Jin Interview with Audio PT1

Don’t act like you don’t know. When you think of the illest freestyle kings in recent history, Jin has to come to mind. He mesmerized us all on BET’s 106 & Park, and has destroyed countless MCs head to head. But after the initial hype surrounding the most high-profile Asian MC in Hip Hop, his much-awaited debut album The Rest Is History dropped a lot later than people expected and didn’t meet some fans’ sales expectations. Undaunted, Jin kept on the grind, and kept his name out there – continuing his reign as Freestyle King, even rebounding from a controversial loss to Serious Jones in Puerto Rico by winning his crown back at the recent Power Summit. With a new independent album, Jin Presents: The Emcee’s Properganda , he’s set to re-emerge and stake his claim as one of the hottest young lyricists in the game today. Check it out as Jin holds nothing back about the new album, the name change, the label situation, and his beefs and battles with SunN.Y. and Serious Jones . Also, find out his take on the reality of today’s Hip Hop. Where else could you find this comprehensive of an interview, and with the audio to match? Hiphophavoc.com, baby!





By the god Dirty Backpacks




>>>>>>> Click Here to Listen to PART 1 <<<<<<<



Dirty Backpacks: First off man – let’s talk about the label situation. There’s a lot of rumors…are you still with Ruff Ryders?



Jin The Emcee: Yo, just like you said – a lot of rumors. That’s the key – rumors – like that f**kin’ Maino joint, “Rumors”. Nah, well – you know what it is, man? Contractually, I’m still with the Ruff Ryders. I think the #1 misconception is heads is like “ah, he got dropped” and what-not, which is not really the case, you know what I’m sayin.? Nobody got dropped – not Ruff Ryders, not Virgin – none of ‘em. If anything, it came to a point where I had to approach the table on some “yo, can I be removed from this equation?” Not necessarily Ruff Ryders, but let’s say, the Virgin situation. Cuz the album that I put out last October, that The Rest Is History joint, that was a joint venture with Ruff Ryders and Virgin. It’s not a matter of being bitter or being mad but just – on some career move type sh*t, I just had to be like “yo man, y’all not really doin’ it for me, so let me kinda remove myself from that.”




So at this current juncture right now, it’s just me on some independent sh*t, but with the understanding of Ruff Ryders. They on some “yo man, we understand – you gotta do what you gotta do.” So, it’s definitely not – it wasn’t like a fall-out or beef or any ill-feelings or anything like that. Big ups to D, Y - Ruff Ryders – they the ones who really gave me the first opportunity, so that’s always fam right there.



Dirty Backpacks: Do you think we’ll ever see a Ruff Ryders album from Jin again?



Jin The Emcee: I mean, yeah – nothing is out of the question. It just came to a point where it’s like – they trying to keep their label afloat, which is understandable, and for me, as Jin the artist and just as a man, yo – it wasn’t like, I wasn’t gonna sit around and be like “yo man, come on, y’all need to make moves with me, y’all need to make moves with me.” So, I had to just go and do my own thing, which is, I guess right now, I’m going this independent route. It may not be as GRAND as I’d like it to be, but at the end of the day, man, if I can make the music I wanna make and have control over it, and it get it out my fans, you know – like the true fanbase, that’s all that matters, yo.



DBP: Aight – your first album didn’t do as well as anticipated, and many have speculated that one of the reasons is because Ruff Ryders took too long bringing you out. Do you agree?



Jin: NAH. Not with the way that you just put it right now, because the last thing I ever wanna do is put any blame on anybody or anything. I’m never the type to be like “yo, I didn’t do what I was expected to do” because of the Ruff Ryders or because of Virgin or because of what-not. I mean, looking back on it now I feel like if anything, I did exactly what I was supposed to do. You know like….there’s a bigger plan and a bigger picture in store for me than maybe what people thought. I did the 106 & Park, and that was such a blessing. Cause that was like 4 years ago, and pretty much everything launched off of that; and basically for me to still be relevant at this moment, and you wanting to interview me – that’s an accomplishment in itself. Cause so many cats have come and gone from there, and you don’t really hear from them no more.



