[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]he Koreatown Oddity is back.
This L.A. native rapper and producer is teasing details of his forthcoming album, Little Dominique's Nosebleed, which will be released on Stones Throw Records in June. Also known as Dominique Purdy, the artist describes his new album as "The Boondocks" on shrooms. It sounds appropriate for the surreal times we all find ourselves in. A unique voice in the LA scene, The Koreatown Oddity's music has always come from a deeply personal place, refracted through the eyes of someone in touch with his deep roots in the city but also with his connections to his ancestors, friends, and inspirations.
The new record tells the origin story of Koreatown Oddity's supernatural powers and spiritual awakening, the results of two car accidents that occurred in his childhood while growing up in Koreatown. The first song he's shared is "Weed in L.A.," a tune that explores the contradictions inherent in a changing city. Dominique has made an ode to weed before, the chill ganja anthem Bless the Trees with the late Ras G, but this is not that. This song is about gentrification, the changing city, and ignorance of injustice that is common in America. In the Oddity's own words:
“I’ve seen so much change in Koreatown & LA since I was a kid but the ghosts of all my memories still live in the city, everywhere I go no matter how different it looks as if it was still exactly the same. Though I know it isn’t.
“The legalization of weed in LA is symbolic of how much the city has changed. Weed is all good now but alotta people were arrested and put in bad situations before it was legal here. My memories are so strong that I still see the city through the lens of my childhood.”
“So for me it don't mean a thing cause me & my niggas been twistin' trees without all them tax fees.”
You can listen to this song on all major streaming platforms, as well as another album cut called "Attention Challenge," which is embedded below.
