“J. Han is a Korean-American musician, rapper, [and] songwriter born and raised in Maryland who grew up with parents who had a blue collar job… How I express myself musically is hip-hop, R&B, soul, jazz, and elevator music; that is kind of how I describe my sound right now.”
James Han was not raised in a religious household, but sometimes went to church with his grandmother. He did not identify with Christianity for most of his youth.
“In all my life I was always looking for two things; belonging and identity. Growing up in the area that I did, I was one of few Asians that I knew, so it was hard to me to identify with people. I always felt like the odd one out.”
In middle school James discovered hip-hop music and instantly connected to it. “Hip-Hop became my identity and purpose.” In high school he realized that the worldview that he received from hip-hop would not do him much good, so he started going to go to church after a friend invited him to a youth service. “In the middle of high school God changed my life. I felt His call, it was very compelling; I felt like ‘this identity as a son of God is much more compelling and something that I was looking for the entire time.”
