Dumb was Found Dead (and Jin)

With all of the flashy outfits and complicated choreography of boy and girl bands in the Asian pop industry surrounding us, we forget about the Asian rap artists. I'm most familiar with two Asian rappers: Dumbfoundead and MC Jin. I discovered Dumbfoundead, a Korean American rapper, when I was watching a Jay Park (K-pop artist) video. I saw “Clouds - Dumbfoundead ft. Jay Park & Clara” in the “Related videos” section and was curious about the clever, but rather morbid name “Dumbfoundead.” I watched a few videos on his channel and saw that his rap style was just as clever as his stage name, especially the song Dumb Raps. The lyrics were “Don’t need them / we want them / but we can’t afford them / we watch it / we listen / then move on from boredom.” However, each “them” could also be heard as “dumb” (or “boredumb” instead of “boredom”). It feels different to listen to a song for its word play rather than the melody, harmony, rhythm, or some other musical aspect. Check out Dumb Raps below:

                                    

I discovered Jin when I was obsessed with Wang Leehom, a popular C-pop artist. Jin is a Chinese American rapper who sometimes collaborates with C-pop artists. He was both the first East Asian and Chinese solo rapper to be signed to a major record label. He also won all seven rap battles in a row on BET’s Freestyle Friday, which enabled him to be inducted in the Freestyle Friday Hall of Fame. His style is a bit more serious than Dumbfoundead’s, but entertaining nevertheless. Check out Shoot for the Moon below:

-Sherry