Last month, Generasian Editor-at-Large had the opportunity to interview Dumbfoundead (also known as Parker and Korean Jesus) after his performance at NYU ACE31. Parts of this interview have been released on Kollaboration NY and One Reason Recordings, but below is the full transcript, in which he talks about his thoughts on everything from Asian activists to how he approaches the music and entertainment business.
You mentioned Asian stereotypes in your first song, what are some that really affected you personally?
I think any Asian American has dealt with stereotypes, especially in the rap worldāthatās all material for rappers to start using as ammo, you know what Iām saying? So it was cool to me when I was hit with a lot of those stereotypes and I always found it kind of cool, like I always appreciated clever racial punchlines, I guess. You know what Iām saying? If theyāre just like ching chong ching chong, thatās whack. Dave Chappelle had a good bit about how when Kramer dropped the N bomb on Dave and when he had that controversy. Dave said he saw that set and he said thatās when he found out that he was 80% comedian and 20% black, because instead of being offended, he was like, āthat dude is having a terrible set right nowā. There was no like black and white, there was only black and tight, you know. But I mean, I got hit by it all, same as any Asian American would, and it didnāt faze me. I just want to come back harder and I liked that they underestimated me and they thought they had me in the corner just because they had these few stereotypes.
When youāre on stage, do you identify more as Asian, or are you just a rapper?
Iām just a rapper, but I go up there and be like, Iām Asian and I represent us hard because weāre definitely a minority in the entertainment business. So to me, I want to come up. I think I definitely had identity issues like a lot of Asians when theyāre growing up, just ācus theyāre like, where do we fit? And young Asian kids, you know, theyāre like any other kid. Weāre watching TV and listening to the radio and theyāre looking for voices that they can follow and inspire them and to motivate them to follow that same blueprint. But when you donāt see any Asian role models, itās like, where do these kids go? So they usually cling on to other cultures, whether itās black culture and hip hop or white kids and rock music. They choose a side, you know what Iām saying? And with Asian kids, there werenāt really role models ā weāre still creating that blueprint. Weāre all pioneers now, everybody whoās doing right now, weāre pioneers.
Yeah, I definitely identify, and now Iām definitely strong about representing, I represent hard. Iām not up there saying like āAsian pride,ā but I think just me being myself and saying whatever the f*** I want is important. I donāt think I should hold back in being rambunctious or being a crazy dude because we need role models like that. We already know about these Asians who are, you know, doing good stuff behind the scenes. The doctors and lawyers ā theyāre doing great work, but we need the balance, you know what Iām saying? Jeremy Linās cool, but I want an Asian Ron Artest ā like I want that balance, you know, so I think we need more of that. We need to break that stereotype of every Asian guy being timid and shy.
So how do you feel about the entertainment industry ā do they treat you differently because youāre Asian?
No ā you know what, they donāt treat me differently. But when Iām looking at mainstream media, I always wonder why there arenāt as many Asian Americans on TV or radio, and that bugs me for sure. That bugs me because Iām trying to be one of those voices and things are starting to change, like Eddie Huang, Arden Cho, David Chang, a lot of Asian actors too. [Theyāre] not just doing stereotypical roles, but itās very slow progress and it always will be. Even when the black community was trying to break into entertainment in the beginning, they had to do a lot of stuff that even their own community criticized them for, so like thatās the kinda s*** that we might see. For example, Ken Jeong from the Hangover. So as much as I donāt like seeing that s***, we have to start from somewhere. We kinda have to go through that before we climb over that hill.
Itās been said that yellow is the new black, rising up, do you think thatās true?
Funny thing about being Asian is that thereās a lot of cool s*** about Asian culture that people f*** with, but itās not fully cool. You have Jet Li in Romeo Must Die and he was the lead role, but no one believed that he would smash the lead. They tried to sell that, but we havenāt had any Asian leading dudes that were cool. Girls right now donāt see movies and say āI wanna f*** that Asian dudeāāthey did a studyā¦ Asian girlāmost desired girls in the planet. Asian guysāleast desired guys on the planet. It doesnāt help that we have f***ing stereotypes, thatās f***ed up. I just think we need more role models, speaking against that s***, Asian male porn stars, thatās what Iām pretty much sayingā¦nah Iām just kidding, but there really isnāt oneā¦
In terms of role models, youāve worked with other established artists, like Epik Highā¦
Iām strictly speaking for America, because those are international markets. Kpop is big, all over the world, even here, but the general American is not going to know about those stars, and thatās fine. There are White girls, Black girls, Latina girls, who are into Kpop, but a lot of them are actually the outcasts of American culture too. If you meet a lot of those girls, those are the outcast kids in school, and I love that about the Kpop fanbase, that you get all these weird kids. I was a f***ing weird kid, so I love that they have something to attach themselves to and be a part of. If Iām talking general marketing in America, weāre still the butt of a lot of jokes. You can hear a corny-a** Asian joke thatās been played out so many times, but you can go to a comedy club and it still f***ing works, you know? It still works, and itās so whack. And thatās educationāit all comes down to education. It comes down to educating the general masses about what Asians areāpeople donāt have an idea of what Asian people are in America. Itās all anime, kung fuāthatās real s***.
