Dom Kennedy Brings The Westside To Houston
Written by Joshua Braggs on April 2, 2025
On Monday, March 24th 2025, Los Angeles Rapper, Dom Kennedy, brought his LA buddies, Brodie Fresh, Casey Veggies, DJ Goofy, and Allyn with him to perform at House of Blues Houston. The doors opened at 7pm and fans waited as they were prepared to have a good night. Before Dom took the stage, LA rapper Casey Veggies made sure the crowd was ready as he opened for Dom Kennedy. Casey performed classic hits from his catalogue like “Tied Up” and “Beats, H*es, and Rhymes.” Later during the set he did a tribute performance to his longtime friend and rapper Mac Miller in which he performed their collab song ”America.” He had the crowd rocking and even more hyped for the main act. After Casey exited the stage, DJ Goofy took the time to setup and played a couple songs to get the crowd prepared for Dom Kennedy. With no long DJ intermission needed, it was time for the main attraction to come out and give the house the blues. The lights started to dim down, the stage lighting was dark blue, and all I could see on the projecter with a black background and white letters spelling out ”Dom Kennedy”. DJ Goofy told the crowd the make some noise for Dom Kennedy and the crowd went crazy.
The needle dropped, and the first note of the song DJ Goofy played, the crowd lost it. They knew what it was instantly. It was at that moment, they knew Dom is coming on stage to open up with his classic from his Mixtape, ”From The Westside With Love, II” song, ”Platinum Chanel”. The first line of song was played and all I can hear was his west coast LA accent as he walking on stage wearing an all black jumpsuit with his real name ”Dominic” spelled across the suit. The crowd was in a for an unforgettable night.
Dom Kennedy By Joshua Braggs for Coog Radio.
Throughout the show, Dom Kennedy performed classics from his mixtape eras from “Yellow Album” to “Get Home Safely.” He did a great job capturing the nostalgic feeling of what it was like listening to him for the first time ever back in the day. Which is what I went through reminiscing around 2013-2015 era when my older sister had her first car in high school and bumping nothing but Nipsey Hussle and Dom Kennedy everyday while younger me was mesmerized by the two artist. That’s what I got from watching him perform “We Ball” featuring Kendrick Lamar off his classic mixtape “Yellow Album” at the show. After he performed a couple songs, he took a quick break to talk to his fans and expressing how much the city of Houston means to him. An unreal moment happened to me while I was photographing his set. I was at the front close to the stage after doing the three-song rule (If you know, you know) and I was in the moment of shooting Dom from all angles. He noticed I was wearing “The Marathon Clothing” shirt that said “Crenshaw” on the front and acknowledged me from the stage. He gave me some words of encouragement related to my photography job and loved what I had on. I gave him a fist pump and he gave me a fist pump back. That made the show in my opinion even more impressive and engaging.
Dom Kennedy By Joshua Braggs for Coog Radio.
Close to the ending of the show, he dedicated this one particular song to two of his family that passed away, his cousin and the late great Nipsey Hussle. The song was called “Double Up” off of Nipsey Hussle 2018 album called “Victory Lap” which featured Dom Kennedy and Belly on the song. He played the whole song through as the whole crowd sung it word for word and bar for bar all in unison. Then, to cap off the amazing performance he put on, he closed out to another song that featured Nipsey Hussle called “Pleeze” that was off of Dom’s 2013 mixtape “Get Home Safely” which was a great way to end the show.
Overall, Dom and his openers did a good job and pulled off a great performance on brining Los Angeles to Houston. He knows how much Houston loves west coast music and Houston knows how much they love Dom. You can stay in the loop with Dom Kennedy and his tour on Instagram: @dopeitsdom
