Beat of the Week: James An

James An graduated in 2015 from Penn with a dual degree in Management and Religious Studies, but realized that firms like Goldman and McKinsey just OCRn’t his thing. Instead, the Korean–born, Canada–raised, U.S.–based An is casually getting a master's degree in education with a focus on music from Harvard University (Ed. note: aka the lesser Ivy) and working on his music career. His sound consists of chilled–out beats infused with subtle nods to old school hip–hop layered under a sick, charged bilingual flow. Between releasing his new mixtape “See What I See” and creating more material to grace your ears with, James An dropped a fire Street interview.

Check out his music videos here and here, and like him on Facebook here.

Street: First off, what genre do you classify yourself as?

James An: Hip–hop in general, with a focus on Korean hip–hop. I rap in Korean and English, and at one point I thought, “Should I choose one language or another?” since it’s already really hard to be good at one form of expression. I’m very bicultural—not perfectly—and I think part of my growth has been navigating my growth as a Korean and an American and a Canadian. I realized that I could express different things better and in different ways in different languages. And I didn't want to limit myself when I had this gift of connecting with so many different cultures. Also when I’m rapping, I want to connect with both my Korean and English friends—so I might as well make music in both those languages.

Street: You talked a little bit about expressing yourself better in certain languages. Can you elaborate on that?

JA: Let’s say I’m rapping about my family. With my family, we speak mostly, if not only, Korean. So most of the memories and experiences and thoughts are expressed in the Korean language. If I’m rapping about it, it’s more in line if I write about these experiences in Korean. This goes against everything I just said, but I recently just wrote a song about my mom in English. Normally, I would have written it in Korean, but I wrote it in English because I wanted my non–Korean friends to understand more about my background. My mom lived with my brother and me in Canada while my dad worked in Korea, which is a common situation for other Korean friends as well. So why not take this opportunity to connect with my non–Korean speaking friends about parts of my background?

On the other hand, I’m definitely more articulate in English. I try to challenge myself more lyrically with my English songs.

Street: Feeding off of that, if your music were a food, what would it be?

JA: It would be a fusion food between Korean and English food. Maybe sushi with some Costco fries, because I love Costco fries.

Street: How did you first get into making music? 

JA: I moved to Canada when I was 10, which was a huge transition for me—culturally, academically, environmentally. It was really hard to adjust, until I somehow got access to Eminem albums. So I would play his music in my room and emulate him everyday. I memorized all his songs and would sing them at karaoke, and my friends thought it was “mad impressive.” So listening to Eminem and emulating his rap made me gain confidence in a new environment. I started writing lyrics in the latter half of college. I didn’t write lyrics for a long time because I felt like my story didn’t align with the narrative of what hip–hop could be, since I was listening to a lot of gangster rap—50 Cent, Eminem. I thought, “I didn’t start from the bottom! I don’t have a story to tell!” During college, I started writing and realized that I did have a story to tell. So I kept writing. 

Street: If you could collab with one artist, it would be… 

JA: I have several. Tiger JK, who is an old school Korean rapper who pioneered rap and Korean hip–hop. Listening to his songs was the first time that I thought that I should strive to make music that matters. For example, he has a song called "8:45 Heaven" about his grandmother passing away. He chose that album as the title track of album, which is huge because the industry usually doesn’t highlight tracks that aren’t poppy and marketable. 

Also, any Korean–American rappers that make a statement about Korean–American culture. It’s hard for Asian Americans to talk about identity issues because there aren’t a lot of conversations around them. 

Honestly, any rapper who just wants to express real talk. I respect J. Cole because he raps about things that matter more than just cars and money. I want to rap about things that resonate with me and other people.

Street: Could you give our readers a crash course to Korean hip–hop culture?

JA: I can’t speak to all of it, but from my perspective, Korean hip–hop is relatively new and started probably around the 1990s. It’s at an interesting stage right now: It’s hard to sustain yourself with a creative career, especially as a rapper, since Korea as a nation, historically, is very focused on productivity rather than creativity. There’s also a stigma against hip–hop culture. A lot of people think that hip–hop is for bad kids who don’t study. But at the same time, hip–hop is growing expansively in terms of exposure and business in the country. There are so many new collaborations and artists and in that sense; it’s at an exciting stage. And I want to be a part of it, especially to defeat that stigma against the culture. 

Street: What’s something you wish you could get away with on stage? 

JA: I’m not a dancer, but I want to stop rapping and dance like crazy for a few minutes on stage and just give off a no–fucks–given vibe. 

Street: How do/did you balance being a musician and being a Penn student?

JA: I guess I didn’t prioritize my studies as much in the first place. I guess I just loved it so much that I had to make time for it every day, even with my schedule. I ended up starting a rap group at Penn called Klass. When I started it, it was seven people who were new to rapping. Every week, we would meet and share feedback until the next semester when we had a show. Everyone got to go on stage and spit fire with so much confidence that they had gained throughout the year. And it was so wonderful for me to witness the transformation and see everyone share their stories. Having that community motivated me to write more and connect more. 

Street: How do you think Penn, and Philly, have influenced your music? 

JA: I loved Penn, and I know my friends from here have shaped my music a lot. So I was moved to write about topics that they could relate to, like my experiences at Penn or Penn normativity. It didn’t shape my music, but gave me an outlet to relate to my audience.

Street: Fill out this lyric. Let’s talk about, _____, baby. 

JA: Existentialism.

Street: What inspires you the most? 

JA: People. My professor, Justin McDaniel, teaches the “monk class,” Living Deliberately. The experience was the most transformative experience of my entire life, but he as an individual inspires me in so many ways. Not just in terms of music, but all across the board. He is an individual who accepts me, and everyone else, fully for who we are and completely without judgment. I want to be that person for other people as he was to me. As he did, I want everyone to know through my music—or even in general—that I accept them and care about them. So people have helped me learn empathy—to look outside just myself and understand others.

Street: Team Taylor or Team Kanye? 

JA: Team Kanye. I like Kanye’s music. And I listen to a lot of his talks, and he is actually incredibly smart and inspiring—no matter how outrageous he might come off as.

Street: Do you think you’re using your degree as you pursue music?

JA: I always think, “What if I went to music school where I learned to produce shit?” I think I’d be so much better at it. But the more I write and the more experiences I get, the luckier I consider myself for not going to school for music. All these things that I’ve learned connect. My undergraduate degrees in business, religious studies and hip–hop education—which I’m currently getting a degree in at Harvard. Each part of my education has helped me in some way, whether to teach me things about management or about my personal story. 

Street: What can we expect from you in the future? 

JA: I’m probably releasing a mixtape next year. I also might be on Netflix next year: I acted in a full–feature independent film called Dangerous to Know as a supporting role in Canada earlier this year. My character is kind of like Jesse from Breaking Bad, and I’m excited for everyone to see it. And after I finish from conscripting in the Korean military, I expect to fully embark on my career.