Jonathan Edgar Park (born February 18, 1986), known by his stage name Dumbfoundead (), is an Argentinian-born American rapper and actor. He began his career in the 2000s as a battle rapper in Los Angeles and has since become one of the most prominent East Asian American rappers, known for his witty and socially conscious lyrics.

Early life

Park was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n 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 The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...

without

green card A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...

s. His family settled in the

Koreatown A Koreatown (), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula. History Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have only been in existence s ...

neighborhood of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California. Park began rapping when he was fourteen years old, inspired in part by the rappers he saw perform weekly at

Project Blowed Project Blowed is an open-mic workshop, its affiliated underground hip hop crew and record label based in Los Angeles, California at 3333 Leimert. This hip hop function started in 1994 and features many music groups, emcees, dancers, music pro ...

, a local open-microphone workshop. He 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 sixteen. Before becoming a full-time rapper, he worked as a bail bondsman, among other odd jobs. Park became a U.S. citizen when he was nineteen years old.

Career

Park's first solo album, ''DFD'', was released in 2011. His second album, ''Take the Stares'', was released in 2012. In 2013, Park released his third album, ''Old Boy Jon'', which was produced entirely by Duke Westlake. Park was a member of Thirsty Fish along with

Open Mike Eagle Michael W. Eagle II (born November 14, 1980), better known by his stage name Open Mike Eagle, is an American hip hop artist and comedian. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, he is now based in Los Angeles, California, where he is a member of the h ...

and Psychosiz. He has also collaborated with Epik High, Traphik, Wax,

Jay Park Jay Park (born April 25, 1987), Korean name Park Jae-beom (), is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and dancer based in South Korea. He is a member of the Seattle-based breakdancing, b-boy crew Art of Movement (AOM), and founder and former ...

Kahi Park Ji-young (; born December 25, 1980), professionally known as Kahi, is a South Korean singer, dancer, and actress known for her work as a former leader of South Korean girl group After School. As of June 2012, Kahi graduated from After Sc ...

Jessi Jessi may refer to: People * Jessi (musician) (born 1988), Korean-American rapper, singer, and songwriter * Gianluigi Jessi (born 1945), Italian basketball player * Jessi Alexander (born 1976), American country music artist * Jessi Colter (b ...

, GSoul, MC Jin, Year of the Ox, Rekstizzy, and Anderson .Paak. In 2015, he was featured on the remix of

Keith Ape Lee Dong-heon (; born December 25, 1993), known professionally as Keith Ape () and previously known as Kid Ash, is a South Korean rapper from Seoul. He is a member of a crew called 'The Cohort'. Ape's breakout single "잊지마" ("''It G Ma''") ...

's "It G Ma", alongside

Waka Flocka Flame Juaquin James Malphurs (born May 31, 1986), known professionally as Waka Flocka Flame, is an American rapper. He first became known for his 2009 single "O Let's Do It", which entered the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and led him to ...

ASAP Ferg Darold Durard Brown Ferguson Jr. (born October 20, 1988), known professionally as FERG (previously A$AP Ferg ( /ˈeɪsæp/ ''AY-sap'')), is an American rapper from Harlem, New York City. He is a lead member of the hip hop collective ASAP Mob, f ...

, and Father. Park began growing a web fan-base after video clips of his rap battles were posted to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. In 2015, Park announced his return to battle rap, participating in

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

and OVO's event ''

King of the Dot King of The Dot Entertainment, also known as KOTD, is a Canadian rap battle league founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2008. The company's HQ is based in Toronto, from which it gets its name. Successful battlers such as Pat Stay, Dizaster, ...

Blackout 5'', with Drake expressing his excitement at Park's return. Park competed against

Wild 'n Out ''Wild 'n Out'' is an American sketch comedy and battle rap improv game show television series created and hosted by musician and comedian Nick Cannon currently airing on VH1. It debuted on July 28, 2005, on MTV. Premise Similar in premise ...

cast member Conceited, and the battle was the most popular English rap battle of 2015. He has been featured on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

for his viral video Jam Session 2.0, consisting of eight different musicians from around the world sharing the spotlight individually via split screen but collaborating on one cohesive track. He has also been featured by ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', ''

Last Call with Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with '' ...

'', MTV Hive, and

Mnet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

. Park played a supporting role in Joseph Kahn's horror film '' Detention'' and would later appear in Kahn's 2017 film '' Bodied'' as battle-rapper Prospek. In 2016, he released the music video "Safe," 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 East Asian or East Asian American actors at the Oscars, and that "the only yellow men were all statues." Furthermore, the music video was another call to "the obvious underrepresentation of people of color in Hollywood." Park was also a starring member of the 2016 documentary '' Bad Rap'', which outlined the lives of four East Asian American musicians trying to make it in the hip-hop scene. He also played Dylan Shin in the

Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...

drama ''Power''. In 2017, he co-wrote "Spirit Animal" and "Arrived" alongside

for her debut EP '' Un2verse''. Since 2018, Park has hosted the ''Fun With Dumb'' podcast. In April 2020,

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

began development on a half-hour comedy television series based on Park's life entitled ''Big Dummie.'' Park's talk show with

Sasha Grey Marina Ann Hantzis (born 1988), known professionally as Sasha Grey, is an American actress, model, writer, musician, and former pornographic film actress. She began her acting career in the pornographic film industry, winning 15 awards for h ...

, ''Grey Area,'' debuted on the online

television network A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television show, television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or ...

VENN on August 5, 2020. During the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Park promoted support for restaurant workers affected by

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Filmography

Film

* '' Detention'' (2011), Toshiba * '' Bad Rap'' (2016), himself * '' Bodied'' (2017), Prospek * ''

Raya and the Last Dragon ''Raya and the Last Dragon'' ( ) is a 2021 American animated fantasy action adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada, co-directed by ...

'' (2021), Chai (voice) * ''

Mid-Century ''Mid-Century'' is a 2022 American horror thriller film directed by Sonja O'Hara and written and produced by Mike Stern. The film stars Bruce Dern, Stephen Lang and Shane West, with the latter two also serving as executive producers. Plot In 1 ...

'' (2022), Sgt. Choe * '' Quiz Lady'' (2023), Ken * '' K-Pops!'' (2024), Cash * '' Sweet Dreams'' (2024), Dip

Television series

* ''

Power Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...

'' (2016), Dylan * ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward and co-produced by Frederator Studios for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn the Human, Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

'' (2017), Son of Rap Bear (voice) * '' The Mick'' (2018), Sneaker Store Employee * ''

Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens ''Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens'' (or simply ''Nora from Queens'') is an American television sitcom starring Awkwafina that first aired on January 20, 2020, on Comedy Central. The series was renewed for a second season before the series premiere, ...

'' (2020), Doug

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 1986 births Living people 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American rappers American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors American hip-hop musicians American musicians of Korean descent American people of South Korean descent American rappers of East Asian descent Argentine emigrants to the United States Argentine people of South Korean descent Korean-language singers of the United States Musicians from Buenos Aires Project Blowed Rappers from Los Angeles Underground rappers West Coast hip-hop musicians