Coming year after year with a more refined, traditional style of rap, Dumbfoundead has slowly climbed from being completely unknown to getting national recognition
His name is a play on an expression of astonishment, and with each album he continues to evoke that reaction in listeners, showing a new side of his ascension as a rapper.
Jonathan Park was born to Korean immigrants and lived in Argentina before fleeing to Mexico and then Koreatown, Los Angeles as a three-year old. As a kid, hip-hop quickly became a stabilizing force, having been introduced to it at a community center in an LA park.
He first gained widespread recognition using YouTube as a channel and platform, and built an underground following by effortlessly spitting at and wining rap battle events created by Drake and other largely influential rappers.
Now, however, with three albums released, he’s thoroughly made it. His recently released fourth one, however, might be his best.
On We Might Die, Dumbfoundead, as the title might suggest, he recounts the times when he had to risk it all in pursuit of the happiness he’s always sought after.
On “All In,” he suggests real, meaningful happiness is not found merely by distracting ourselves from the world using social media and Netflix. It is found by striving for dreams and going all in.”
He speaks a lot on oppression and the true ignorance of society, as obstacles to this pursuit at the midpoint of the album on the song, “Safe.” Tracks like these show Dumbfoundead’s social awareness, one of his most distinguishing features, hasn’t gone anywhere.
Dumbfounddead’s delivery usually consists of a mix of old and new style flows, adding in many of his own embellishments as well. This is heard best in the song “Murals,” which talks about his come up from when he was a kid. It ties in some slow, deep vocals and is a very similar style to styles of rappers like Atmosphere. The newer side is exhibited in his use of autotune and the electronic production.
On the music video for the track, and throughout much of the album, Park displays his everlasting connection to Korean culture, and his desire to give back to it. Filmed in Koreatown, he reinforces the song’s lyrics of being the main voice pushing for Korean and Asian voices to be heard.
On the latter part of the album, Dumbfounded plays out the situation of constant threats on his last few songs. On “Harambe,” he raps about feeling the threat of being taken down, both figuratively and literally, as the song’s title suggests.
Finally on the album’s last track, “Hold Me Down,” he revisits the idea of being an immigrant, but not allowing any negative the media or political situations slow him down.
On the album Dumbfoundead reinforces his reputation having lyrics deeper than many of his peers. His ability to carve his words, powerful on their own, into art is unmatched.
Don’t miss out on this man’s dangerous album filled with youthful energy.
