The Fresh Prince of Joseon: How a Crypto Mogul Became a Korean Royal Heir—and Formed a Digital Kingdom

In Nov. 2022, when Atlanta-based rapper Jermaine “J-Money” Miller was shot and robbed of his Rolex and jewelry while seated in a parked car in Los Angeles’ Koreatown, headlines about the attack highlighted an unusual connection: The car Miller was assaulted in was a Rolls-Royce Phantom, reportedly owned by “Korean royalty.”

This came as a surprise to a lot of people—not least because Korea is two separate nations, neither of which has a royal family. And yet the reports were, in a sense, true. The car was owned by serial entrepreneur, crypto multimillionaire, and occasional hip-hop artist Andrew Lee, who these days introduces himself as the King of Joseon.

Joseon is what Korea called itself over a century ago, under the 500-year reign of its last royal dynasty, the House of Yi (sometimes styled as “Lee”). Of course, Joseon hasn’t existed since 1907, when Japan forced Yi monarch King Gojong to abdicate, en route to abolishing his dynasty and annexing his kingdom.

Read more at The Daily Beast.