In regards to the album, I’m proud of the album. For what it’s worth, without that push that it deserved or a lot of people of people felt like I deserved, it did 100,000. I know by industry standards that’s not sh*t, but I can’t sit here and be like “aw man – I’m disappointed, I’m ashamed.” 100,000 muthaf**kas went out and bought the sh*t just on the strength that they support Jin.



It’s kind of even iller. I know that those 100,000 that went out to get it was – they didn’t go buy it because the video was on 4 times an hour or the songs was on 10 times every hour. It was just like 100,000 dudes that was like “yo, I f**k with Jin – let me go cop this.” That means a lot to me too, man, just as an artist.



DBP: You brought up 106 & Park – you was one of the first to really make it big from Freestyle Friday.



Jin: Oh yeah….I wanna give a shout out to Posta Boy, you know what I’m sayin’? He was the first one to really do the “Hall Of Fame” thing and then flip it into a deal, so I wish him the best. But, uh – yeah man! That’s like the earliest stages of my career, and even just to see the evolution of 106 & Park, or at least the Freestyle Friday aspect, everybody kinda got a different outlook on it. At this current point, like – it’s wack now! And that’s kinda just the vibe that I get from people that watch it. I personally haven’t watched it in a while, but heads is like “yo, that sh*t ain’t even the same no more.” But it is what it is, man – I always have gratitude for them and that show and that whole platform cause that’s where I launched MY sh*t.



DBP: Now you mentioned Posta Boy – you and Posta Boy was like….everybody loved you and Posta Boy off of Freestyle Friday, and there were a lot of big expectations from both of y’all. And, I guess, based on those expectations, they haven’t necessarily been met by the larger public. So there’s now kind of a thing where people say “the 106 & Park Curse” – basically if you nice on 106 & Park, they say - well, you might not do as well as you actually are lyrically. Do you agree that there’s a curse, or do you just….



Jin: (jumping in) There’s not a curse. There’s no such thing as a curse. I think your career as each individual artist, whether it be me, it be Posta, whomever it may be – your career will only be as successful as you as an individual choose to make it. I think that the problem is that a lot of people don’t realize that in these days, man, a lot of the sh*t that comes with success is like….granted, a lot of these artists are talented. Some aren’t really necessarily that talented, but it’s also the machine that’s behind it. You know what I mean?



DBP: Yeah.



Jin: I don’t expect the common, I don’t expect the general public to know these things, and they kinda don’t need to know these things. They’re just fans of the music, and they just do that. But I think that what happens is that they don’t know the behind-the-picture, and a lot of times man, it just be THAT – it be exactly that, the machine. It could be the artist, cause for me myself, just as Jin without speaking for nobody else, I know the grind that I been on for the last 4 years. Even on the note of how you’re like “there’s a lot of expectations that weren’t necessarily met” and what-not – at the same time, I also did wild big things in the last 4 years! To put the album out, number one, was a great accomplishment for me, I feel. You know and I’ve been like – I’m worldwide with this sh*t! Yo, I done rocked Amsterdam, Germany, China, Australia, Japan, you know what I’m saying? So I can’t just sit here and be like “damn, I feel like I ain’t do much in the last 4 years.” When I’ve been like….I been eating and surviving with it, and I think if you can at least do that, fam, it’s a success already. I think people just be like – yo, at least now, more so now than ever, it kind of gets portrayed as unless your selling 5 million, 10, 11 million records, your not successful. Which I think that’s a misconception. Success is based on individuals, from person to person.



DBP: I completely agree with everything you just said.



Jin: Indeed, yo.



DBP: Umm….



Jin: (jumping in again) And then, I think even if we….I don’t know if you got, if you in a rush….like, you got time, right?



DBP: No rush, not at all.



