I Love You, Daddy

HeeSun Lee isn’t your average Hip Hop MC. Put up for adoption in her native Korea at the age of four months, she was brought to America and raised by Chinese parents on Staten Island, NY. As a teenager, she became a fan of hip-hop acts ranging from Lauryn Hill and Will Smith to Tupac Shakur. All of Lee’s diverse experiences have fused to create the illuminating backdrop for her sophomore CD “Stereotypes” that released on iTunes and other retail outlets on January 21, 2014. It placed #7 on iTunes Christian/Gospel Charts and #24 on Billboard Christian Gospel. Lee’s story is unique in that she credits not only her faith but also hip-hop for saving her life. “Hip-Hop saved me from a lot of things,” she confesses.


“My biggest struggle growing up was with my identity and it all correlates with being stereotyped and not knowing where I belonged because I was adopted.” Lee envisioned the 16-track CD as a tool to evangelize, while also examining society’s stereotypes like the one that suggests that someone of Korean heritage lacks the spit skills to make it in hip-hop. “I have had to constantly remind myself that I am legit,” Lee says of the battle to win cred as an emcee. Through it all, HeeSun has managed to break through every barrier and challenge set before her, as she continues to grow and develop as an artist.

In her third album release, HeeSun Lee makes her epic comeback to music with a bombastic wall of sound. “Beauty For Ashes” starts out on full force of precise rap skills, hard-hitting beats & flawless collaborations. With pumping tracks like “All Out”, “Underdog”, and “Losing Faith”, any audience will gravitate to dance and lay back on the hype of the music. The title track lets Heesun and her harmonious vocalists “Alia Akilli” & “Dana Joe” experiment a refreshing direction that appeals to both rap and dance-pop audiences. From bumping to the album’s anthem tracks, she then, unapologetically reveals her emotional lyricism in tear-shedding songs like “I Love You, Daddy” within her ambient and groovy beats. Beauty For Ashes concludes on the passionate theme of hope and finding the light in the darkness. The album is the first of being released independently but its progressive energy and hype will change the game of hip-hop for many years to come.

Heesun Lee

Popular tracks