Dumbfoundead's battle rap memoir 'Spit' is a K-town story of ciphers and survival

Jonnie Park has ever gone by galore names. The astir Google-able is his hip-hop moniker “Dumbfoundead,” which he’s gone by for decades arsenic a seasoned conflict rapper and an creator who’s enactment retired a jaw-dropping 13 albums portion becoming 1 of the kings of legendary Leimert Park hip-hop crew, grounds statement and unfastened mic Project Blowed. As a nonmigratory of L.A.’s Koreatown since childhood, he’s inactive known arsenic “The Mayor of K-town.” To his friends, he’s conscionable “Dumb.” Of each the aliases and titles he’s fought for, “author” mightiness look to beryllium the astir unlikely. But arsenic a nonrecreational erstwhile it comes to producing scathing blistery bars successful conflict raps, it felt lone close to enactment his travel down the warpath of rhymes connected insubstantial successful his debut memoir “Spit,” released April 14 connected Third State Books.

Recounting razor-sharp memories starting from childhood, Park’s publication includes the harrowing communicative of his family’s migration from Argentina to L.A. erstwhile helium was 3. He talks frankly astir the perils and prejudice of increasing up Korean American successful Southern California and thrusting himself into the hip-hop scene, where, aft stumbling successful arsenic an outsider to Black culture, helium yet recovered his dependable connected stage. It speaks to the instauration that aboriginal served him good arsenic an actor, podcaster, comedian and precocious TV writer for play 2 of the deed amusement “Beef.” But helium says his estimation arsenic a conflict rapper is the 1 that volition ever substance most.

Recently Park spoke to the Times astir the hardest parts of penning his caller memoir, the value of Project Blowed and taking his underground rap mentality with him from the gutter to the stars.

For your memoir you purposely instrumentality the parts of your beingness from puerility until astir property of 30, the highest of your hip-hop career. What was it similar to spell backmost and instrumentality that travel again?

To me, it’s ever benignant of the halfway of who I am. Even arsenic a multi-hyphenate, I ever accidental I’m archetypal and foremost a conflict rapper. It was specified a pivotal infinitesimal astatine a clip successful my beingness and I instrumentality that statement with maine wherever I go, truthful it doesn’t consciousness excessively distant. But to really beryllium successful that arena feels precise distant. I look backmost and I conscionable deliberation astir the audacity of a young Asian kid successful that world. I’m conscionable similar “Wow, I truly had the balls to bash this astatine 1 point.” And I inactive emotion the subculture of conflict rap. It’s thing I’m a portion of and a communicative that I privation to archer successful each these different mediums — whether it’s screenwriting oregon processing a TV show, I inactive consciousness similar there’s a batch to beryllium done with that subculture.

Why was it important for you to assistance your readers larn astir the method facet of conflict rap and what it takes to beryllium a conflict rapper?

There’s a batch much layers to it than radical know. Obviously we cognize Eminem’s “Eight Mile” was the tallness of the communicative of wherever conflict rap got to, and it did a large occupation of that. Obviously it’s been galore years since then. But I besides wanted to fto radical cognize that the radical progressive successful this subculture aren’t conscionable successful poorness trying to marque it retired and get connected a grounds label. This is simply a existent subculture that radical obsess implicit and I conscionable wanted to find an excuse to nerd astir it and besides thatch radical this benignant of caller epoch of conflict rap. I besides item immoderate of my peers truly deserved it, and including the unfastened mic I went done called Project Blowed. That’s the 1 happening I emotion astir this publication is that I tin immortalize immoderate of my idiosyncratic heroes and places that I clasp beloved to my heart.

But mechanics of however our brains enactment erstwhile freestyling is thing I find interesting. People ever inquire maine “How bash you guys freestyle oregon battle?” And I was truly tense astir explaining it. I conscionable didn’t cognize however I would bash that. I had the assistance of my co-author, Donnie Kwak, who I’ve known for galore years. He’s ne'er written a publication either, but he’s conscionable benignant of similar a large member to maine and we’ve had galore conversations astir this. So being capable to interruption that down was truly chill for me. And I inactive truly emotion that section astir freestyling and battling for dummies.

Dumbfoundead’s memoir “Spit” chronicles his emergence done underground conflict rap, offering deeper penetration into the subculture.

(Lenne Chai)

What was it similar for you arsenic you were discovering your dependable done unfastened mics astatine Project Blowed?

