If you were to ask a young girl or woman today what female rapper they are feeling, you will get names like Trina and Lil Kim. These are rappers that have to prostitute themselves to move units. They have to disrespect themselves and their sisters to move units. But there are women who don’t need a made up image or gimmick to make music. There are true artist out there that spit with power and purpose. There are artist that spit for the love of GOD, for the love of his people and for the love of art.
Recently I was blessed with an opportunity to have a conversation with the very gifted Heesun Lee. Heesun was born in Seoul, Korea and was quickly abandoned by her birth parents. When she was four months old, a Chinese American family in Staten Island, New York adopted her. As she got older she began to realize she didn’t really know whom she was. She was cut off from her history, and that added fuel to a desire to express her emotions, so she began to write poetry. So when she was thirteen she put pen to paper and started writing. Eventually Her passion for Hip Hop lead her to write songs. But it wasn’t until her grandmother passed away that she gives her life to Christ and became more focused on her music.
It’s funny how GOD works sometimes. Heesun met her manager and producer Rock after a show (that she missed thanks to that ridicules New York traffic). He asked her to spit right outside on the sidewalk and was impressed with what he heard. That was two years go and their partnership has let to fire on wax in the form of her first full-length album, “RE: Defined“.
Malachi: I heard your Birthday was the other day, happy birthday.
Heesun: Yea on Thursday
Malachi: Did you do anything to celebrate?
Heesun: Well, I have a nine to five so my co-workers took me out and then I spent some time with my fiancée
Malachi: Oh wow, so you’re engaged??
Heesun: Yea, I got engaged at my album release party. He came out on stage and did it then. It was Cute.
Malachi: So have you set a date?
Heesun: umm, yea. In November of this year.
Malachi: Your real name is Cynthia right?
Heesun: Yeah. Well Heesun is my Korean name.
Malachi: OOOhhhhhh! Well that was what I was going to ask next, like how did you come up with Heesun?
Heesun: Yea, that was my Korean name when I was born and when I came here my name was changed to Cynthia.
Malachi: So tell me about your producer and your manager Rock. How’s the chemistry 
between you two?
Heesun: Oh, It’ very good. We rarely have any issues you know, and he’s definitely helped me develop as an artist. I met him two years ago and through there we just started connecting. He’s the one that basically helped me with my entire album. He recorded it with me, he produced it and now he’s my manager so you know he’s always helping me at shows. We’ve grown in every way. Spiritually, just friendship wise, and just business wise. We have a very good chemistry so I can’t complain.
Malachi: Do you come up with song concepts together?
Heesun: Well most of the time I come up with the concepts myself. But like as soon as I get to the studio, Rock and I will talk about it. I let him give me suggestions. You know some of the hooks on my album, he wrote. Like the ones that he is actually singing on, he wrote the majority of those. We vibe together, but most of the time I do my own concepts.
Malachi: So how does it work? Do you wait until you hear a beat then write to it or are you always writing and when you hear a beat you match it with what you wrote?
Heesun: Well, sometimes I’ll have a concept in my head then I’ll tell Rock “I’m thinking about writing a song about this, do you have beat for that topic?” Or sometimes hell just give me a whole CD of beats and I’ll just make up a concept based off of the beat.
Malachi: So how often do you write?
Heesun: Well I write a lot, not like every day. I guess I write like maybe two are tree times a week. Even if I’m not writing for anything superficially but mostly I write poetry. The Poetry, I try to be very consistent with. There are times when I won’t write for a couple of weeks but it usually is a pretty consistent thing, I write a lot of poems even if its not for my album or anything, and then you know I have my own journal so I keep up with that daily too.
Malachi: I feel trials and going though things can make a good writer or artist great. How have your life experiences added to your music?
Heesun: Yes definitely! I even think I wouldn’t be into music if I didn’t go though the things that I went though, cuz just like you said, life experiences, or even pain or happiness, that dictated what you want to write about. I feel like a lot of artist these days, there just writing to come up with a hot song. They’re not trying to put their emotions in it, and that’s the whole point of writing and music. It’s to let the inside of you come out and I feel a lot of these artists aren’t doing that these days. So what I always try to make sure I do is that whatever I’m going though or what I been though I write it out. It helps me get though it.
