Dom Chronicles

The difference between Dominique Hall's debut album, last year's ATOMS, and this April's EP, Free Food, is hard to find at first. Hall, who performs as Dom Chronicles, still coats his raps in a fine layer of hazy beats, a sonic parallel to lyrics that often draw inspiration from weed and women.

But in nearly every track on Free Food, Hall seems determined to flesh out his interests. My energy and my chi is a true reflection of me, Hall announces over shimmering synths on "Goku." Ahead of Hall's RecordBar show Saturday night, I chatted with the 25-year-old about his next project and what he really wants to say.

The Pitch: You've mentioned working on new material since Free Food came out. What can you tell me about that?

Hall: Right now, I'm working on an album called Reality Makers, which will come out at top of the year in 2016. It's going to be all original production, no samples — I'm working on building my own production credits. I want to make something that's all the way me, which is also where the storyline [for Reality Makers] comes in. Basically, it's a story about a guy who's making his way through his city, and he's trying to come up as an artist — and that's me.

It sounds autobiographical. How much of your songwriting is invented and how much of it is real?

Everything I write relates to a purely personal experience, whether it's about girls I'm talking to or things that I'm doing or things I might have or things I'm trying to achieve — those are all real things. But I also have a spiritual side that most people really don't get to see, and part of it is explaining that, explaining what I really believe and my personal morals.

I think some people get the wrong idea about me because they think my music is all about weed or money and stuff like that, and they might not pick up those little lines that I put in my songs that show my spiritual side. With this next album, that's what I want to do. I want to express myself more, in a real and true way, because I hold back a lot.

You've been on the local label Indyground for just over a year. How has that affected your career?

Steddy P [rapper and label founder] gives me a lot of creative freedom, and it's really helped shape me as an artist as well as an adult. I don't have funding — I do everything myself and I pay for everything myself. So Steddy P has helped me create budgets and understand the financials of the business, to where I'm the one in charge of the money I get back and the money I spend. So really, it's all on me.

In some ways, Indyground is like a collective. I run things by them [the other artists on the roster], and we've all got creative input and we all share our music with each other before it's out. I think it's good to have multiple opinions because if I just went with what I thought all the time, my career wouldn't be where it's at. And I'm still learning more about that to this day. I've only been on the label for a year, and I feel like there are even more resources now.

On the other hand, being on a label — no matter how big or how small — raises expectations a bit. What are some of the challenges you've faced since signing?

There's plenty of things — really, the main thing for me is remembering it all. Before I got with Indyground, I wasn't very organized with a calendar. I just kind of did things. Indyground just makes me more marketable, but the business side of it can get complicated. There's always setbacks. Sometimes life just gets in the way, and that's why I feel like sometimes artists stop trying as hard because they feel like their lives aren't together.

Another big thing is just staying disciplined. I have to save a lot of money because when I go on tour, I can't work. I'm surviving solely off the music that I play on the road and the money I get from merch, and that goes back into the business, too. We're not staying at hotels on the road. We're staying at people's houses, and they hook us up with food.

And often, we'll trade shows with artists and we'll host people here in KC when they're on tour. When we go there, they got us, and when they come here, we got them. I guess you could view that as a struggle, but I see it more as a phase than anything else. There are definitely struggles, but there's no progression without them. - Natalie Gallagher with The Pitch

Dom Chronicles has teamed up with TSS homie Gee Watts for a smooth-ass new track, “The Come Up.” A Kansas City-based artist who cites Curtis Mayfield, Wiz, Pink Floyd, Curren$y and a number of classical composers as influences, DOM plays violin, loves Freddie Gibbs, and is making waves in KC and beyond.

A recent young signee to the growing Indyground label, DOM has put some serious work in lately, offering introspective and internationally-flavored rhymes on “The Riddler” and “Life of a Black Sheep”. The Curren$y influences are obvious, but DOM brings his own sound to the table with a unique vocal quality and perspective. With synths for days and a beat reminiscent of 1998 OutKast, “The Come Up” may be a new fav in your rotation.

DOM puts out his full-length album ATOMS and a visual for the track “Get Focused” on Tuesday, July 15. - Holly H with The Smoking Section Uproxx