As Brockhampton’s resident philosopher, storyteller, and poet, Dom has a lot to say. Here’s everything you didn’t know about the enigmatic wordsmith from Connecticut that goes by “Dom McLennon”.
Who is Dominique “Dom McLennon? Simpson?
Name: Dominique “Dom McLennon” Simpson
Birthday: July 10, 1992
Sign: Cancer
Dominique Simpson is one of the most gifted vocalists and writers in all of BROCKHAMPTON. His stage-name is Dom McLennon, and he’s one of the most creative and lyrically impressive artists in the industry today.
Brockhampton has a plethora of talented artists in its ranks, but Dom McLennon’s passion for creating and experience as a solo artist set him apart from the rest.
As Brockhampton’s lyrical mastermind, Dom McLennon brings emotional intensity and intellectual substance to the group’s music and overall vibe. Whether spending his time tweeting about acclaimed literature or sharing his innermost thoughts over booming bass tracks, Dom offers a refreshingly poetic facet to Brockhampton’s music that you can spend hours contemplating.
“I’m a musician that happens to rap right now—I’m a musician first. I want people to know that I’m a creative person who’s just expressing himself. Through that I want to inspire other people.” – Dom McLennon with No Fillers Mag
Dom McLennon on “CHICK“:
“I feel these voices always drown out all the noise in the room
They don’t employ you for your purpose, they just need a platoon
Another number in a line ready to march into tombs
I ain’t the one to assume, I put the coon in tycoon
We colonizing the moon, I see you look to the sky
And start to wish it was you, sometimes I wish I was me
Sometimes I’m watching my life
I’m dissociated from what eats my heart up at night
Sleep on a cloud of my strife”
Dom’s Backstory/Origins
Dominique “Dom McLennon” Simpson is originally from East Hartford, Connecticut – a short drive from Windsor, the hometown of Brockhampton’s production wizard Romil. Although Dom and Kevin Abstract share a last name, the two are not related as far as we know.
“My family got our first computer when I was 5. I taught myself how to use the internet at like 11 or 12 so I could learn how to make beats.” – Dom McLennon
Dom started flexing his creative muscles from a young age – picking up the saxophone, piano, and drums as a child. Dom also cultivated a love for language and literature through his early years and ultimately ended up going to school to study journalism. Despite that, he never stopped pursuing his love for music.
“If there’s a moment in pop culture that really sticks out to you, there’s usually a song behind it. For example, the first time I saw Toy Story was the first time I heard Randy Newman’s “You’ve Got A Friend In Me”. I had no fucking clue who Randy Newman was but any time I see anything Toy Story-related, that song plays in my head. I feel like everybody has their own moment in pop culture like that, where it’s just the context of the moment mixing with how easily impressionable we are as youths.” – Dom McLennon with Elevator Mag
Dom McLennon Before Brockhampton
Along with Bearface and Kevin Abstract, Dom McLennon has the most experience as a solo artist in the entire group. Dom’s career as a published musician dates back as early as June 2012, when he won first runner up in a Questlove Remix Competition on Pigeons and Planes.
Dom went on to release his first and last album as a solo artist in 2013, titled Thesis (Side B). The album, or “multimedia project” according to Dom, featured an amalgamation of music, images, .Gifs, and videos presented across a series of platforms. Unfortunately very little of the project remains available online outside of the music itself and the project’s universal call for creatives issued by Dom.
Dom McLennon and Brockhampton
Although the majority of Brockhampton’s members have their roots in Texas (including JOBA, Matt Champion, and Merlyn Wood) Dom McLennon hails from Connecticut. Dom came into contact with the crew through the internet back before Brockhampton existed, in their days as Alive Since Forever. It all started with a facebook message from Brockhampton’s producer extraordinaire, Romil:
“We all connected through social media. Rome(il) added me on Facebook, and I surprised to find out he lived fairly close to me. We ended up going to Buffalo Wild Wings to talk about this music thing he was doing with Mike, who’s also in Alive Since Forever, and the rest is kinda history.”
Dom began working with Romil, Kevin Abstract, and Ameer Vann through online collaboration, text messages, and email, before officially making the move out to Texas from Connecticut. After some initial collaboration, Dom felt the early beginnings of the remarkable chemistry that makes Brockhampton special.
“[Alive Since Forever] was something Kevin (Abstract) started that I kind of fell into due to my relationship with Romil. He wanted me in the group and after we made music together the chemistry was there, that creative energy.”
While in Texas, Dom continued to pursue his own side projects in addition to his work with Brockhampton. One such project was his work with Jupiter Thief, another off-the-wall rap collective of artists based in Texas. But after a short stint, Dom’s time with Jupiter Thief came to an end when Brockhampton decided to take the plunge and move to California to commit to their dreams. To raise money for the move to L.A., Dom released an LP that is still available for listening on bandcamp.