Jin: No doubt, so we just kind of conversing. I think even for the younger generation, like the more I see – cause you know right now at this point everybody rhymes. Or does something that has to do with music. S o you have these little 15, 16 year-olds that kind of have a passion for rhyming, and they be on they “yo, I’m the nicest, I’mma be the next one to blow, I’mma go diamond, I’mma go all that.” And think that what happens is – it’s good to have those type of ambitions and goals, but at the same time you gotta maintain a realistic aspect, too. I mean, honestly, being that I’ve been doing this for the last 4 years on an occupational level, I just want to tell them, or something I would want to tell them is that – yo man, you gotta start SOMEWHERE. Then on top of that, honestly, man – if you can come out, like – even though I’m going this independent route, if you can come out on some independent sh*t, and do your little 50,000, 70,000 copies – you know, I’m being conservative – that’s beautiful, yo! If you compare that to, no disrespect, but getting a job at a Blockbuster or McDonald’s that you don’t necessarily have a passion for. You’re doing music and you’re eating. But the problem is that these kids watch the BETs and the MTVs and the lifestyle that the media I guess in a sense portrays to them, and they feel like “ yo man – unless I’m doing it at THAT LEVEL”, then there’s no point in doing it.



DBP: It makes it seem as though you’re not successful unless you got a 50 foot mansion or whatever, like…



Jin: YEAH! And that’s not true, yo – it’s far from the truth! It’s far from the truth. And the thing about it that I really love right now cause I’m really going on this independent sh*t is that even on an artistic level as an artist….you know, the freedom that you have is so beautiful. Granted, the grind is a lot harder, you know what I’m saying, cause the key word is independent, meaning you’re doing most of the stuff yourself. Like your camp, your management, and what-not. But at the end of the day, man – it feels good to be able to sit down with your people that are in your immediate circle. Let’s say you got your album done – 14-15 joints. And to just be like “Blah blah blah is the single, we’re shooting the video blah blah blah, we’re doing the vinyl for that.” Just to be able to call all those shots. When you’re tied in with, let’s say, a more major system, it’s like a million different hands in the pot!



Like, I might be like “yo, this is the single.” But then you have like – I’ll just give you an example with the whole Ruff Ryder/Virgin situation. On one hand, Ruff Ryders might be like “we wanna rock with this as the single”, but then you have Virgin that’s like “ah, that’s cool, but we don’t think that has as much radio appeal.” And then it just turns into this whole big….yo, like a big pot of mess. And I understand it, because it’s also a business at the same time, and everybody that has something invested in it will want to have a say. So, there’s pros and cons to both.



DBP: Okay, okay. I’mma switch it up a little bit….



Jin: No doubt.



DBP: We interviewed on Hip Hop Havoc, I PERSONALLY interviewed, SunN.Y. a while back….



Jin: Yeah.



DBP: And in different interviews he had A LOT to say specifically about you in recent times.



Jin: Yeah.



DBP: I’mma read you a quote that he said in our interview and I want you to respond to what he said, alright?



Jin: No doubt.



DBP: What he said was, “What separates me from Posta Boy is I got two videos. What separates me from Jin is I got two hot videos. And I ain’t get sat on for no year; ain’t nobody make me come out lookin’ like ManTan or, you know, no type of pickaninny or nothin’. I’m Jamaican and Cuban and they ain’t have me delivering Jamaican pies or none of that crazy junk in my first video.” What is your response to that?



Jin: Well, there is no response to that because that, that quote right there is like, it’s not, there’s no – IT’S NOT VALID. It’s not a valid quote! I don’t know if you know what I mean, yo. Because what he’s saying has no validity to it. Nobody made me do anything. That’s one thing I feel that people need to know is that my career choices at the end of the day – it’s give and take, but I also have a say in it. It wasn’t like “Yo, we forcing you to do “Learn Chinese”, and this is how the video’s gonna be and what not. I HAD A PART IN THAT, and I’m saying “yo, I’m doing that.”



