Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dominick Giovanni. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Dominick, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I learned to do what I do predominantly with many years of practice and studying my favorite artists. Early on, as a child, I would be drawn to unique voices or cadences and attempt to memorize the delivery techniques used by those artists. When I was unable to hear music in person, I would try to recite the lyrics or hooks direct from memory. Eventually, that led to me writing my own lines and verses. My coming of age would be in an era when freestyling or “off the dome” emceeing was particularly popular and it was respected to be different or stand out by your use of energy, crowd control, or just sheer rhyming dexterity. In that sense, I struggled to create a unique sound and identity amidst so many fellow emcees, but I believe that gauntlet of congestion allowed me to slowly find a voice that is truly, me. The skills I find most essential are remaining true to self, going against the norm some with regards to style, challenging oneself to always outdo the last piece of work, and remembering to create from a place of joy and keeping that focus in sight.
Obstacles I’ve faced are being uprooted a lot and struggling to adapt to new areas at times. My parents also divorced at a young age and I have no siblings, so I spent a lot of time on my own. In recent years, I’ve lost quite a few family members and the hardest was losing my Mom just last month in June. She always told me to share my heart and thoughts through my art, so I’m more intent on creating they I’ve ever been.
Dominick, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Dominick Giovanni.
I’ve been doing music related things since I was a young child. It started out with dancing to Michael Jackson videos and playing some keys on a small casio keyboard which then evolved into djing and beat-making in the bedroom. I’ve been influenced by all styles of music and eras but predominantly found my voice in hip-hop and drum and bass music. Two sides of a coin for me, sonically speaking, as I come from New York originally as the breakbeats that underpin both genres were always a part of the sonic imprint.
Today, I release music as an indepent artist under my name “Dominick Giovanni.” My most recent release was an EP entitled “The Lost in the Found” which was released through a label named Hush Puppy Records out of Rotterdam, NL which featured production from some well-known and up and coming producers such as Monma (Finland), Venuz Beats (France), Nocatchphraze (Houston, Tx.)
The first single “Nightsky” is written to my wife and details the growth that I’ve seen over the years being married and how through true love we are able to find our way to the right paths.
All of my music is available on popular streaming platforms and available for purchase on bandcamp digitally.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I’m driven to create because it gives me a means of ventilation. Being an only child, I didn’t always have an understanding ear to turn to. The pen and pad gave me that unbiased ear and provided me a safe haven to grow within when I didn’t know I needed it. As life moved on, I lost sight of the gift not realizing how it had sustained me in tough times and helped me process tough moments.
In the past four years, I’ve lost nine loved ones. Grieving them the best way I knew how, meant turning back to the pen to sort my thoughts. In doing so, I shared with some of my old friends that remained associated with music professionally and got a consistent message that maybe, I should share my work with others. That encouragement, meeting some new friends that have become family, has led me to push harder and be more open with the art that I create.
My biggest hopes is that my children will see the efforts I’ve made to keep one of my dreams alive and never lose sight of their own. I wish for them to know that I will support them and hold them up for as long as they believe in themselves.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
To me, the best art isn’t always the most skilled or technically gifted. It’s generated from the heart and resonates differently than something conceived merely for gain or status. I like putting words together creatively and linking syllables in a cohesive way that I haven’t heard before. That’s supremely difficult as millions of people have written rhymes, but ultimately, that’s the challenge and draw for me to the style that I write in. When, I was younger, I loved artists that poetically could construct rhymes that not only merged with the rhythm pocket, but forced you to dig deeper to understand everything they said. You had to repeat the songs and dive into their prose and structure because there might be an internal rhyme scheme as well as the typical outward that you could miss if you just breezed through. So, if I could ask people for one thing, it would be to give artists that pique your interest at all some real time listening. Break down the words. If the message doesn’t line up, feel free to move on, but people that are truly crafting relevant music are pouring their heart, soul, and life into it and deserve an ear.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/DominickGiovanni?fbclid=PAAaZbX6pA2oyGdgQ7nJsctsbrhP2vE_OJvrZd1j5IubT-GKh75AT4N1lDTIo
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/dom_giovanni1?igshid=MzNlNGNkZWQ4Mg==
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@dom_giovanni1