Dom’s Role in the Group
Thoughtful. Ambitious. Determined. Not one for small talk. Dom McLennon can come across as rather reserved – that is, until he steps into the studio or onto the stage.
The Brockhampton group dynamic is built on friendships that border on family. In that family, Dom acts as a sort of older brother. Always making sure he’s there to act as a source of support, Dom is fiercely loyal and doesn’t shirk away from difficult conversations.
Dom, along with JOBA, also brings a vulnerability and honesty to the art that allows them to connect with audiences on emotional and mental health issues. A prime example is the letter Dom published after Brockhampton’s first tour back in October 2017, “A Letter to Eugene”. In it, Dom responded to a fan he’d met on tour by sharing his own experiences with depression and self-harm and the role music can play in helping us cope. Although Dom isn’t the type to hog camera time in any of Brockhampton’s interviews, he isn’t afraid to empathize with fans on a human level and put himself out there when it’s in support of another.
Dom on “TRIP”:
“Everybody smilin’, I don’t see what’s funny
Everybody friends, guess I wasn’t lucky
Family full of athletes, I was kind of chubby
Shit was never sunny, wrists were sorta bloody
Lick my wounds with honey, save me for the vultures
I’m fallin’ in the void, I don’t know what I discover”
Dom in Brockhampton’s Music
Biting lyricism. Fantastical wordplay. A rapper’s rapper. If you were to sum up Dom’s musical role in Brockhampton in one word, it’d be eloquence.
Dom has an uncanny ability to bounce fluidly between complex thoughts and straightforward emotions, and fits genuine substance into any verse. Rarely does he just give wordplay for the sake of wordplay – instead, every word he says actually means something. Out of all of Brockhampton’s talented lyricists, Dom’s writing process may be the most intensive:
“When I started writing “Thesis” I approached writing phonetically, like how many syllables can create this bar? What syllables can I take out to make this flow better? Through the process of making that project, I learned how to write in rhythm first then fill the words in later. Now whenever I hear something I plan on being a part of, instead of hearing it bar-by-bar I hear it phrase-by-phrase. It allows me to manipulate the way I’m putting my words together and articulate my thoughts properly. I want to write a book on it one day, for real. I think approaching songwriting in the sense of putting your thoughts to a rhythm and cadence is a lot more freeing than the standard way people write raps. Studying dudes like Cudi all the way to Big L and shit really brought me to that conclusion.” – Dom McLennon with Elevator Mag
For a closeup look at Dom’s lyrical wizardry, check out this video of him freestyling all the way back in 2013. He goes on at about 2:45.
Dom McLennon’s Musical Influences
In an early interview with No Fillers Magazine, Dom listed out some of his biggest musical influences, including:
-
- Q-Tip
- Nas
- Wes Montgomery
- Billie Holiday
- Miles Davis
- Mount Kimbie
- James Blake
- A-Trak
Dom’s Best Lyrics & Verses
“BLEACH“:
“They ask me “do you make mistakes or do you make a change?”
Or do you draw the line for when it’s better days?
We taste the wind for when it’s cold enough to kill our flame
I wonder who’s to blame?”
“SISTER/NATION“:
“In the eyes of the law, I’m a problem
In the eyes of the blogs, I’m a paycheck
In the eyes of the world, I’m an icon
In the eyes that I own, I ain’t start yet”
“HEAT“:
“I hate the way I think, I hate the way it looms
I hate the way the things I say incinerate a room
I know I’m tryna change, but it’ll never work
Just end up more broken down than when I started
And that concrete feels the hardest every time I seem to touch it
Started thinking I ain’t meant for life but that’s too deep
Falling up into the ceiling while I’m drowning
In the creek of my emotions trying harder to be open
Talking ’bout release dates, I’m trying to make it to tomorrow
Internal honesty could be the hardest pill to swallow
So I need two shots of everything that’s on the fuckin’ menu
I’m dancing with myself, setting fire to the venue, motherfucker”
“STAR“:
“I might go Interstellar
I feel like Matthew McConaughey
I don’t care for what they gotta say
Tony Perkis how I drop the weight
Jason Bourne with the headshot
Jason Statham with the whip game
Liam Neeson with the rescue
I go Gunnar with the leather face
Bruce Campbell with the chains
Tobin Bell with the saw
Anthony Hopkins, I’m eatin’ ’em raw
They don’t know who we are
Molly Shannon I’m a superstar
Ride or die like it’s Sea-biscuit
Tryna stack like Tobey
John Wick, I don’t leave a witness
Chris Paul, I’m assistin’
Ameer go Blake Griffin
Give me forty-eight minutes
We go ’04 Pistons
Catch a fade like Robert Horry
Only time to get the spotlight
Deray how I’m top flight
Go Obama when I drop mics”
“BANK“:
“See, I’ve been trippin’ and fallin’
No more slippin’ and stallin’
Got no numbers I’m callin’
Just wanna be in the coffin
All this trouble we’ve been causin’
Benz I’m crossin’, I’ve been saucin’
Exercising my endorphins
Since you told me you were walkin’
I’ve been searchin’, huntin’, crawlin’
What’s it costin’ me? It ain’t doing much
Tossin’ me through a loop
I hush the voices in my head
For a minute so I can listen to you
And all I ever heard was
“I ain’t listening”, shit is cripplin”
“MILK“:
“I never know if what I’m saying is the right thing
If not, I’m ready more than ever for the crosshairs
It’s all fair when it’s not you
Some people have angels, what if only shadows follow you?
