The Koreatown Oddity: "My Time Has Arrived"
Written by Nathan Evans
The Koreatown Oddity is here to claim his dividends. His latest project, Little Dominiques Nosebleed, is a livewire album that dives into a wellspring of out-of-the-common concepts for storytelling and its projection. It sits right at home on the Stone’s Throw label, as his matter-of-fact assertions are paired with abstract, grainy and rakish instrumentals that only strengthen that oddball aesthetic of his. Born Dominique Purdy, the LA-based artist is keen to present himself across on this album, too. After numerous beat tapes and projects under the guise of a wolf mask, he is finally letting the world know who Dominique is.
From first impressions of the artist, he is someone that pays just as much attention to his blasé side and, as a part-time stand-up comedian, his jokester side. I would be tempted to compare him to experimental rap group Injury Reserve in that regard; from the way he drapes a tongue-in-cheek “oh wooooooord?” over the hook of lead single ‘Weed In LA’, to the first answer to this interview, he is uninhibited in marching to the beat of his own (sometimes very obtuse) drum, without ever letting slip that there is still a craft to his style.
What does Little Dominiques Nosebleed represent to you?
You remember how in The Matrix when Neo and Trinity go to save Morpheus? Neo is fighting one of those Agent dudes and sees their punches coming at him real slow to the point he only uses one arm to defend himself. Then later Neo stops a bullet in mid-air by calmly saying, "Stop". That’s where I am at right now.
To me, it’s a pretty fast-paced album. Did it take long to write these songs?
Really? Fast-paced? That’s interesting, I haven't heard that perspective yet so far. Well, I write all my songs in my head so they kinda cook up in my mind at their own pace depending on the situation. I started working on this album fall of 2017. Some songs came right outta my mind immediately and others brewed slowly throughout the process of building the productions.
You really use your feature guests in interesting ways, I want to say that Sudan Archives is playing your mum on ‘Little Dominiques Nosebleed, Pt. 1’?
Lmao!!! Nah, Sudan is singing on the first half of the song, "Once Upon a time in Los Angeles there was a booooooyyyyyy". The part you are speaking of is my real mom! When my mom recorded that I told her to go back to the day of the accident in her mind and just react to what happened and how she felt at the time. She recorded that part in one take.
That makes a bunch more sense. Your subject matter as well is pretty left-of-centre, like on 'Koreatown Oddity' where you rap about the different names you've been given over the years, where do you find the inspiration to rap about unusual topics such as these?
You think that’s unusual, go to my Instagram page, I have a whole song about my baby momma’s breast milk. On ‘Koreatown Oddity’, I’m talking about being in the LA Riots in 1992 as an 8-year-old kid riding round, looting with my mom and her friend Terry with the Jheri Curl. All the sh*t I rap about is from my real life. That’s my inspiration.
On 'Chase the Spirit', what spirit are you chasing?
Chasing the spirit is something that is a journey, not a destination or an entity.
Does sprituality play a big role in your life?
Spirituality has been big in my life ever since God told me when I was a kid that I would be an important instrument in a larger composition.
For other inspirations, what albums and artists were you listening to for inspiration for this album? You reference Ice Cube and James Brown… Ice T and Grandmaster Caz in your recent Instagram installation [@little_dominiques_nosebleed] too.
I’m always listening to music every day because I’m into buying records. I could be listening to some Square Dancing, Afrobeat, Ranchera, any f*cking thing back to back at any moment. My life & LA is my inspiration. On my Insta Installation page you speaking on, all that stuff is from my life. My mom in a picture with Ice Cube, Polaroids she took of Ice T and Grandmaster Caz. It’s all from my life. It’s to give you a frame of reference on things I cover on the album.
There are so many comedic moments on here, like when you said the game needs resetting and then cuts to you taking out the cartridge and blowing on it.
Sh*t, if you ever had a Nintendo or played one at someone’s crib then you know sometimes you gotta blow on the cartridge when the game is f*cking up. If you were already so far in the game and now gotta start from the beginning, you might be like “f*ck it, I quit for today”. The album reflects my personality as well as my story.
As a former stand-up comedian, is it better on stage as a comedian or a musician? How are the two different?
Well, I’m not a former stand up comedian, I just honestly didn’t feel like I had sh*t to give the game for a minute. I just do it when I want. So I still am in my eyes. Comedians and musicians are like cousins, that’s why there are alot of funny musicians and some musical comedians. When you’re doing stand up, it’s just you on stage with a mic and your voice. If people are not reacting, then there is silence or just your words. It’s kinda like skateboarding. You gotta be willing to fall alot to get good. Music is dope because you don’t even have to speak sometimes. You might be just playing some beats or a keyboard or some sh*t and you can just let your music speak. So neither is better for me, they are both equally a part of me.
The track 'Weed In LA' is one of the singles from the project, and to me, it seems like a meditation on the change going on in the city. Could you go into more detail on how you think LA has changed over the years?
I don’t even know where to start, but for one, our train system is much more developed so that’s a good change. The gentrification part is really whack though. It’s like the architects that create stuff to replace these classic 40s, 50s, 70s or 80s-designed apartment buildings that were so cool, [they] just want sh*t to look as stiff as possible. Alot of the apartment buildings that I lived in growing up got torn down and either replaced with some corny sh*t or just left as a parking lot.
You describe your album as "raw cassette tape hip hop sh*t". And earlier on, you released some beat tapes in the strict 'A side / B side' format of a cassette. What is the reason behind your obsession for cassettes?
When I was in junior high and high school we always recorded sh*t on tapes. We recorded prank calls, music, all kinda sh*t. I just have so many great memories with the format. Just raw, not giving a f*ck, having fun and listening back to it later cracking up laughing. The first time I listened to hip hop was on a tape. It’s just always been in my life like a cool older brother.
What do you want to see more of in hip hop?
Imma keep it 100. I’m trying to get MY sh*t out there more. I want motherf*ckas to start paying attention to all my sh*t. I feel like I carved my own lane different than anyone out currently. There is representation in the culture for a plethora of styles and now my time has arrived to impact the culture in a new but familiar way.