From the Westside with Love Three is the ninth studio album by American rapper Dom Kennedy. It was released on October 15, 2021, by The Other People's Money Company. The album's features include Quentin Miller, TeeFlii, Bryan Roberts, Frank$, Kay Franklin, MyGuyMars, and True Whitaker.[2][3]
Background and release
Dom Kennedy started working on the album in 2020, writing numerous songs on his own. He claims that his time spent working with Hit-Boy served as inspiration for the album's composition. Dom explained in an interview with Billboard:
"It wasn’t nothing I planned out, honestly. I never thought about doing Westside with Love Three until about a year and a half ago. I was working with Hit Boy real heavy. We was working on some joint music together, then I started making solo songs again, and they had a certain feeling to them. I just started working on it quietly for six, eight months before I even told anybody what I was working on. It was inspired by working with Hit-Boy and making music that I felt put me back in that same mindset that I had when I made the first one. It just felt authentic. It wasn’t forced. That was the spirit I was in, so I just embraced it, honestly."[4]
On March 26, 2021, Dom Kennedy announced that he was making From the Westside with Love Three. "When I decided to release the first From the Westside with Love in March 2010, I wanted to prove to myself that I could make a body of work that would reach way beyond just my neighborhood in Los Angeles", he wrote on Instagram. "It was a gut check for me to show my love for the genre of rap and what I could possibly bring to it."[5] He later revealed that the album would be released on October 15, 2021.[6][7]
Dom gradually posted three different album covers for From the Westside with Love Three on his Instagram account, used to promote the album.[6] None of them were used for the official album cover when the album was released.
Critical reception
The album received generally positive reviews from music critics. Kwasi Boadi of Billboard praised the album, saying, "The storytelling is just as vivid, and the production still sounds tailor-made for a sunny drive down La Cienega Boulevard. Still, everything feels more polished, and Dom's commentary is noticeably sharper."[4]RespectMyRegion's Lucas Bruce called the album "very consistent with production that would make any record an instant classic."[8]
Track listing
Credits adapted from Tidal[9] and album's back cover.