Fat Dom on 'Spent All My Energy' EP & Still Being Slept On
When you're in the grind, it's easy to get sidetracked with all the distractions and obstacles that pop up the minute you commit to your goals and decide on doing whatever it takes to achieve them. You can't put in anything less than your all, unless you like wasting time and going in circles, if anywhere at all. Simply put, you've got to Spend All Your Energy on getting what's your's.
LA's Fat Dom gets it 100%, as evidenced in his hustle, humbleness and new EP, 'Spent All My Energy.' Dropping tomorrow May 21st, S.A.M.E. is a relatively short project, filled with dope sounds best described by Fat Dom as "Vibrant Trap." Although the project drops in a little less than 24 hours, that still gives you time to learn more about Fat Dom, his inspiration, aspirations and what the hell Vibrant Trap is in the first place. So, read up below and follow that up with a short video at the end (The Interrogation of Fat Dom) for a further look into his life. Only on Hype Off Life 👊🏾
Thanks for coming through to Hype Off Life How do you incorporate your Jamaican background into your music?
I incorporate my Jamaican background into my music just by staying connected with my roots. My family instilled a lot of wisdom into me and certain morals. So, I just try to take the discipline and all the wisdom they gave me. Like, I grew up in a real struggle and grew up being talked to differently, eating different foods... So, you know, my project is called 'Spent All My Energy.' I tried to make sure I spent all my energy and let everybody know these are my roots, this is my struggle, this is what I came from, But, it's still beautiful and I can still relate to everybody, even though I'm from a Jamaican background.
When did you get into Hip Hop and know it was in you?
I got into Hip Hop when I was young, just Moms cleaning the house and always playing some Hip Hop, some Reggae and whatnot. When I got to high school, I made my first song. I called it "Hot Wings." Everybody in the school was kind of lauging, but they were vibing. But, at the time I'm like, "Nah, they're going to take me serious," you know? Like I want to be the best. I want to be legendary. And that's when I just really started appreciating the art and becoming a student and making sure I really honed my craft.
"If you're waiting for the perfect time to do something, it might not even still go how you want it to go."
I saw your video, the interrogation video and noticed you mentioned that they didn't take you seriously. Why do you think that was?
Just because you come from the struggle, you might not look a certain way. I don't look like the normal rapper that got the jewelery on, wearing Gucci or Louis. I just looked like a regular dude, but then I'm trying to do something beyond me. So, I think it was just more so like, "OK, he's really serious." But, I made a song called "Hot Wings" and I was a big dude. So, it was like, "OK, you made a song referencing to food?" Then I was like, let me just take it seriously and really give everybody my story.
What state of mind, where you in when you decided you wanted to be just more than a local artist.
When I realized being local is just going to keep me in the same mindset and I realized there are people that's in Europe, people that's in Japan, people that's in all parts of the world that can relate to my music, just like how everybody locally can. Because just how I might have a hardship or a family issue or a personal problem, there's somebody that's across the state or across the country that has the same issue.
So, I want it to become global. That way I can motivate and inspire. A quote by Nipsey that he quoted somebody else with was, "one of the highest human acts is to inspire." So, I'm just really here to motivate and inspire as many people as I can along my journey.
I know you took a brief hiatus. Why did you feel the need to step away for a bit?
I took this hiatus because I really wanted to know myself. Basically, in the industry that we're going into everybody's just trying to be famous and being famous is nothing but the world knowing who you are. So, like Hype Off Life, y'all are famous to me right now because I know who y'all are and I've been paying attention to you guys.
So, after this interview, I'm assuming y'all are going to know who I am as well. So, I wanted to make sure I knew exactly who I was - all my strengths, all my weaknesses - before I give myself to the world. Because when giving yourself to the world, you've got to be in a real vulnerable position to do something. So, I just wanted to make sure I knew myself so I don't lose myself when I finally get there.
Yeah, I feel you. I'm always taking steps back. [Laughs]
No, it's all good. You've got to make sure everything is right. You want to be a perfectionist. You want to make sure everything is perfect You want to make sure yourself is perfect, you look a certain way.
But, then I had to realize like there's never a perfect time for anything. If you're waiting for the perfect time to do something, it might not even still go how you want it to go. So, now I'm grateful I have people like Anita, Vic and everybody that was in my corner helping me put 'Spent All My Energy' together. It was really a blessing for me.
Speaking of 'Spent All My Energy.' What's the meaning behind it's title?
Spent All My Energy is basically an acronym that's saying "I'm the same person as you." I've been through the excitement. Like I said, I've been through the depression, I've been through the low finances, I've been through thinking you 'bout to blow up where everything is going to go perfect and the next day having your whole plan fallout. But, you're spending all your energy just to do that.
