Who Is Dominic Lord?

He's obsessed with Grimes, his video for "Pierce" is dope, and his Fashion Show EP is unconventional. Is the 19-year-old Harlem rapper on to something?

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Complex Original

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Even at 19, Dominic Lord knows what he wants and when he wants it. His manager, Steven Victor, says he's had issues with engineers not understanding or translating his thoughts, which is understandable. It's hard to follow his thought process, at times. He has gotten some studio work done, though. Dominic just dropped his Fashion Show EP last month after gaining attention for his "Pierce" video, which inspired a remix with Pusha T and Grimes.

Dominic was formerly A$AP Dom, but since starting his music career less than a year ago, he's no longer associated with A$AP Mob. He got his start by designing clothes, because for him, fashion comes before music and he's "not just wearing that shit," he's "making it." Dominic brings his love for fashion into his music, videos, and his songwriting process, which he says is quick.

His debut has producers like Hudson Mohawke, Chad Hugo and Madd Matt. There are a number of self-produced tracks, including a Mozart-sampling track, "Mozart, Go," and an uptempo synth-pop anthem, "Message Failure," which he wants featured in an iPhone commercial in the near future.

In order to find out just who is Dominic Lord, we had him come through the Complex offices where we he sat down to speak on growing up in Harlem, listening to Styles P with his brother, his fashion obsession, the deal with A$AP Mob, and his thoughts on the production behind Fashion Show.

As told to Lauren Nostro (@LAURENcynthia)

RELATED: Listen To Dominic Lord's Fashion Show EP

Growing Up in Harlem

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"I grew up in a Harlem and then I moved to Maryland in my second year of high school. It was right for the time because I probably could have went two different ways. Being in Harlem, I probably wouldn’t have had the focus on my fashion, the music. It probably would have trumped over. I’m still street but I still have these elements that are more than that, so I don’t have to rely on that shit as much because I removed myself from it. 


 

Being in Harlem, I probably wouldn’t have had the focus on my fashion, the music. It probably would have trumped over. I’m still street but I still have these elements that are more than that, so I don’t have to rely on that shit as much because I removed myself from it.

"It was me, my mother and my older brother, his name is Nicholas and he goes by Saint Nick. We were really tight. My mother held it down. She worked and she came home and provided for her kids. She did a lovely job.

"It was just a regular Harlem childhood. You hear dice games and you might hear some shots, but it’s all cool. It’s love. I liked when I used to go to sleep at night, I used to hear a lot of sirens. I like all that shit. When I moved to Maryland, it was a little more quiet. Even if it was loud, it was quiet because Harlem is really loud.

"In elementary school, my brother used to take me to school every day. My brother was 14 or 15 and he would tie bandanas around my head to the side and shit. He used to pick me up, we used to only wear the white ones and black ones. I remember that was something we did. He used to walk with his hand on my head and that was real shit, and everybody know that. That’s how we were in Harlem.

"It was basically me and him. I didn’t have friends and shit, because he didn’t do that. I mean, I had friends, everybody was cool but it was more just me and my brother. He just taught me a lot of things, put me on music. He used to get slapped by my mother for listening to “I Get High” all the time, by Styles P. I fucks with that kind of shit, that’s shit I remember right now. My mother didn’t know that I was taking it in, too. He was smoking weed, like this nigga did all this shit that I’m doing now, but I just don't do it as fucking ruthless as him. It’s a different breed of me.


 

I honestly just really started doing music. When I was seven, I was thinking about real estate and modern structured buildings. I used to watch all types of crazy shit. I looked up to Donald Trump.


 

"I honestly just really started doing music. When I was seven, I was thinking about real estate and modern structured buildings. I used to watch all types of crazy shit. I looked up to Donald Trump when I was seven. I just wanted to have a lot of money. Cash, cash, cash. I would go outside and see dice games, people smoking weed, wow bitches, crazy shit. But then I would go in the crib at night and look at real estate shows and shit. So it was like I was getting the best of both worlds. I was thinking, 'Wow, why can't I go outside and I see that.'"

Getting Into Fashion Before Music

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"It was fashion. I liked looking good and had style when I was young. It was style like, “Yeah, this color pops.” I liked colors. I liked Mickey Mouse when I was young, I used to have a Mickey Mouse chain. We did all that kind of shit. My style developed and then I started to print t-shirts and do shit like that. I printed my first t-shirt in eighth grade.

"I started taking it seriously during my second year of high school, when I started to do something and started to get some stuff in stores. I got around, did that and now I’m just focused on going with my fashion in a different direction.


 

I just studied fashion. I used to watch Sundance Channel and they had Marc Jacobs on one time. He used to talk about a lot of things. Once I saw one thing and I fucked with it, maybe he said something and it made me look at things a different way.

"I just studied fashion. I used to watch Sundance Channel and they had Marc Jacobs on one time. He used to talk about a lot of things. Once I saw one thing and I fucked with it, maybe he said something and it made me look at things a different way. I always looked at things a different way but I just tacked that on. I like him. He’s an iconic figure.

