Where You At? Domino

Domino Y’all! Domino the rapper, not the producer from Hieroglyphics, or the game Dominos, duh. If you ain’t heard, long ago (1993-94) there was once a rapper named Domino who was tearing up the charts. You might know him from the Notorious B.I.G. line "Here we go, here we go, but I'm not Domino" (okay, maybe not). Anyway, this was a time when the West Coast dominated hip hop. 2Pac, Too $hort, and Eazy-E all had albums in the top five (“Strictly…”, “Get In Where You Fit In” and “It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa”* respectively). “Doggy Style” by Snoop Dogg was the talk of everybody’s town.  It was a good time for rap, a bad time for parents.

Domino’s hit song “Ghetto Jam” climbed the charts and eventually knocked Babyface out of the number #4 spot. It was Domino’s first and biggest hit (ever). Today the song sounds a bit dated, but take my word for it: it was amazing in 1994. Domino struck everyone with his melodic flow and his capable rhymes (Think Bone Thugs slowed down and understandable). Shoot, what more is there to say, here is the song:

Not bad right? Well, maybe kind if bad now, but in 1993 it was playing on all the tapedecks. So I heard this song and of course I bought the full album (called “Domino”) as soon as I could despite warnings from my friends that it was “crappy”. It wasn’t crappy at all (it wasn’t great either, just pretty good) I don't think I regretted my purchase, but I do know that the other albums listed above got a lot more spins (maybe not the Too $hort album, but Snoop and Eazy...thousands). So here’s another typical Domino song, this time it’s Domino’s in the House from “The Show Soundtrack”:

Not good right? Exactly. See how that happened? The career went from okay to bad.

But who was this guy Domino? Well, he was a crip from Long Beach who worked on the terrible Bloods & Crips project. He gained some critical praise for his skills (apparently) and his constant reminders to practice safe sex. Yep, he rapped about that A LOT. Good! Well, more weird than good, but still good. He had a few other hits like Sweet Potato Pie, Tales from the Hood, Like That  and others. His second album “Physical Funk” didn’t make quite the same impact as the first (I bought it and was greatly disappointed), and then there were two super flop albums (“The World of Dominology” and “Remember Me”) then his final album “D-Freaked It” came out in 2001 and was only picked up by his family. Career over.

D Freaked In Indeed

So where is Domino now? Where you at? Where you at, Domino?

You’ll be glad to know that your friend Domino is still making music! Plus he got promoted to OG! He will now be formally addressed as OG Domino on some of his album covers. He’s had a bunch of albums drop in the last few years: “Getto”, “Mr. Melodocious”, and “Domination”. Not to mention a 2008 single called My Turf featuring none other than Snoop Dogg (geez, that guy shows up everywhere). Let's check it out: It's HERE!

Eh? Bad. That camera sound is LOUD. Cheese! Click! And it's just too much laid back melodic rapping and too much Camera Sounds. Click! I couldn't catch anything that he was saying. Click! My Turf. Cheese! Snoop's verse! Well, that was really bad!


There are other songs, but seriously, who's going to listen to them? Nobody.


Well, his latest post on mySpace says that his mood is "good", so at least he has that going for him!


My Turf Score: 0/10

*“It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa” is possibly the best album title ever, call the Smithsonian and have them log it under "American Classic Album Cover Names A-Z"!