And all the ghosts inside that seem to hollow you
The branches of the weeping willow start to swallow you
And then you realize you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be
The horizon clears, you wipe the tears
And all the skeletons are ready for your story”
“JOHNNY“:
“Could’ve peaked when I was in high school, but I had bigger plans
Could’ve took the time out to find you, but you ain’t understand
You don’t gotta leave for them to define you, cause what would you demand?
When everybody out to define you, without a circumstance”
“FIGHT“:
“I’m the sun and the moon
I’m the light and the dark, I am life in the tomb
I’m the pharaoh and slave, gentrifying my spirit
It’s like a knife in the womb, refuse to act like a parrot
Or to dance like a monkey, see your stance is apparent
That’s why I’m here for the money, don’t care to cater to Mary
Y’all fetishizing my spirit, I see your culture’s dependent
On what you didn’t inherit, won’t let my world be attempted
I’m staying distant”
“CHICK“:
“I feel these voices always drown out all the noise in the room
They don’t employ you for your purpose, they just need a platoon
Another number in a line ready to march into tombs
I ain’t the one to assume, I put the coon in tycoon
We colonizing the moon, I see you look to the sky
And start to wish it was you, sometimes I wish I was me
Sometimes I’m watching my life
I’m dissociated from what eats my heart up at night
Sleep on a cloud of my strife”
“GUMMY“:
“How I’m gon’ move at your pace? I’m busy settin’ the tone
You think we runnin’ together? I’m in a lane of my own
Don’t got no friends in this game, it’s me and my brothers alone
They thinkin’ that we competing, that shit depletin’ my bones
I don’t need all that energy, they just fuck up my chakras
I put my heart in a locker, they love me when I’m a martyr
They hate me when I’m myself, I can’t barter with that
You watch us charter these tracks, it’s sticking like tartar and plaque”
“BUMP“:
“Watch me, watch me, watch me, watch me, watch me operate
I ain’t here to talk now, nigga, we ain’t gonna conversate
This modern terrorism, you can’t moderate
I’ve been fiendin’ time to put these demons on display
‘Cause they don’t understand, I don’t give a damn
Smoke some shit straight outta Alice in Wonderland
BROCKHAMPTON the clan, bitch, I ain’t your man
Like they’re stacking just to crumble like an avalanche”
“Cotton Hollow“:
“I’m in need of your love
I just need you right here
Sharing all of those things
Whispering in my ear
Tell me what they can’t know
Show me what they can’t see
Tell me all the ideas
They would never believe
You see I remember my home
I remember those trees
I remember those pasts
I remember the breeze
I remember the reason why all of those people that passed
Remember you opened your heart for a second
Gave me your time for a minute
Remember the tone in your voice when I told you that I might be coming to visit
But maybe I’m tripping
You catching me slipping
Down this road again
But this time I ain’t falling
First day back cause the demons keep calling
Look at this world and I start withdrawing
And its so hard not to fade, see its so hard not to fall
But I gotta find peace
And I gotta find sleep cause I don’t see it at all
So I’m going, going, going, deeper and deeper
You see I’m finding it out before my spirit gets weaker
I got a fever, fever
But feeling sick in the head
I need a doctor, doctor
Or just one more cigarette
I’m saying”
Potential for Individual Career
Considering Dom’s history directing his own creative projects in the past as a solo artist, it’s safe to say that his career won’t be ending whenever Brockhampton calls it quits. Dom pairs a great knack for songwriting with a versatile voice that he can use to get melodic or go in on a verse with. He’s equally comfortable with expansive, spacy flows and choppier, more forceful flows. He also has the drive to create music, even outside of just Brockhampton or hip hop in general, as seen with his production. With all his range and creativity, it’s hard to predict what direction Dom’s music would take post-Brockhampton. But regardless of what happens with Brockhampton in the future, I don’t think we’ll ever go very long without hearing from Dom McLennon.
Bonus Dom Videos
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