Even right now, as I’m talking to you Dirty Backpacks, I have no regrets. I LOVED doing that video! I loved the fact that it was my first record. I think the only issue is that from a more business stance or at least on a marketing level, in retrospect, that may not have been an ideal record to be the first one to put out. Some people be like “he could’ve established himself more first”, or even I look back and think then I could’ve done that. But in the big picture I feel like “Yo, F**K IT!” If that’s what I felt like putting out, that’s what I felt like putting out! And, once again it kind of goes back to the conversation we had about just people having a misconception about what success is. Just cause they don’t hear it on Top 40 everyday and it’s not in heavy rotation they feel like “Yo, that sh*t was a flop!” When, realistically, a record like “Learn Chinese”, it didn’t break into that mainstream side of things. But man, I’m always proud of that record because, one – it’s groundbreaking! To me at least. It’s a Hip Hop record, no question, and on top of that, I felt it was a representation of, you know, ME! It’s not something that I like to play on much, but the reality is, no matter how you cut and slice and dice it, I am who I am, which is – I’m Asian, I’m a MC, I love Hip Hop.



The beauty of “Learn Chinese” is I got to work with Clef (Wyclef Jean), who is an inspiration to me musically AND on some Hip Hop sh*t. And when I go to these different markets, I go to like a North Carolina and do a club where it’s predominantly non-Asian, like mostly African-Americans and Latinos, I go in there and rock and do my set. But you better believe when I do the “Learn Chinese” sh*t, for some odd reason, they f**ks with it! It blows me away when you see somebody that’s NOT Asian that knows the song word for word. Or me, I’m at the grocery market buying milk and sh*t, and the lady checking me out be like “Ha, I’mma ‘Learn Chinese’, yo, I’mma ‘Learn Chinese’.” So, when you talk about success and what was really success, I mean – like I said, it depends from person to person, and I’ll always be proud of it.



In regards to the whole “gettin’ sat on for a year” – those are things that are out of my control. But what was in my control was that I didn’t just sit around and lolly-gag and wait for the label to do something. I went and made moves, I did shows, I popped up at the battles – I did what I had top do, and that’s exactly why when I dropped I DID do 100,000. That was completely on the strength of me and my team on the grind.



DBP: But don’t you take offense, I mean, PERSONALLY, I would take A LOT of offense if anybody called me “ManTan” or referred to me as a pickaninny. Don’t you take offense when another MC calls you out in public like that?



Jin: I mean, well – on a Hip Hop level, on some MC sh*t, YO – it’s not really on the offensive, it’s more like yo man, if cats feel like they wanna talk and incorporate your name into their interviews and have opinions about you, they can’t be surprised when it comes down to….like, let’s say – I don’t know if you know, but I did that “Invitation” joint….



DBP: “Open Invitation”.



Jin: Yeah, the “Open Invitation” joint. Which was kind of, in one part just me saying “Yo, the battle’s coming down – yo, everybody come on out to the battle!” All y’all cats that’s signed – especially the ones that talk that “I’m a battle MC, I do this, I do this” – come down. That’s one. And secondly, it was an invitation to SunN.Y. too, because at the end of the day it’s just Hip Hop. It’s battling. Of course, if it wasn’t for the fact that he felt like he had so much to say about it, or me and my career, then he wouldn’t have been a special person that I actually incorporated and said his name, you know what I mean? And he’s still really NOT that special; but it’s just – it’s the nature of MCing. My fans would only expect me to address it. I would only expect me to address it!



I think the resolution is to just battle! Lets’ – f**k all the “I was sat on for a year” my two hot videos, his two WACK videos, - all of the comments that he’s making, it’s not valid once it’s time for the battle. ESPECIALLY since he’s coming out of the battle environment, and, coincidentally, he’s on his 106 & Park sh*t too. Even when it was him, Jermaine (Dupri), doing their interviews, a lot of it was like – they campaign was like “Trust me – Jin and everybody that came before this in the past – they’re irrelevant, this is The Champ, this is The Truth right here.” So naturally as an MC, you know me – I can’t just sit back and be like “yeah, go ahead, run.” I gotta be like “Hold up! Pause! Time out.” You know what I’m saying?




Stay tuned for PART 2 of our interview with Jin The Emcee where he talks more about SunN.Y., talks about his infamous clash with Serious Jones, his album, and the state of today’s Hip Hop. He holds nothing back – you don’t want to miss it!