Jonnie Park: The Asian Kid Hip Hop Wasn't Ready For

Jonnie Park was born in Argentina to Korean parents, crossed the US-Mexico border undocumented at age three, carried by a mother with two toddlers and nothing but courage, and grew up in Koreatown, Los Angeles, caught between Korean, Latino, and Black American culture.

He became one of the only Asian battle rappers in history to gain mainstream notoriety, starred in Run DMC, appeared in Awkafina is Nora from Queens, voiced a character in Raya and the Last Dragon, and now he's written a memoir, Spit: A Life in Battles, which drops on April 14th.

In this episode, Jonnie and Sadia get into what it actually felt like to step into a battle rap circle surrounded by hundreds of people, how hip hop taught him to be unapologetically Asian, the complicated relationship with his father that he had to write about first before anything else, and why immigrants, including his mother, built the best parts of America.

This episode covers: undocumented immigration, Korean American identity, battle rap culture, cultural appropriation vs. appreciation, Asian American representation in Hollywood, memoir writing, and generational trauma.

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Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound

Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production.

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Belong on Your Own Terms (BOYOT) is the app created to help first-gen, second-gen, and diaspora communities move from confusion to clarity. With structured prompts and deep reflection tools, it helps you define identity without shrinking yourself for anyone else

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