I discovered a really awesome artist who goes by the name of Gonhills. (The name derives from Yongsan, one of the smaller towns in Seoul. Short for dragon Hills.) He is part of FOREIGN LANDS together with other Asian American artists (Suah, JAWNZ, Midas Klay, 2lanes). Last month they held first liveshow together in NYC. I got to know this 31-y/o talented man, thanks to Clubby Yoo, who is also part of the label.
Fun fact: besides music, Gonhills loves to fish, play golf and cook.
If you keep up with the khiphop side of my blog, then you'll know that Flowsik is my favourite rapper. While talking to Gonhills, I was very excited to learn about their friendship. For me, Flowsik is an artist who I look up to, and who motivates me to become a better version of myself. For Gonhills, Flowsik is not just his friend but also his mentor.
This is story: when he was in high school, he took a casual interest in music. He lived in Seoul back then. After meeting Flowsik in Korea, music became a serious thing. I asked him about their meeting: "Think i met flowsik back in 2014-2015ish a year before smtm season 5 started. Tru a mutual friend who's also a rapper from back in the days called "Rousseau"". I think most of us are happy that these two amazing men met each other. I mean, Gonhills is more than "just a rapper", he is also a producer, songwriter and lyricist. Before I forget, Gonhills told me that he was there at the LA auditions, but wasn't ready so he didn't audition.
I got super excited finding out that the very reason I got obsessed with Flowsik, the music video/ song 'Wet' featuring Jessi, he took a part writing in this song. Even though he "helped them with toplines and lyrics here n there" I think he's fucking awesome. He took part in writing other songs too, try to find them yourselves ;)
About his music
From his website: “Mission Statement: Make uplifting music for Asian American communities and abridge the cultural gaps that exist among different cultures.”
When I asked him about his goals/ dreams, he told me about one of them: “-becoming an artist that other artists want to work with”.
Since Gonhills is a small artist, so finding info takes some more time. The reason why he joined or was invited to the be part of FOREIGN LANDS is because everyone there shares a smiliair goal: bringing Asian Americans together through music.
Back to his music, he raps in a mix of Korean and English. About his own album 'Departure | 출국': This album is a collection of my experiences living as a foreigner in the U.S. for the past 15 years and redefining my Korean roots. With my formative years in the U.S, my own perception of racial and ethnic identity would often see-saw between pride and resentment. “Departure” features contemplations on my own identity that often felt too heavy, abstract, and subtle to describe. These themes are wholeheartedly expressed through various genres such as Lo-fi, Reggae, Dupstep and Trap. My hope is that others can relate to my reflections and continue the conversation.
As I don't know Korean and there's no translation to be found, I asked him myself if he could give an indepth description of 3 songs.
Coreanos
This is a track about me coming to U.S as an immigrant and how I got synchronized to the U.S culture/standards. From the way I talk to dress, there are certain standards that are placed onto foreigners and I wanted to explore that emotion in this song. I also took a part in beatmaking for this track!
Subway
While I was in Korea doing music, I used to ride subways to get to places. A subway ride is a perfect metaphor to describe life in Korea. While these safe vessels/vehicles move us from one place to another, we are expected to stay quiet, wait in line and follow a bunch of crowd to exit out of a hell hole. I thought it’d be fun to make a song out of it :)
Jjam
So from year 2013-2015, I served in the Korean Army to fulfill my mandatory duty as a Korean citizen. My role was a tank driver and I drove the K-227 Armor Vehicle for 2 years. I met many Korean friends during this time and I wanted to make a song about them.
Final words
I feel incredibly honored getting to know Gonhills. He is a man with a big heart and ambitious mind. I wish him all the success in the world and I can't wait to see him perform live someday. I would like to add that writing this blog wasn't possible without the man himself, so I am grateful that he could make time for me in his busy schedule :)
The more time I spend on this blog, the more of a fan I became :D
I hope I was able to spark your interest, thank you for reading & please check out his music!
I just remembered that it's the end of February. I miss Gonhills, so I sent him a DM last month. He's featuring on a song that'll be released on the 28th !
