Hip-hop star Jin a rare talent

Jin

Hip-hop star Jin says "the days of pork fried rice and the chicken-wings coming to your house by me are over". The 21-year-old Chinese-American, who will perform at Supa Jam in Auckland next weekend, knows his ethnicity makes him a rarity in the hip-hop world, but it's his skills that got him there and that's what he wants to be known for.

Discovered after spending seven consecutive weeks at the top of a United States televised hip-hop battle called Freestyle Fridays, Jin was snapped up by Ruff Ryders - the label home to stars that include include DMX, Eve and the Lox - impressed by his quick wit and barbed tongue: "Yeah I'm Chinese, now you'll understand it, I'm the reason your little sis' eyes are slanted, if you make one more joke about Chinese food or karate, the NYPD will be searching Chinatown for your body."

He has since toured heavily, played a street-savvy mechanic in the film 2 Fast 2 Furious and recorded his debut album, The Rest Is History, with producers that include Wyclef Jean, Havoc from Mobb Deep and Kanye West.

Compared with the hard-hitting music and preoccupation with boy-racer culture that characterises Ruff Ryders, Jin's music takes a more playful approach. On the intro he pokes fun at his ignorance towards the "Ride or Die" lifestyle in a skit about signing his contract.

"Forget your album, man. Do you know how to fight dogs?"

Jin: "We gon' meet DMX, man?"

"Do you know how to do donuts?"

Jin: "I am kinda hungry."

"You got a gun?"

Jin: "Why would I have a gun? I rhyme, y'all."

The point of being an artist, Jin says, is to develop the skills to touch on every subject.

"If you're a rapper that can only talk about cars and jewels then I think you suck. But if you can only talk about a revolution, that's pointless too."

He is just as scathing about repetitive rappers in battles, the artform in which rivals must put down their opponent using their rhymes as a weapon. It was inevitable his opponents would bring up the fact that he's Chinese - so it was inevitable Jin would slam them.

"It's cool that people express themselves like that," he says. "I would rather that somebody who is racist should be racist in the open than be racist undercover. But 99 per cent of the time when somebody is battling and makes a racial comment it doesn't necessarily mean that they're racist."

On his debut album The Rest is History, only a handful of the 17 tracks make mention of his ethnicity, including Learn Chinese with Wyclef.

"It's who I am. I think the issue is: Why are people focused on the fact that I'm bringing it up? You have artists that have been making references to their cultural heritage since the dawn of hip-hop, whether it was Chuck D of Public Enemy talking about 'I'm proud and black' ... or Fat Joe like, 'All my Puerto Ricans stand up'. What I don't understand is why Jin makes a song called Learn Chinese, it's like: 'So Jin, why do you feel you have to play to the fact you're Asian?' "

Because there are so few in your position?

"That's out of my control. I guess what I'm trying to do with every little accomplishment that I make it will open the doors.

"Maybe there's artists out there that have the talent to succeed but they feel that it would never be possible so I'm not even going to try. Or maybe they're out there and they haven't been discovered yet." 
LOWDOWN


WHO: Jin, Hip-Hop MC from the New York-based Ruff Ryders Crew


RELEASES : The Rest is History, (2004)


PERFORMING AT: Supa Jam, Saturday April 16 at the new Waitakere Trusts Stadium. The event features Thai kick-boxing, half-court streetball, skateboarding, breakdancing, hip-hop art, MCs, DJs and low-rider cars.