Since Al-Doms entered the game, he’s reached a new height with every project he’s released. His growth as an artist has been “tremendous”, and with his new EP, “New Dream”, you can hear and feel Doms becoming more and more confident and grounded in who he is as an artist and even a person.
Tuesday night at Xchange in Norfolk, Virginia Al-Doms hosted a listening event for his EP “New Dream”. Doms stood on the front counter, admittedly a little nervous for the event, yet excited to display his work to those who attended.
After a move to New York about three years ago, Doms pushed all his chips in the middle and decided to go 100% with his career as a musician. He hated it, but it was the best move for him as far as his career. While away from home, his childhood friend Isaiah passed away. In the song “I WONDER ft Eric Penn”, Al-Doms showed vulnerability and pain, more so than he’s shown throughout his tenure. And for him, that’s what makes New Dream so different.
Al-Doms went on to explain the true meaning of his new EP. “I remember going from my first mixtape to my second and thinking, “Damn, this can’t be the same nigga.” Then even a bigger leap from his second mixtape to his first EP and getting the realization that he belonged. “New Dream is like a stepping stone.” Doms describes the journey to this point as climbing up a mountain, but with every step being unsure, then finally gaining that solid foundation to give him the reassurance and confidence to keep pushing forward.
When speaking to his manager, Aaron Dee, he touched on how he’s seen the development in Al-Doms. The biggest thing he has seen is how even more grounded Doms is within himself as a person and an artist. Aaron is more than just Doms manager, he’s his primary videographer as well, and if you’ve ever seen an Al-Doms video, you know he always delivers complex visuals with an underlying message. “We’re always bouncing ideas off of each other“, says Aaron when speaking on bringing ideas onto the screen. Their relationship is very tight-knit, more like family than anything, so their chemistry is evident and makes every project seamless. Aaron then went on to speak about his role as the manager. Since Doms work ethic is so high, and he loves to be apart of everything pertaining to his music, he really tries to make Doms job of being an artist as easy as possible by streamlining things so when it does get to Doms, it’s already taken care of.
If you’ve ever seen an Al-Doms video, you know it’s coming with an amazing storyline. He takes his inspiration from artists like Nipsey Hussle, Drake, and many others. “It’s about what’s going on worldwide, I always got an international perspective“, says Al-Doms. “You can’t just be local mentally; you got to look at it from an Eagle’s Eye.” He tries to make all of his work as relatable as possible, wanting people from not just Virginia, the east coast, or even the United States, but people worldwide to be touched by his music.
As for Al-Doms going forward, this is just the beginning. The precision, execution, and dedication put into every aspect of his career leading up to New Dream and that same effort put into New Dream will only be a launchpad going forward. But instead of resting on his laurels, he is eager to getting better to become the best artist to ever come out of Virginia.