(futuristic electronic music)
- I've always had that inner fire in me
like I gotta prove 'em wrong, you know?
That comes from, I think, my hip hop spirit a little bit.
I'm not gonna wait for that mic to be passed to me.
I have to like grab it.
(funky electronic music)
My name is Jonathan Park, also known as Dumbfoundead,
a rapper based out of Los Angeles, California.
I grew up in front of the television, you know.
My whole personality is based off of like
sitcoms from the 90s, you know?
I started having interests in entertainment.
It started getting a little discouraging
'cause I wouldn't see anybody on television or films
that looked like me.
And that's when I started going a little bit more aggressive
with everything I do.
♫ Yeah, Daddy was a G
♫ Granddaddy was a G, too
♫ They ain't never bang ♫
When I started hopping on stages, when I got a microphone,
I wanted to be loud, and I wanted to be heard,
and I wanted to be outlandish and say crazy stuff, you know?
And that's kind of what built this confidence in me
to pursue rap and rap the things that I wanna talk about.
♫ You took me as safe ♫
The song and music video, Safe, is pretty much my response
to the whitewashing of Asians in Hollywood
or any minority in the entertainment industry,
and I wanted to kind of come at it aggressively on the song
that nah, we aren’t, you know, the model minority.
We have things to say, and you gonna hear a rebuttal
if you attack us.
("Safe" by Dumbfoundead)
(soft instrumental music)
Growing up with a very traditional Korean-American family
in the household, being involved in music and arts,
that was a rare thing at the time
for Asian parents to accept.
When they turned on the television and saw no Asians on TV,
they were like, there's no money in this
You know what I mean?
But growing up in Koreatown gave me tons of confidence,
confidence of who I am as a person,
being a strong Korean-American
without feeling like an outsider.
And that's a responsibility on its own
to take that influence around me
and translate it into my art
and share these stories of my people all across, you know?