Dumbfoundead

Jonathan Park[1] (born February 18, 1986),[2] known professionally as Dumbfoundead, is an American rapper and actor.[3] He began his career in the 2000s as a battle rapper in Los Angeles and has since become one of the most prominent Asian-American rappers in the United States, known for his witty and socially conscious lyrics.[4][5][6]

Dumbfoundead
Rapper Dumbfoundead at an Emory University concert on February 17, 2012.
Background information
Birth nameJonathan Edgar Park
Born (1986-02-18) February 18, 1986
Buenos Aires, Argentina
OriginLos Angeles, California, United States
GenresHip hop
Occupation(s)
  • Rapper
  • actor
Years active2005–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websitedumbfoundead.com

Early life

Park was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to South Korean immigrants. He has one younger sister. When he was three years old, Park's family immigrated to the United States by crossing the Mexico-United States border without green cards. His family settled in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.[3]

Park began rapping when he was 14 years old, inspired in part by the rappers he saw perform weekly at Project Blowed, a local open mic workshop.[7]

Park dropped out of John Marshall High School in his sophomore year and moved into a one-bedroom apartment with his sister and a roommate at the age of 16. Before becoming a full-time rapper, he worked as a bail bondsman, among other odd jobs.[7]

Park became a U.S. citizen when he was 19 years old.[3]

Career

Park began growing a large web fan base, after video clips of his rap battles were posted to YouTube. In 2015, Park returned to rap battling to participate in Drake and OVO's event King of the Dot Blackout 5, and was complimented by Drake himself, who expressed his excitement at his return.[8] Park competed against Wild 'n Out cast member Conceited, and the battle was the most popular English rap battle of 2015.[9] In August 2015, Park battled fellow battler Dizaster on Day One of KOTD's World Domination 5.

His first solo album, DFD, was released on November 1, 2011.[10] His second album, Take the Stares, was released on October 16, 2012.[11] In 2013, Park released his third album Old Boy Jon, and a single by the same, all produced by Duke Westlake.

Dumbfoundead has collaborated with other music artists, including Epik High, Traphik, Wax, Jay Park, Kahi, and Anderson Paak.[12] In 2015, he was featured on josh pan's remix of Keith Ape's song It G Ma, alongside popular rappers Waka Flocka Flame, ASAP Ferg, and Father.[13]

He has been featured on NBC for his viral video Jam Session 2.0, consisting of 8 different musicians from around the world sharing the spotlight individually via split screen but collaborating on one cohesive track.[14] He has also been on Los Angeles Times,[15] Last Call with Carson Daly,[16] MTV Hive,[17] and Mnet.[18]

Park played a supporting role in Joseph Kahn's horror film Detention[19] and would later appear in Kahn's 2017 film Bodied as battle-rapper Prospek.[20]

In 2016, he released the music video "Safe," [21] which gained widespread attention for superimposing Park's likeness onto the faces of white actors in famous movie scenes. The objective of this was to call attention to the fact that there were no Asian or Asian-American actors at the Oscars, and that "the only yellow men were all statues."[22] Furthermore, the music video was another call to "the obvious underrepresentation of people of color in Hollywood."[23] Park was also a starring member of the 2016 documentary Bad Rap, which outlined the lives of four Asian-American artists trying to make it in the hip-hop scene. He also played Dylan Shin in the Starz drama Power.[24]

In April 2020, Peacock began development on a half hour comedy television series based on Park's life entitled Big Dummie.[25]

Discography

Studio albums
Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
US
R&B/
Hip-Hop
[26]		 US
Rap
[26]
DFD 41 24 N/A
Take the Stares
  • Released: October 16, 2012
  • Label: Transparent Agency
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 56 —
Old Boy Jon
  • Released: February 18, 2013
  • Label: Transparent Agency
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 — —
We Might Die
  • Released: November 10, 2016
  • Label: Transparent Agency
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 — —

Extended plays
Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
KOR
[27]
Fun with Dumb
  • Release: May 12, 2008
  • Label: Swim Team Records
  • Formats: CD, digital download
Foreigner
  • Released: May 23, 2017
  • Label: Born CTZN
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 87 N/A
Rocket Man
  • Released: December 13, 2017
  • Label: Born CTZN
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 —
Café Bleu
  • Released: November 2, 2018
  • Label: Born CTZN
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 —

