Meet Kyu Min Lee | Better known as OG Chino. Artist, DJ.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kyu Min Lee and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kyu Min, how do you think about risk?
In my case I think my whole life was based on risk. My parents took a huge risk moving from Korea to Colombia at a time when there were no other Koreans living there, then they took an even bigger risk sending my three older siblings and I to study in Los Angeles. We were left to live on our own and attend public school, my sister the oldest, was 17, me the youngest about to turn 11. At age 12 I was started getting in trouble running around with the gangs, and I almost got us deported or taken by child services when they found out there was no parent at home. Still that culture that our parents were naive to, kept me getting kicked out of every school and arrested multiple times, risking our student visa status that kept us in the States. My whole life career after that started when I dropped out of a prestigious art institute and I took a risk opening a small Hip Hop record shop because I developed a passion for this new culture, it was a risk because it was 1988 and Hip Hop was not yet a thing, and literally a physical risk because it was in a neighborhood infamous for it’s danger. My risk failed miserably financially, but it set me up for the rest of my life more than if I would have earned a college degree. The shop opened the doors to the music industry behind my passion and ultimately landed me a position working for Rick Rubin, managing artists, and touring the world, all under Hip Hop. My current business was yet another risk, the music business slowed down for me, and at an older age I worried about what to do next. An opportunity was offered to me to take over a failing restaurant space, an industry that I had zero knowledge of, nor experience, I never worked at a restaurant and can’t even cook, accepting this offer would be the biggest risk of my life so far. I feel like life should be fluid, follow your passions that lead to your happiness, which means take risks.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Although my current work is my restaurant bar business, I don’t consider myself a business man, I always consider myself an artist and creative first. My restaurant is a physical expression of who I am, which makes it different than most, it’s an art installation. My art is displayed, the music that made me plays, me Dj’ing myself often, the food that raised me, Korean and Colombian is served. I feel most proud that these elements bring together people of all demographics, it’s a beautiful culture mashup. The road getting here was completely unfamiliar and not easy, and one major factor for it’s success is that it’s foundation is music, art, and culture which lives within all of us. It’s a complex business and I leaned not to look at it as that, it’s an on going art project that serves as a business. My brand is the result of my whole life story, it wasn’t though about in a brainstorming session, I’m sharing me with the world and I hope they find something they appreciate.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m now considered to be an old school guy in LA, and my taste is still vintage. Although touristy Venice Beach is a must just because of it’s cool history and it’s fun to tell visitors stories of how the boardwalk used to be back in the day. Downtown LA is another obvious destination, with even more history to be told, Phillipe’s is still a favorite for me, no matter how often I visit I feel the nostalgia. The Arts District for a night bar hopping and checking out walls by some the best known street artists in LA. The freight train tracks in El Sereno is somewhere I take my visitors to, there you can see miles worth of trains bombed with graffiti and the long alley that runs parallel to the tracks is filled with sprayed art on the walls, and nearby you have Boyle Heights with some of the best Mexican food.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First the women who were the backbone in my family, Mother and my two sisters, Kyu Young and Kyu Won. My art teacher at Hollywood High School, Mrs. Grace Styles who reminded me that I had too much talent to be wasting away running the streets and cried to the principle begging him not to kick me out of school, and after he did she still gave me the guidance I needed to eventually get me accepted at Otis/Parsons Art Institute. Author, Professor, Dean, Elaine Kim, who in 1994 included my life story in her book titled “East to America” which became required reading at many Asian American studies programs across the country and introduced me to a community of scholars and artists that took interest in my multi-cultural story. Elaine Kim made me feel rich with my life experiences.

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