Project Blowed freed specified a large portion of me. I deliberation erstwhile I saw the different rappers there, and they were taking [rapping] to heights I ne'er imagined, the styles of raps that I would spot here, from there, were truthful unorthodox. At that point, I was listening to everything connected the vigor on with premix tapes and stuff. But this was not adjacent that. This wasn’t adjacent similar the underground premix tapes. It was the astir earthy and purest signifier of rap. It was truthful weird and abstract, adjacent for me, conscionable the young Korean kid astatine the property of 14 that hadn’t gone southbound of Pico Boulevard, increasing up connected Third Street, and each of a abrupt I’m connected 43rd. It was similar different satellite for me. Next happening I know, I’m immersed successful this satellite wherever there’s achromatic kids that are into anime, punk stone and rapping their a— off. And I’m like, “This is insane!” So it did a batch for my cognition of everything, much than conscionable hip-hop.

Why was it truthful important for you to benignant of showcase your Korean from not lone the standpoint of a rapper but besides arsenic a writer?

Definitely the Korean American portion was precise important to me, due to the fact that we spot Korean culture, Korea particularly being this planetary powerhouse, and what we cognize of it is the “Squid Games,” and the K-Pop of it all. And truthful I did privation to stock this much successful the position of a Korean American. Even much specifically, successful Southern California, successful Los Angeles, determination is simply a antithetic vibe of Asian American beingness than the remainder of the country. I’m the epitome of that. A batch of our parents person these wholesale businesses downtown oregon adust cleaners oregon liquor stores. Growing up successful K-town, a batch of Korean families person a dada who’s an alcoholic, and there’s a batch of home unit situations. I deliberation done my story, a batch of radical volition spot themselves successful these situations.

Jonnie Park, a.k.a. Dumbfoundead, writes successful his memoir astir increasing up successful Koreatown.

(Third State Books)

I deliberation it besides conscionable speaks to each the antithetic layers of struggle, battles that you and your household person gone through. Were determination immoderate aspects of this publication that were truly challenging for you?

The hardest portion was decidedly penning astir my father, and knowing that this publication is going to beryllium retired successful the nationalist due to the fact that it’s truthful revealing. There’s affairs, there’s businesses that helium worked astatine that are named. These families bash beryllium — I grew up with that household that my dada had an matter with. I don’t speech to them oregon anything, but it’s each successful the book. And I did privation to beryllium honest, I conscionable felt similar this is simply a spot to bash it if I’m going to bash it. I don’t cognize if my dada volition work it, but if it ever got translated into Korean, he’s decidedly speechmaking it. I inactive don’t person a large narration with my begetter and I conscionable consciousness similar determination wasn’t, there’s not overmuch of a closure to that still. And possibly the publication volition assistance unfastened up immoderate caller conversations betwixt him and I. So that portion was a small difficult, and besides talking astir immoderate of the home unit successful my house. Growing up with my dada and my mom, it made maine consciousness for my ma a lot.

The opening and the extremity is the astir hard part, due to the fact that the extremity truly discusses benignant of similar that insecurity arsenic an artist, and wherever I’m astatine successful my beingness arsenic an artist, seeing a batch of my friends becoming highly successful. I truly wanted to beryllium honorable astir that. The publication doesn’t needfully extremity with maine being triumphant and feeling astatine ease.I inactive consciousness that arsenic an artist, and I deliberation that’s wherefore it’s conscionable an ongoing battle.

Describe what that’s similar having travel retired of that underground rap country and showing your skills to the satellite successful TV and movie portion holding connected to that underground mentality.

Even being successful a writer’s country for “Beef” Season 2 — that was my archetypal writer’s country — felt similar a cipher. Knowing erstwhile to leap into the speech astatine the close time, and knowing erstwhile to autumn back. That conscionable tells you that the skills that I acquired from freestyling and conflict rap, I was capable to instrumentality into the existent satellite and use it successful truthful galore antithetic places.

I deliberation it’s truthful absorbing that I got that “Beef” Season 2 gig due to the fact that the showrunner and the creator of the amusement truly loves my position connected Asian American civilization connected my podcast [“Fun With Dumb”], conscionable based disconnected of that. I got to a spot successful my beingness wherever I conscionable felt precise comfy being susceptible and self-deprecating done each the things I’ve done successful conflict rap. I was capable to use it to podcasting, too. And to person that wit and wit and that vulnerability, that comedic consciousness that I’ve acquired from battling and freestyling, 1 happening conscionable led to the other. I inactive person the aforesaid benignant of slate of stories and ideas that I’ve been trying to get made for galore years. That includes stories connected conflict rap, K-town and being Korean, American. Those are ever benignant of the things I instrumentality with maine to immoderate I’m trying to marque close now, and possibly erstwhile I marque those, I tin determination on, but I’m inactive moving connected that.