Shawn Antione Ivy,known as Domino, is an American rapper born in 1972 in St. Louis, Missouri, and raised in Long Beach, California. Being a Crip himself, he auditioned for the Bloods & Crips project in the early 1990s. He is the first rapper, in order of appearance, in the title track Bangin’ on Wax on the album of the same name. His debut album, Domino, spawned two major hits in the United States, including the Top 10 hit “Getto Jam”, which reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. Several further albums were released, and Domino continued to score hits on the R&B charts into the 2000s.
In 1996, Domino appeared on the Red Hot Organization‘s compilation CD, America is Dying Slowly, alongsideBiz Markie, Wu-Tang Clan, and Fat Joe, among many other prominent hip hop artists. The CD, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, was heralded as “a masterpiece” by the Source magazine.
While his debut album was critically well received, Domino was said to have stolen then up-and-coming rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg‘s style of rap which was a rumor put out by an unreliable source and never validated. Domino’s melodic rap style set the stage for other hip hop artists like Nelly, Lil Wayne, etc.Domino is considered a trend settor and icon amongst true hip hop fans. He is the first Hip Hop artist to perform a #1 rap single which contained melodic hip hop throughout the entire song. Three years later, Domino released his second album, Physical Funk, which failed to become as successful as its predecessor due to corporate moves. The video “Physical Funk” was a #1 video on MTV and the album was defected before its release due to Def Jam (Russell Simmons record label) dropping Outburst Records (the record label Domino was released on) before the album was released.
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