Today we’d like to introduce you to Dominick Todisco.
Hi Dominick, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
My early years of life were spent between New York City and various military bases as my father joined the Army to look for a better life than the one he and my mother had endured growing up in Harlem and the Bronx, respectively. In my teen years, I finally settled in the Killeen, TX area and began to cultivate my passion for the arts, in particular hip-hop and poetry.
I started off free-styling in ciphers around the city, impromptu sessions of rhyming to various rhythms with anyone who would join in, and realized that I may have a gift for the form. After becoming competitive and seeing how powerful words truly are, especially in music, I began to pay more attention to what I said and how I said it.
Hip-hop carried me through many low moments in life and allowed me to find a voice to stand with confidence when I fell short elsewhere. I’ve always believed it’s a universal language which is further evidenced by its global spread and acceptance.
Because of that, I strive to honor the craft and power it possesses by always attempting to write to my current apex and push myself to deal with issues that need articulating.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, not at all. My parents divorced when I was young and I started working a few jobs in high school to attempt to pay my way to college. College was always preached as the path for my future but because of circumstances out of my control, my financial situation was lacking when the college enrollment time came around.
With my focus being school, I worked a full-time job, and two occasional part times, to ensure I could see that goal to fruition. After years of the grind and falling in love, I decided to pause school in hopes I could get a better-paying job to set my budding family up and come back for my degree with less of a workload. That didn’t pan out as I’d planned and I found myself lost in the drone of an unrewarding job experience.
My wake-up call came when the Covid pandemic hit. I lost many family members and friends during the period and began pondering what legacy was I truly leaving behind for those I loved and cared for. I realized I wanted them to see my life as a guide to chasing dreams regardless of the obstacles.
I wanted my children to live in their dreams. Make them a reality. So, I got back to my poetry and rapping and found some balance within it.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My professional job is as a locomotive engineer. I’ve operated trains for the last eleven years. I’m good at this job and enjoy seeing the landscape but it’s not the most rewarding job experience if I’m being honest. I’m grateful for the provision it offers my family.
My secondary profession is my music work. I write raps and produce music for myself and my team of like-minded spirits, now known as DYMT (die empty).
I think what sets me apart here, in this space, is that I care about the smallest elements. I am truly interested in the details that others seem to miss.
A little horn here, a small bongo there, all the little elements that add to the bigger picture truly intrigue me. I dig into my interests and try to align myself with the angles that aren’t always the most visible. I like bringing light to those places or sounds in my own art.
Within my lyrics writing, I love internal rhymes and multi-syllabic rhyme structures with complex wordplay interwoven. I strive to elevate my pen each and every time I sit to write something.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
The railroad is in the midst of a crisis concerning policies they’ve implemented regarding working schedules and time allowed off for employees. They need to make major changes or will continue to see record resignations that have been occurring readily.
I think musically, and I see growth. People make art in times of struggle as sometimes it’s the only way to convey emotions and pain when vocalizing becomes difficult. With the world so tumultuous, music is helping to heal and is needed.
I hope to add to that healing aspect with my art and possibly sustain myself off of this passion as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/DominickGiovanni
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKAkygegQQy/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/todiscod
- SoundCloud: Check out Dominick Giovanni on #SoundCloud https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/DbZMt
Image Credits:
Chris Morales, Christina Cooper, and Anaiah Todisco
