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American rapper
Gender:
Male
Birth:
18 February 1986(Buenos Aires, Argentina)
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Biography

Introduction

Jonathan Park (born February 18, 1986), known professionally as Dumbfoundead, is an 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 Asian-American rappers in the United States, known for his witty and socially conscious lyrics.

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.

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.

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.

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

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. Park competed against Wild 'n Out cast member Conceited, and the battle was the most popular English rap battle of 2015. 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. His second album, Take the Stares, was released on October 16, 2012. 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. 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.

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. He has also been on Los Angeles Times, Last Call with Carson Daly, MTV Hive, and Mnet.

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 Asian or 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 Asian-American artists trying to make it in the hip-hop scene. He also played Dylan Shin in the Starz drama Power.

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

Discography

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales

DFD
  • Released: November 1, 2011
  • Label: Transparent Agency
  • Formats: CD, digital download
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

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

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
  • KOR: 123,562+
Who Are You?
"Please"
DPR Live feat. Dumbfoundead, Kim Hyo-eun, G2
2017 N/A Coming To You Live