Singles
Title Year Peak chart positions Sales Album
KOR
[28]
As lead artist
"Different Galaxies"
feat. Sam Ock		 2010 — N/A Non-album singles
"Clouds"
feat. Jay Park, Clara		 —
"Respect 16's"
feat. Dok2, Myk, Yankie, Rakaa, Mithra Jin, Tablo, Bizzy, Sean Rhee, Tiger JK		 —
"Mellow Yellow" 2015 —
"Coachella" —
"Domies" (도우미)
feat. Keith Ape, Okasian		 —
"Mijangwon" (미장원)
feat. Loopy, Nafla		 —
"Safe" 2016 — We Might Die
"Hyung" (형)
feat. Dok2, Simon Dominic, Tiger JK		 2017 — Foreigner
"3890" — Non-album single
"Every Last Drop" — Rocket Man
"P.A.A.C. (Protect At All Cost)" —
"Kill Me" —
Collaborations
"100 Grand"
with Keith Charles Spacebar		 2015 — N/A Non-album singles
"Banned From The Motherland"
with Josh Pan feat. Jay Park, Simon Dominic, G2		 2016 —
"K.B.B" (가위바위보)
with Jessi, Microdot, Lyricks		 —
As featured artist
"It's Me"
Kahi feat. Dumbfoundead		 2013 45 Who Are You?
"Please"
DPR Live feat. Dumbfoundead, Kim Hyo-eun, G2		 2017 — N/A Coming To You Live
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Community activism

During the Coronavirus pandemic, he has promoted support for restaurant workers affected by COVID-19.[30]

References
  1. Grigsby Bates, Karen (2013-04-15). "Dumbfoundead: A Rising Star In A Genre In Transition". NPR. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  2. "덤파운데드" [Dumbfoundead]. Daum 100 (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  3. Kivanc, Jake (2015-12-10). "LA's Hidden Gem: Dumbfoundead Speaks on Battle Rap and Finding His Place as an Asian Rapper in America". Noisey. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  4. "Korean-American rapper Dumbfoundead on why representation in hip-hop matters". CBC News. 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  5. Doo, Rumy (2017-05-22). "[Next Wave] Dumbfoundead on Koreatown, 'Foreigner'". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  6. Tabios, Nina (2018-03-20). "Trump's tweets inspire rapper Dumbfoundead's new EP". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  7. Weiss, Jeff (2011-11-18). "Dumbfoundead On Dropping Out Of High School, Working As A Bail Bondsman, And The Advantages Of Being An Asian Rapper". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
  8. "Dumbfoundead". Facebook. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  9. "Organik - KOTDTV.com on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  10. Son, Linda (9 November 2011). "Dumbfoundead Gets Personal and Professional with 'DFD'". KoreAm.
  11. Lam, Charles (26 October 2012). "Dumbfoundead can't 'Take the Stares'". Northwest Asian Weekly.
  12. "Dumbfoundead & Epic High interview with". Popseoul.com. 22 May 2009. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  13. "Keith Ape - IT G MA (Remix) Feat. A$AP Ferg, Father, Dumbfoundead & Waka Flocka - Stream [New Song]". Hotnewwhiphop.com. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  14. "MusicRaw: Dumbfoundead". KNBC.
  15. Weiss, Jeff (8 July 2011). "The arrival of Dumbfoundead: Koreatown rapper's 'Are We There Yet?'". Los Angeles Times.
  16. "Last Call with Carson Daly". NBC. 17 December 2012. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012.
  17. "Dumbfoundead: A Rap Battle Vet Grows Up". MTV. 11 November 2011.
  18. "Dumbfoundead". Mnet.
  19. Kang, Y. Peter (16 June 2011). "Sony Buys Rights To Joseph Kahn's Indie Horror Film". KoreAm.
  20. Yamato, Jen (2018-11-28). "The stars of battle rap satire 'Bodied' on the politics of wokeness: 'The whole world is in a battle rap right now'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  21. DUMBFOUNDEAD (2016-05-26), Dumbfoundead - SAFE, retrieved 2017-02-15
  22. Thomas, Dexter. "Dumbfoundead breaks down the lyrics in his anti-whitewashing anthem 'Safe'". latimes.com. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  23. "Don't Mistake Dumbfoundead For Safe". The FADER. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  24. Film, Bad Rap. "About". Bad Rap Film. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  25. Petski, Denise (2020-04-15). "Rapper Dumbfoundead To Front Comedy Inspired By His Life For Peacock". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  26. "Dumbfoundead Chart History". Billboard.
  27. "Gaon Album Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart.
  28. "Gaon Digital Chart" (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart.
  29. Cumulative sales of '"It's Me":
  30. Park, Brian (2020-07-03). "Talking takeout and Koreatown with Dumbfoundead". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
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