You're spending all your energy in positive places. Like before, I had a lot of negativity going on. So, I decided, "alright, let me organize and strategize how I'm going to go about everything." But, I'm going to spend all my energy in the right places. So, I'm going to spend all my energy on music. All my energy on marketing. All my energy on branding, and all my energy on everything that comes with being a true artist and being in the element of my dreams and my passion.
Do you read a lot?
Yeah, I read. I don't watch TV. You know what I'm saying? I'm on social media just to be aware of what's current and what's relevant, but I read a lot. I try to always elevate my mind. I'm still in school right now. I'm part-time in school, part-time working, and trying to just be a full-time artist, so I can get to that platform to where I can inspire and motivate and just take the wisdom that I received and give it to everybody else.
Yeah, I feel you. That school-work life balance is no joke. I was doing that for a minute.
You know what I'm saying? And then trying to keep your ambition on 100 just to chase your dreams... I tip my hat off to you and everybody else that's doing that because people don't see what you're doing behind the scenes. They just see what you allow them to see, you know? But, it's a lot of work that's being done behind the scenes and it's a lot of emotions you go through. Where you go, "Do I even want to keep going, do I want to quit?" And then you find that ambition to keep going. Why? Because you're slept on. You don't have the Hype yet. You know what I'm saying? It's a journey, it's a road and I love it.
Do you feel you're still being slept on?
Oh yeah, definitely. In a way, because I'm just so talented. But luckily, like I said, I came across Anita and I came across Vic and they really helped me as far as keeping me calm, keeping me motivated and knowing everything takes time and everything's going to happen in due time. It's going to happen when it's supposed to happen.
I finally stopped caring about getting instant validation or getting instant reciprocation of my energy. So, I'm good right now. Being slept on is what's keeping my hunger alive, what's keeping me making these bangers and these records and all this dope sh*t that's to come. So, I kind of like being slept on. It gives me that chip on my shoulder, to keep that hunger alive.
What type of sounds can we expect to hear on S.A.M.E.?
I feel like I made a whole new genre of music, I call it Vibrant Trap. It has a trap feel to it as far as production, to show vibrancy. It's like Tribe Called Quest or like West Coast Biggie, you feel me? But I have some harmonies in there to where you're really going to feel like, "Damn, this dude is really giving you his heart. He really love what he does." You feel me?
I'm not the best singer ever, but I'm in pocket. I'm fasho show doing my thing. I'm swaggin', I'm singing, I'm rapping, I'm doing whatever it takes to make the song and get my story across. So, I think Vibrant Trap is the best way to explain the music genre that you're about to hear. It's a vibe and it will provoke your thoughts.
What's the overall message you want listeners to take away from it?
I want my listeners to take away that life ain't easy. It's never going to get easy. You're only gonna get better to make it a little bit smoother for you. Everybody's going through the same thing. Nobody's better than the next person. Nobody's showing their failures, they're only showing their successes. So, spend all your energy, all your time on doing what makes you happy, what you love and what's going to give you overall peace and harmony within yourself.
I felt like for me, it was my music. That was my escape and I feel like in doing so hopefully, I can inspire and motivate somebody to go 100 miles per hour with their passion and their love just like I did. Because I'm in the struggle still, but it's beautiful to me because I'm able to create the art that I'm able to create right now.
After 11 years of honing your craft, what's the biggest lesson you've learned?
To not overthink and not to take anything personal, be more open, have more trust, and everything is going to work out how it's supposed to work out. Because when you want to do something so much or you love something so much, you want everything to go your way. You want everything to happen on your time. So, I'm learning to go with the flow and trust.
If you know you made the work, if you know you put in the grind and you put in the necessary action, just let everything play out how it's supposed to play out. And then, from there if you didn't get the results you were supposed to get put in some more work the next time. So, my only advice is just to keep going and never give up. Because the only difference between you and the next person is one person gave up and one person kept going. It's just a sense of believing in yourself and your confidence level. So, that's what I learned, just have confidence. Don't overthink though.
"There's never a perfect time for anything."
Yeah, I agree with you on that too. So, aside from going down as a legend. Where else do you see yourself in the future.
Once I get my college degree - I've got about a couple of units left - I just want to help as many artists as possible that might be going through contract issues. I want to help them represent themselves, as I represent myself. I want to do some investing and just really give back to the community. You feel me?
Cause everybody says they're gonna give back to where they came from, but I really want to give back to where I came from because essentially where I came from helped with my growth. So, I definitely see myself in the public helping with kids, helping the youth, creating programs and creating activities that push people towards their purpose and goals... helping people find out what they want to be when they get older.
That's real dope. Is there anything else you want us to know before you go?
Spent All My Energy, May 21st. I appreciate y'all. Hype Off Life y'all dope, and that's love. I appreciate the opportunity to be on your platform and to just share my story: Fat Dom. You know what I'm saying. And shoutout to Anita for being a vessel, putting this together, leading me to some dope people and being able to communicate with y'all.
