The Koreatown Oddity was born Dominique Purdy, and he’s sometimes referred to by the various permutations of his title, among them KtownOdd, Ktown, and KTO. Cinephiles might know him from his work as an actor and screenwriter, having written and starred in films like 2015 dark comedy “Driving While Black,” but he’s also a stand-up comedian and a lauded figure in the Los Angeles beat scene—a purveyor of a unique strain of rap that fuses raw hip-hop with sit-com like piano, musing on daily life and Black life in America.

Purdy found hip-hop through his mother, who made jewelry for rappers like Grandmaster Caz and Ice-T. He began making his own beats at an early age, and shared it strictly on cassette, including collaborations with Ras G as 5 Chuckles and Mndsgn as Vivians. He debuted on vinyl with his first album, 200 Tree Rings, before signing to Stones Throw with 2017’s Finna Be Past Tense.

Purdy’s latest work, available now via Stones Throw, is a true-to-life story about growing up Black in Koreatown, Los Angeles during the ’80s, exploring how the area has changed in the years since. Titled Little Dominique’s Nosebleed, the release also tells the story of Purdy’s spiritual awakening triggered by two childhood car accidents that left him impaired on two fronts with frequent nosebleeds and a broken leg. He released it on Juneteenth, and it serves as a celebration of the emancipation of the last remaining enslaved African Americans in the United States.

At one-hour in length, Purdy’s XLR8R podcast is a window into his mind during lockdown. It’s filled with his favorite music, much of it unreleased, and with little thought or planning. As you’d expect, it’s predominantly rap and hip-hop, but it’s much more varied, laced with smooth R&B, cinematic interludes, psychedelia, and abstract vocal snippets sourced from the web. “Basically just a mix of all kinda flavors that I know no one would put together but me,” Purdy explains.

01. What have you been up to recently?

Shit, I just been chillin’, watchin’ mad Sesame Street and movies posted up. Doin’ more word searches too. Them joints be fun.

02. You’ve just released your new album. How are you feeling about it?

I’m happy to finally be able to let everybody hear it. I started working on it at the end of 2017 so my life has changed a whole lot. When I started I didn’t have a kid. Now I have a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter. Droppin’ it on Juneteenth is pretty big for me, too. It’s a trip that it’s out because I’ve been sitting with it for a minute and just like that it’s out.

03. How has lockdown been for you?

It’s been pretty enjoyable. I really just been straight kickin’ it. My sleep schedule is a little strange though. I wake up usually round 1 pm-ish and sleep around 5 am.

04. Which artists have you been enjoying in the lockdown?

I be listening to all kinds of shit from Diamanda Galas to Evel Knievel. So I can’t really even think sometimes about what I’ve been listening to; sometimes I will forget I heard some shit in a blur of peepin’ a bunch of things in one week. A lot of shit out there.

05. Where and when did you record this mix?

I recorded this mix a little bit on Father’s Day evening and a little on Monday night at my crib.

06. How did you select the records that you included?

Just picked stuff from some homies that I want people to hear if they not hip to it, and some have not been released. I wanted to also play some beats that I haven’t released yet. And a couple joints I never hear anybody play in a mix like the Kool Keith joint. Basically just a mix of all kinda flavors that I know no one would put together but me.

07. What’s next on your horizon?

A million-dollar check.

–

XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to download the podcast you will need to subscribe to our Select channel. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.

Tracklisting

01. Eddie Griffin “Mommys Gotta Go”
02. Koreatown Oddity “Jiggaboo Time 2020”
03. Moms Mabley “When I was 17”
04. Koreatown Oddity “Safer At Home”
05. Black Magick Chocolate Tears “Cassanova Rock”
06. Koreatown Oddity “Little Dominique’s Nosebleed Outro”
07. Trenttruce “Science”
08. Meingo “mASSh Up”
09. Koreatown Oddity “Koreatown Oddity”
10. CS Armstrong “Alright”
11. Black Magick Chocolate Tears “Glare”
13. Koreatown Oddity “Depressed but Hopeful”
14. CS Armstrong “Makin You”
15. Meingo “24 Hours”
16. Koreatown Oddity “Gov Got $$$”
17. Kool Keith “Professional Photographer”
18. Koreatown Oddity “My name Is Dominique”
19. Coto “Oranges by the Freeway”
20. James Chance and the Blacks “Almost Black”
21. Vivians “Awwwh” ft. Zeroh
22. Koreatown Oddity “Black Willy Wonkas Factory”
23. Koreatown Oddity “Final March”
24. Koreatown Oddity “We All want Something” ft. Anna Wise
25. Richard Pryor “Bicentinnial Nigger”
26. XLR8R Outro