heard Funk Flex say that Pac ain't shit/ and I hope when you see him that he slap your mouth/" In 2011, Kennedy performed at premier film festival South by Southwest 's Music Matters Show in Albuquerque, New Mexico . The show was hosted by cable entertainment network Black Entertainment Television . Both his performance and that of East Coast rapper J. Cole 's were featured online by major, hip hop music magazine The Source (magazine) . Kennedy performed his first show outside of

1666-406: The more people you meet, the more stories you hear, it’s like the little things become big, and the things you think are big become little. You know what I’m saying? Material things like that become smaller; relationships, dedication, sacrifices and leaving a real legacy become more important. This is the album that I always wanted to make. If I were a kid and I was looking at me, I would say that this

1715-490: The morning to do it to get it all out. It's probably my favorite song I’ve ever written. It might not be my favorite Dom Kennedy song ever, but it's definitely the best song I’ve ever written. A lot of it is more like poetry to melodic and hard Rap beats. And I feel like, in the context of that, the writing on there is great. It's great quality writing. I would compare it more to a book, an audio book, than an album, you know? It's more traditional. I’m talking more about my life than

1764-474: The movement, but he has proven with Get Home Safely that he’s one of the ambassadors of the New West." It was positioned at number 12 on XXL ' s list of the best albums of 2013. They elaborated saying, "Dom Kennedy’s Get Home Safely continued to solidify his place in the rap game with feel-good anthems that transport you to the sunny streets of L.A. Entailing features from Ty Dolla $ ign and Nipsey Hu$ $ le,

1813-404: The perils and pleasures of his past while boasting about the current exploits of a cool kid from urban America. While this tried-and-true formula should have been safe, the record gets tied up in its pretentiousness, as Dom doles out shout-outs and speeches on interludes, suggesting some sort of triumph — a bold façade to dress up this shallow, misdirected collection." Christian Mordi of XXL gave

1862-448: The sophomore album made waves in the hip-hop community." Complex ranked the album at number 48, on their list of the 50 best albums of 2013. They commented saying, "He isn't attempting to wow anyone with rhyme schemes, instead opting to use his skills to tell the story of the L.A. neighborhood that he holds dear to his heart. Get Home Safely comes a year after his critically acclaimed free project, The Yellow Album , and it continues in

1911-443: The thing about Get Home Safely —look too deep and you might get what you wished for, which isn’t a whole lot. Even the album’s name sets out the mission of the music: to return you to your secure cocoon. Dom doesn’t want to challenge or confuse you; he just wants to make you happy. Those looking for a little flare and intensity to their music might want to opt for West Coast cousins like Nipsey, YG, or Bad Lucc, but if Dom’s music weaves

1960-469: The track "Notorious Dom" (25th Hour) and Best I Ever Had on the track "Best You Never Had" (Best After Bobby) . South by Southwest reports major music executive John Monopoly as saying "He is going to get signed". In 2011, Kennedy was recognized as one of the leading artist in a new wave of West coast hip hop artist. Dom Kennedy is known for his laid back flow, wordplay and unique storytelling. Lead single A lead single (or first single )

2009-604: The up-tempo criteria. Artists may release a lead single that has a message they want to convey to listeners instead of a song with more commercial potential, such as Fall Out Boy who chose to release " This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race " over the radio-friendly " Thnks fr th Mmrs ". Japanese artists such as Ayumi Hamasaki , Namie Amuro and B'z may release four to eight singles before their albums to achieve record-breaking debut-week sales. The lead singles in Japan are very heavily advertised and promoted, in some cases even more than

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2058-446: The vein of that project: vintage-sounding production (courtesy of producers The Futuristiks ) behind Dom's cool, conversational flow. Rhymes about people, places and products that mean something to him." The album debuted at number 23 on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 10,000 copies in the United States. Dom Kennedy Dominic Ross Hunn (born August 22, 1984), better known by his stage name Dom Kennedy ,

2107-612: Was born on August 22, 1984, in Los Angeles, California. In an interview with music media outlet IMFlashy, Kennedy describes his childhood growing up as "normal". After his parents' divorce, Kennedy moved with his mother to Leimert Park . Kennedy played baseball to get out of the inner city to stay safe and out of trouble. He also played basketball everyday from the age of five to the age of 16. Upon graduating from Santa Monica High School , Kennedy enrolled in Santa Monica College ,

2156-557: Was featured in Kehlani 's song "Nunya" from her mixtape, While We Wait . He also appeared in the song's music video, which was released on February 20, 2019. In 2014 Dom Kennedy signed Los-Angeles based rap group, Warm Brew to his independent-label OPM. Kennedy is often heard proclaiming his hometown rep one liner "Leimert Park what's cool". As a kid, Kennedy describes himself as being highly influenced by artists such as " The Notorious B.I.G. , Outkast , 2Pac , and LL Cool J " through

2205-481: Was kind of where I saw myself in the world. I always hoped I could be an entrepreneur, you know I guess, but thats the aspirations of many people but I just felt like if I was going to learn about anything I might as well learn about structures of corporations, or at least find out everyone's job." Working with his cousin Jason Madison, Kennedy released his debut mixtape album 25th Hour in 2008, instantly producing

2254-642: Was released as the first, and a slow-ballad song, " Wrecking Ball ", as the second. This was a successful practice of 1980s heavy metal bands. Girls Aloud chose to use " The Show ", a dance-pop and electropop song, as their lead single for their second album, What Will the Neighbours Say? , following the fact that their previous singles from their debut album Sound of the Underground were "quite down and moody" according to band member Cheryl . However, not all artists decide to choose their lead single with

2303-403: Was released for digital download as the album's lead single . Get Home Safely was met with generally positive reviews from music critics . Steven Goldstein of HipHopDX gave the album three out of five stars, saying "Dom Kennedy is the genre’s ambassador for not trying too hard, and Get Home Safely stands out in 2013 for refusing to force anything. It also doesn’t challenge itself much, and

2352-486: Was released on March 19, 2013. The first single off it is " Suit & Tie ", released two months before the album hit stores. One month before the release of the album, another single called " Mirrors " was released. Katy Perry released " California Gurls " as a single on May 7, 2010, and " Teenage Dream " on July 23, 2010, leading to the release of the album Teenage Dream on August 24, 2010. Ed Sheeran did something similar, releasing both " Shape of You " and " Castle on

2401-467: Was the greatest person that ever happened [laughs]. That’s how it would really go down. But that’s not what I wanted. That’s not real. It’s a process. So knowing that, people are obviously going to know that it’s me. People are going to know that it’s good because I’ve made good songs before, but the level of this, they’ve probably never heard. We worked really hard. I had a lot of top-level people around me producing…people that really know instruments. We took

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