In terms of some of the Asian American activists on the scene recently, I donāt know if youāve heard of Jeff Yang, who writes for the WSJ, and Suey Parkā¦
Yeah, of course, I keep up. If thereās any Asian mother***ers making noise, Iām up on it. And thatās how a lot of Asian cats are, because we have so few that as soon as we hear about one Asian mother***er doing some s***, we find out about it. I found out about Awkwafina a long-a** time ago. She put out one video and I was like who the f*** is this? I did mad research, I emailed her, me and Rekstizzy, who was on stage, weāre up on our Asian s***. If thereās one Asian mother***er slightly making noise, Iām gonna find you, and Iām gonna try to make some s***. And thatās how few there are, you know what Iām saying? We gotta search for mother***ers, and Iām not even a f***ing manager or record label, Iām just trying to f***ing relate to mother***ers.
Actually the charity that I work with, ORR, weāre doing thatāweāre supporting independent artists, and actually one of the artists we work with, Jae Jin, heās up-and-coming. Whatās your opinion on record labels? Letās say an artist gets an offer from a big record label ā whatās your advice?
I think the fact that major labels are failing is the best thing to ever happen to Asian Americans ā real talk ā because now we can do whatever the f*** we want. Asian kids arenāt thinking, āI need to get a major label deal,ā because everybody is killing it independent. Asians, weāre already a long-a** distance from getting signed to a major label. Now that gap is slowly getting tighter and tighter, where we can just skip that s*** and be like, āWeāre gonna put out our own s***.ā YouTube is like Asian Hollywood ā that s*** is crazy.
If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring Asian artist, what would it be?
I would just say youāve got to get out of your comfort zone ā thatās number one. What Iām scared about for the Asian entertainment community is that itās going to have an Asian entertainment scene that becomes a comfort zone. [For example], you start performing at just Asian events and people feel confident just in that circle, and donāt want to step out of the circle. Thereās enough money in there to survive, so they donāt want to strive for higher, or beyond that. Thatās f***ing scary ā thatās why the YouTube scene kind of scares me, because all those YouTube kids reach a plateau in that and they donāt go further than that. You have to graduate from that into mainstream media. What I mean is, [for example], if thereās a YouTube kid who has half a million or a million subscribers who has never played a show outside of his bedroom, he might have a lot of viewers and followers, but once he gets a deal and they throw him on the f***ing stage, is he gonna he know what the f*** to do? Thatās f***ing scary. Thatās why I admire the black community ā they have sh** like The Apollo where if you suck, they boo you offstage. To me, that was dope, because itās tough love.
You need that from the Asian community. Asian motherf***ers are way too nice to each other ā youāve got to tell them that theyāre whack or that they need improvement. Asian people are way too nice to each other about criticism and feedback and that doesnāt help everybody ā real friends stab you in the front. I told that to Kollaborationās Roy and PK ā itās important to support your own kind, Asian Americans, but itās way more important to support dope Asians. I donāt want whack Asians on the front line. Kollaboration has been doing great work, but they need to be stricter, really tighten up. Kollaboration has 12 cities ā every year, they do a show in a different city, so there are 12-15 shows a year. But youāre not going to find the best of the best Asians like that. Itās hard finding one f***ing crazy ass Asian a year. Youāre trying to have a showcase of 10 acts in every f***ing city? You have to tighten it up [to find the] best of the best. Have one act ā one show in the U.S. and get the f***ing best motherf***ers every year.
What do you think makes someone the best?
You know! The people know, the community knows, we know ā weāre not stupid. You canāt underestimate the audience. The more you underestimate them, itās going to be the norm. Itās going to be the norm for us to watch every Asian performer do a f***ing Bruno Mars cover and thatās the s***. Like how many times have you heard that s*** ā someone do a Jason Mraz or Bruno Mars cover on stage with a guitar? Letās get some original content. Iāve seen it all. Iāve been doing this s*** a long time, since college. Iāve seen it all, the worst of the worst, the best of the best.
So recently there have been more publicized reports of anti-Asian racismā¦do you think there is an actual rise in prevalence of these events, or is it just that Asian communities are being more vocal?
No, I think Asian cats are being more vocal. I donāt think thereās been a rise of racism, I think that s***ās been there. Weāve had a very steady amount of racism and it hasnāt decreasedāitās there. But yeah, Asian cats are being more vocal, and also the medium of being vocal has changed. Weāre talking about the technology, which is one thing that Iām kinda half and half about, like ok itās cool that people are being vocal, but with hashtags and s*** like thatā¦but you know, donāt be scared to get in front of the camera or a f***ing microphone and go off.
That was my follow-up question, the whole twitter infightingā
Like Suey Park and shit like that? I donāt knowā¦I think itās easy for her, itās like slacktivism [Cat: keyboard activism?]. Yeah, there have been people fighting that fight for a long time. Itās cool that they got this reach but I think that they need to do a little bit more research and pay dues, just like anything else, before they kinda just get out there. If youāre representing a community like that, you gotta be careful and you gotta do your f***ing research and study that shit. Thatās why Suey got that f***ing heat, because you canāt just go out there and be like āthis is how the whole community feelsā when it isnāt.
So which activist do you align your views most with?
Mmm, like Asian activist? I like cats who donāt jump to conclusionsāthey just kinda present that out there and inform the people more and not sway or try to preach. I donāt like the preachy cats at all.
Many thanks to Justin Choy for arranging the interview and to Jason Moy and Peter Ou, who provided the images for this post.
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