LIVE: Dom Kennedy at the Howard Theatre

Photos: Victoria Ford/Sneakshot

The fact that Dom Kennedy is not a household name is one that is truly baffling. The innards for stardom are all there. He has the charisma, the drive, the catchy hooks, and a distinct ability to make music that is easy to digest and even easier to relate to. His show at the Howard Theatre was proof enough that his buzz is continuing to grow, bringing him one step closer to evading the dreaded “one hit away” Memphis Bleek curse. On Wednesday night, Dom treated the DC crowd to his latest offering The Yellow Album. With this being his 7th independent project, Dom has amassed a catalog of “hits” and he wasted no time giving the crowd exactly what they came to hear.

With little to no introduction, Dom stormed out to summertime classic “Grindin”  before switching gears to cover his most recent material, the more laidback and synthy sounds of the Yellow Album. The crowd rapped along word for word to "We Ball" “Been Thuggin”, “ Girls on Stage” and “So Elastic” but it was “My Type of Party” and “Gold Alpinas” that were easily the crowd favorites. Taking a break between sets, Dom allowed his OPM crew to perform a few cuts from their latest mixtape Young Nation.

While the response wasn’t as live as Dom’s material, OPM member Jay 305, stirred the crowd up with his UGK-esqe “Youzza Flip”. Dom returned shortly after to bring a female on stage to perform “The Ways”. That was followed by songs from his older projects like “CDC”, “When I Come Around”, “1997” and the extremely smooth “Designer Shit”. Ironically enough, for an artist that has built a catalog of impressive laid back “Cali Cruising” music, at times he was so passionate about the performance, he was literally yelling his lyrics. I’m going to say it now, Dom is a star and 2013 will be his breakout year. If the Yellow Album Tour stops near your city, go check him out.