"I wouldn’t say that I really look up to them because we’re both doing something and I’m liking it. I fuck with it. I look up to Albert Elbaz of Lanvin for a certain piece of work that made me look up to him but I don’t just look up to someone.

"The brands that I want to do, designing for some brands. I’d like to design for Supreme, now. I think I could do something for them now. I respect Albert Elbaz of Lanvin so much, I wouldn’t want to design for them, though. I would like to design for Ann Demeulemeester. And Dominic Lord.

"My style is that I’ll just wear a t-shirt and jeans, but I’ll be designing some other shit. I still take on that image, as well. You know how you might see a designer that designs a lot of intense clothing and then they have a t-shirt and jeans? That's it. Sometimes I like colors. But I wear all white." 

Musical Influences

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"I’m definitely inspired by Kanye West. We're definitely cool. You know how Graduation was him more rapping, like soul-rap? I always like Kanye because he never really does the same thing. 808s and Heartbreaksis my favorite album by him. I spent a lot of time with that album so the influence is definitely there. And I’m somebody that’s coming out of fashion. I’m not the guy that's like, 'Fuck everybody. I’m not influenced by shit.' Because even when you design clothes, these designers are influenced by music. 


 

808s and Heartbreaks is my favorite album by him. I spent a lot of time with that album so the influence is definitely there.

"I’m inspired by Jay, even Nas. My favorite album may be Ghetty Green by Project Pat. “Niggas Got Me Fucked Up,” that’s my favorite song. Of all-time? It might be “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” by Michael Jackson. I'm also a huge, huge supporter of Grimes.

"I’m willing to work with whoever wanna work with me. Chief Keef is one. I think our stuff, musically, could be dope. And age-wise too, it’s like young’ns that are really running shit. I wanna work with Phoenix, Le Roux, and Grimes. Working with Grimes is gonna happen ten times. She knows it. I know it, we both know it. We gonna hold that."

His Former Affiliation With A$AP Mob

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"Shout out to them. I’ve always been doing my own way. 


 

When another situation arises that doesn’t have nothing to do with no group out there, you handle it like a real man.


 

"I used to design clothes, so my work is out there. There’s no beef, there ain’t no threats. None of that shit. What I do now is what I was not doing when I was with them. I didn’t even think about making music, because I was designing. So, I was always a designer.

"So now, when another situation arises that doesn’t have nothing to do with no group out there, you handle it like a real man. Real nigga shit, that’s it. So now I just say, 'Shout outs,' we all good."

Starting To Make Music and His Fashion Show EP

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"I actually just started a few months ago. In February or March. That’s when I tested it. Before that, we all freestyled, just playing around. When I went in to make my first song, with an effort, it was February. 


 

I’m a creator so I would try my hand in a couple of things. But if I try it and I like it, then I’m just gonna go full-throttle with it.

"My brother started to push me. My managers, Steve, Shiv, those are people that I was fucking with, they just started to push me. I’m a creator so I would try my hand in a couple of things. But if I try it and I like it, then I’m just gonna go full-throttle with it. I really don’t remember where me and Steve met. It was downtown, we were in a club. I knew him though people and he knew me, so it was just like a click.

"At first, I really didn’t accept my voice on the tracks and then I started to do the distortion. It wasn’t like I wanted to make my songs distorted. It’s kind of funny because some people don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about. But I have to write the lyrics and shit.


 

I kind of make three types of music, to myself. “Pierce” would be the first type. The third type will really bring you up. "Pierce" is not really a down song, but you might feel different emotions. And that middle song, may be a song like "Message Failure.


 

"I kind of make three types of music, to myself. “Pierce” would be the first type. The third type will really bring you up. "Pierce" is not really a down song, but you might feel different emotions. And that middle song, may be a song like "Message Failure. See “Mozart, Go” that’s when I rap. When I’m really on some hip-hop rap. You know I sample Mozart on there, right? I was nervous as fuck when my mom listened to that song because, I knew what I was about to say. And then when I started saying, 'Bitch this,” heard all that, nothing changed. She was just looking at the laptop, just not even nodding her head. I was like, 'Ma, you fuck with that?' My brother was laughing. He's amping it up. My mother is just the best."

His Single "Pierce"

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"When I wrote that joint, it was like a fashion sketch to me. That's why I apply fashion to music. I don't really believe in spending 20,000 hours writing a song. Maybe if it calls for it. But if you get out that initial thought, then it's more real. Someone's long time might take someone a month to do something. It'll take me two days. Fashion shit happens fast. 


 

That's why I apply fashion to music. I don't really believe in spending 20,000 hours writing a song. Maybe if it calls for it. But if you get out that initial thought, then it's more real.

"I wrote "Pierce" in probably five minutes flat, and then recorded it in fifteen minutes. Then I had to edit it. I produce, so I go in and take sounds. I boosted it, you'll hear it. Hudson Mohawke did that beat, it was incredible. That was a blessing. That came through Steven Victor. Steven and Hudson are cool, and I got the beat and I loved the beat. I fucks with him OD.

