Dom Champ: “I Feel Better” – a refreshing change!
Dom Champ is a young poet and independent hip-hop and pop artist from the sunny, seaside town of Brighton, East Sussex. Dom, who has been writing for many years has found inspiration for his music in artists such as Eminem, Kanye, Mac Miller and UK artists like Verb T and Ocean Wisdom. Poetic wordplay and storytelling lyrics, along with deep meaning and the proverbial ‘two sides to every story’ is an important theme throughout his music. Dom Champ is currently promoting his second single, “I Feel Better”, which is the follow up to “All In”. Just like his peer Mike Skinner aka The Street, Dom Champ is achieving the impossible – a white English gentleman rapping to a predominantly black audience in America. In fact he goes one step further – his undulating conversational flow is akin to the spoken word, which can be quite entertaining with his British accent. His whole approach is innovative, while his lyrics are realistic, ironic and deep.
His vocals follow a vein of familiarity while moving between the spoken word and singing. Whilst not sticking to rigid traditional syllabic vocal patterns Dom Champ’s lyrics are delivered in more of a free form style, one which is much closer to everyday speech than rapping.
In doing this he takes on the role of the average guy in the pub giving his opinions of the world to anyone who will listen. His rhymes are perfect and his words fit to the beat. In “I Feel Better”, Dom picks the overriding social attitudes of his nation’s youth and cleverly vocalizes them in a constant stream of alcohol infused verses on urban life, which is told from a first person point of view.
The track includes a sweet melody supported by a female vocalist. It has the perfect mood. The chorus is a catchy, the constant piano loop is great, and the lyrics make you realize how sincere and beautiful songwriting can be. It not only entertains you, but it educates you and is good for reflecting on life: “I drink too much, but when I’m drunk, I feel better. I feel the love, is it real love, man I’m just drunk.”
In terms of capturing a particular moment in a generation, Dom Champ does it well. A supreme achievement. It’s a document of British urban life, a snapshot of the despondency yet underlying optimism of the youth occupying the pub scene. It’s about the birds, the mates and the booze. It’s about perceived reality, and stone-cold reality itself.
The impact of the narrative of “I Feel Better” is the equivalent of sitting in the local pub with your mates and watching your football team lose. It’s potentially a great night out, but you’re left with a bitter taste in your mouth at the end of it.
Once you begin to understand Dom Champ, the real hardcore truths, and events he is trying to share with you, the depth of his insight becomes evident very rapidly. Dom is a refreshing change from the cookie-cutter, assembly line of hoods and pimps that comes from most American hip-hop artists. “I Feel Better” is extremely charming, in a bittersweet way…
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