Class of 95
Class of 95 is the tenth studio album by American rapper Dom Kennedy, released on October 11, 2024, by his independent label, The Other People's Money Company. The album's features include Troy NōKA, Polyester the Saint, Niko G4, Talk2Strangers, Indica, and Allyn.
Background and release
released his collaborative studio album I Love Stocker with TeeFlii on June 23, 2023, with their last collaboration being on TeeFlii's self-titled EP in 2019. He also contributed to rapper Jay 305 and Hit-Boy's Don't Wait Until I Die the next year on May 18. Kennedy later attended as a guest on Kendrick Lamar's The Pop Out: Ken & Friends concert on June 19. In September he was also chosen by Verizon to host a free concert for fans in Los Angeles as part of their Verizon Speakeasy Concert Series with Complex, later releasing Class of 95 the next month on October 11, 2024 by his independent label The Other People's Money Company.Music
Class of 95 is a 19-track album spanning one hour. According to Steve Juon of RapReviews, Kennedy takes a straightforward approach to rapping, avoiding singing, crooning, or Auto-Tune with a vocal pitch between Kendrick Lamar and Suga Free. The album emphasizes Kennedy's ability to tell stories and paint vivid pictures with his lyrics and uplifting words. Shawnee Dez of the Chicago Reader summarized it as "a 19-track project that shows off his word-painting lyrical reveries over melodious beats". Kennedy's confident and laid-back delivery, frequently referencing his roots in Leimert Park, remains central throughout the album with other themes of self-assurance, independence, and authenticity.Critical reception
Class of 95 received generally positive reviews from critics. Mya Singleton of Yardbarker highlighted the album's continuity with Kennedy's established style, writing that "fans can be sure that the Los Angeles rapper is giving laid-back and smooth production with a West Coast style that fits his flow, cadence, and storytelling skills perfectly." Steve Juon of RapReviews gave Class of 95 a positive review, describing it as "an incredibly solid hour of music". Juon acknowledges that calling an album Class of 95 "builds up expectations going in", due to the many classic hip-hop albums from 1995 that the title references. While he stops short of declaring that the album is better to those classics, he expresses that it is "worthy of the peers its title references" and can "go in rotation with them and not be automatically skipped". Juon concluded in his review: "Mr. Hunn is exactly what I want—a rapper who is good at rapping and has something to say when he raps." Both Singleton and Juon ranked it among the best hip-hop albums of 2024, with Singleton placing it at number 19 on her list and Juon at number four on his.| Publication/critic | List | Rank | |
| RapReviews | Year 2024 in Review | 4 | |
| Yardbarker | The best hip-hop albums of 2024 | 19 |