Malachi: Ok, you know I’m definitely feeling that because I write too, and I been though a lot in my short lifetime. It’ seems like it’s the things GOD has brought me through that brings me the most inspiration.
Heesun: Do you write poetry or do you rap or sing?
Malachi: Oh I Love to do some of everything, I don’t sing, I cant sing(Laughs)…
Heesun: (Laughs) I can’t sing either
Malachi: At all, But I do some of everything. I’ve always been into poetry myself. I right short stories essays. I love to write.
Heesun: Oh ok, that’s hot. I wish everyone would love it do.
Malachi: Well I think that’s one of the reasons I felt a connection with your music. I listen to it I feel its depth. So how did you receive your calling from GOD? How did you know he wanted you to minister to his people in this way?
Heesun: It’s Crazy. It was like a gradual thing. It’s not like I woke up one day and decided I was going to be a rapper. I was always into writing. I was always writing poetry and songs and it just manifested, and then I got into Hip Hop when I was in high school and it just inspired me. Actually when I was in high school and I was listening to Hip Hop that’s when I got saved. So I was putting all these things together. I’m Christian and I write. And I’m dedicating my life to GOD, I’m into Hip Hop you know and I stared getting into Christian Hip Hop. So I was like “yo, I can do this. Let me just put all three together”. So I just started writing Christian Hip Hop lyrics. I really didn’t think I was good but I figured I’d give it a shot and then I continued doing things. And as you continue to work on your craft you began to realize this is what GOD wanted you to do all along. Like I said it was a very gradual thing, But I know this is what GOD has called me to do because if this were not in my life I would honestly not be who I am today.
Malachi: So your first album Re: Defined has been out for a while now. What’s the meaning behind the title?
Heesun: Well, right before I met Rock I was working with another ministry and I went though a lot with them. We ended our business relationship on a bad note. And I was just trying to find my place and I was going though a lot. Struggling as a Christian. All of these things just fell into place as soon as I met Rock. It was totally accidental, I don’t even think we were supposed to meet (laughs) but you know it just happened that we did. We just developed our relationship. So as we are working together I just had it in my heart to call the album Re: Defined, because everything that I was doing with Rock was redefining who I used to be. I was changing mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. All the struggles I was going though in the past wasn’t as bad any more. I was totally changing. And I was getting better. I feel like meeting Rock and putting this album out was a total change for the better.
Malachi: I feel you. Its definitely a powerful and in-depth album unlike a lot of the music we hear today, secular and Christian. What is the concept behind the album?
Heesun: Well, you know some people will have a title for an album but then each of the songs on the album really don’t coincide with the title. So with Re: Defined ,I was trying to show the different stages in my life. How I was “redefined”. So on the album I have a song I have called “New Day,” and that’s about how I would like the world to be redefined. “Pray for ‘Em” is about foster kids. How we want to redefined our mentalities of how we think of them and to give them hope. “A Part of Me” is about how us as Christians need to be redefined and start serving GOD in a more passionate personal way. My acapella song “Why Are We Racist” deals with how we look at people and race and culture. Basically with each track I was trying to put a message out about how we need to change our way of thinking and how we view people and how we view things. And how we view ourselves.
Malachi: And did you feel that was the direction GOD was calling you to go in as far as attacking these different subject areas?
HeeSun: Definitely, because I feel like me being who I am as a regular person in Hip Hop, I am redefining a lot of things because I’m female, I’m Asian, and I’m Christian. These are three things you are not going to see every day in Hip Hop. But wanted to go further. ..Yea I’m Christian, Yea I’m a woman and yea I’m Asian but I wanted people to know more then that. I have a message and I’m trying to come correct and let people know regardless of what you see on the outside there’s so much more on the inside.
Please Click Here to Visit Ambitionz Az A Ridah: Exclusive HeeSun Lee Interview – Book Two
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