"It has to be fresh. I haven’t heard anything that sounds like “Pierce.” When it came out, it was fresh, it was random. People gravitated towards it and the video’s incredible. I just appreciate it, I’m thankful for it. I’m thankful that I’ve landed on the blogs and stuff like that. I really don’t pay too much attention to anything else but the bigger picture. I love it though.


 

I haven’t heard anything that sounds like “Pierce.” When it came out, it was fresh, it was random. People gravitated towards it and the video’s incredible. I just appreciate it, I’m thankful for it.

"The video means a lot to me. It means many different things. I kind of take it as my real. I take it as an introduction to me. To me, it’s not actually a music video, it's a fashion project. That’s why I picked the fashions that way and then I altered things. It was just dope to see it, and it was inspired. It was like a homage.

"The video abruptly ends on 'Realize,' it’s just impactful, to just stop it at that. The abrupt stop wasn’t going on. I’m always thinking on some over-world shit, I’m adding different elements. Especially since it’s my first song, I didn’t want to give it away. It’s like your kids, I didn’t want to give it away. If I didn’t make music, I would of still done that video, but maybe I would’ve tried to design the fashions. So, in my coming videos, I’ll show more of what I wanna really show to express my songs."

Working With Pusha T

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"I think Pusha T is possessed, I’m about to start a campaign. He absolutely blacks out. When I first heard the remix to "Pierce," I was like, “Oh man.” He said, “It pierced my heart when they told that...” He just like went off. 


 

I just think Pusha T is a spokesperson for the weird motherfuckers and the dope boys, how that meshes. That’s why I wanted him to get on the "Pierce" remix, because it would be so unexpected.

"I just think he’s a spokesperson for the weird motherfuckers and the dope boys, how that meshes. That’s why I wanted him to get on there, because it would be so unexpected. He told me like, “Yo, hook it up, you do your vocals and shit. I want it to sound like that.

"I was impressed because now it’ll be dope for me, but it’s dope for you too because people were not expecting that you would even fuck with that.” I just think he’s possessed because everything else he blacks out on too. Everything else. I think he’s possessed because the way we talk sometimes, you see his eyes bugging out of his head when he freestyle. I met him and it was just cool. We both have the same manager but we’re not arm on shoulder every day together. I’ve seen him one time, he liked the song."

Working With Chad Hugo and Other Producers

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"Basically I like to work with a lot of engineers. I’m an engineering kind of guy, I like for them to interpret things and what I'm hearing in my head. I worked with Madd Matt, his real name is Matt Friedman, a lot on Fashion Show, just making the songs from scratch because I didn’t want to go into doing music with just songs and beats like, 'Send me some beats, I’m gonna lay it down.' When I hear something that’s dope and I gravitate towards that, I wanna work with that person or that piece or that producer. That’s why. We just make great shit together. 


 

Basically I like to work with a lot of engineers. I’m an engineering kind of guy, I like for them to interpret things and what I'm hearing in my head.

"I wanted to learn how to do production, so I really worked with tempos and drums, sound by sound. So those songs took me ten hours a piece. I was like, 'Alright, it’s taken me ten hours and I’m making it from scratch. I’m tired as fuck but I can do this.'

"I worked with Chad Hugo. Chad is crazy. I really like Chad, he’s someone that I can really relate to over stuff and be excited about at the same time. He definitely blessed me with some stuff like a dope ass beat that he didn't think that I was gonna do. He was just getting on me about certain shit."

His Label, Dominic Lord Recordings

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"My music is like passages to me, so that’s just another style that I could do, as well. I discovered this guy from Germany, not like discovered him to the world or anything, I have nothing to do with that, but discovered him just to me. His name is Silkersoft, he’ll be popping around next year this time. 


 

When I started Dominic Lord Recordings, I was just starting out, I made my first song. I was like, 'Yo, I don’t even like it yet.' I was learning to like it. Now, I love my music and I got some songs and I’m stacking the bombs up and shit.


 

"His SoundCloud had like six people, it was on some real discovery shit. I heard every song and I fucked with it. He liked my music, I saw that he did a mix to “Pierce.” It was real low-key, it had like five views. We got cool with e-mail or whatever, and I ended up sending him more vocals and he sent me a raw beat. I started actually producing with him through e-mail.

"At the end of the track I was like, 'Yo, can you add a two second trap break? And can you add those birds?' We actually discussed the birds, he went out and put the microphone in the booth outside and used real birds outside. On the track, those sounds are real baby birds in the morning.

"Silkersoft is actually my artist, as well. He's the second one, I can't tell you about the first artist right now. I started Dominic Lord Recordings about three months ago roughly. I just wanted to sign myself because I wasn’t looking for no major label deal at that time, none of that. I was just making cool music and I would just show what I wanna show. I was gonna blend my fashion with it.

"When I started Dominic Lord Recordings, I was just starting out, I made my first song. I was like, 'Yo, I don’t even like it yet.' I was learning to like it. Now, I love my music and I got some songs and I’m stacking the bombs up and shit. Now that I'm looking at signing to a label, I want anyone that will let me create what I want to create. The details will iron out as I go on, I’m not rushing anything. But, I just like to create my shit. If someone is interested in helping me create it on a higher scale, it wouldn’t hurt. I have no worries."

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