MC Jin
Template:Contains Chinese text Template:Infobox Chinese-language singer and actor
Template:Chinese name Jin Au-Yeung (traditional Chinese: 歐陽靖; simplified Chinese: 欧阳靖; pinyin: Ōuyáng Jìng; Jyutping: au1 joeng4 zing6; Cantonese Yale: Āuyèuhng Jihng; born June 4, 1982), who performs under the stage name MC Jin (earlier, 100 Grand Jin and Jin the Emcee or even just The Emcee), is a Chinese American hip hop[1][2][3] rapper, songwriter, and actor.[4][5] Growing up in the Miami, Florida area and later living in New York City, he decided to reside permanently in Hong Kong.[4][5] He is fluent in both Cantonese and English. Back in the United States, he was both the first East Asian and Chinese solo rapper to be signed to a major record label.[6][7]
Jin is managed by talent manager Carl Choi.
Biography
Early life
Jin Au-Yeung was born on June 4, 1982, in Miami, Florida, to Hong Kong Chinese immigrants.[8] He was raised in the general Miami area, where his parents owned a strip-mall Chinese restaurant, and where Jin attended schools. While a student at John F. Kennedy Middle School in North Miami Beach, Jin participated in many rap battles with his peers.[9]
2001: Freestyle Friday
After graduating from high school in 2000, Jin decided to forgo college[10] and moved him and his family to Flushing, Queens, New York City, in 2001.[9] He began performing freestyles and selling his own mix tapes on the streets, in hip-hop clubs and wherever else possible. While battling on the streets he was spotted by Kamel Pratt who then became his manager and they formed Crafty Plugz Entertainment. His big break came when the BET program 106 & Park began inviting local rappers to hold battles in a segment known as Freestyle Friday. He won all seven battles in a row, enabling him to be inducted in the Freestyle Friday Hall of Fame.
2002–2005: Ruff Ryders Era
That same night of his Hall of Fame induction, he announced that he had signed a deal with the Ruff Ryders. His first single under Ruff Ryders was titled "Learn Chinese". It took a sample from the 1992 song "They Want EFX", from hip-hop group Das EFX. The second and final single for the album was originally supposed to be "I Got a Love" featuring Kanye West, but was later changed to "Senorita" because Roc-A-Fella Records did not want to over-expose Kanye West. The album was originally scheduled to be released in the summer of 2003, but was delayed for over a year by the label. In October 2004, Jin released his debut album, The Rest Is History, which reached number 54 of the Billboard Top 200 albums chart.[11] Both of his singles, "Learn Chinese" and "Senorita", failed to be major mainstream successes. Nonetheless, Jin's music video "Learn Chinese" was the first video ever to be played on MTV Chi.
In 2003, Jin made an appearance in the movie 2 Fast 2 Furious as a mechanic named 'Jimmy'. His song "Peel Off" was featured on the 2 Fast 2 Furious soundtrack. At the Yellow Bar on Mulberry St. in NYC Jin was shot at by Raymond Yu, a member of the Chinese American gang, Ghost Shadows.[12][13] Jin's fellow Chinese American rapper Christopher Louie(aka LS) stepped in and was shot in the back of the shoulder, Jin was not hit and was unharmed. LS survived the shooting and left hospital and continued rapping. He also collaborated with British Indian Bhangra artist, Juggy D, in the song "Kohl Aaja (Come Closer)", when he was in London doing some promotion for The Rest Is History.
2005–2008: After Ruff Ryders
On April 23, 2005, Jin and rapper "Serius Jones" engaged in a rap battle. The battle was featured on Fight Klub DVD[14]
On May 18, 2005, Jin revealed that he would be putting his rap career on hold in order to explore other options. To make this clear, he recorded a song titled "I Quit", which was produced by the Golden Child. The announcement was widely misunderstood to have marked the end of Jin's rap career. However, he later re-emerged under a different alias, The Emcee, and freestyled over such songs as Jay-Z's "Dear Summer." He released a single called "Top 5 (Dead or Alive)" where Jin displays his lyrical talent in explaining the history of hip-hop's greatest artists. The legendary DJ Kool Herc, who is credited as the founder of hip-hop, appears in Jin's music video. After signing with an independent label, CraftyPlugz/Draft Records, Jin released his second album, The Emcee's Properganda on October 25, 2005. Jin was also featured on the Taipei-based pop artist Leehom Wang's 2005 album Heroes of Earth.
Jin and Leehom performed their “Heroes of the Earth” collaboration live in Shanghai on February 16, 2006 at an event arranged by Chinese A&R exec Andrew Ballen. Ballen was also the first promoter to bring Jin to mainland China in 2003 for his “The Rest is History” tour.[15]
Jin released two albums in 2006. The first one, 100 Grand Jin is a mixtape/album that was released on August 29, 2006. The single released off the album is "FYI", for which the rapper shot and released a music video. The second album released in 2006 is Jin's third LP, I Promise.
On Jin's MySpace, Jin mentioned that he is working on another English album named "Birthdays, Funerals and Things In Between". Jin premiered a song called "Open Letter to Obama" on April 24, 2007, which made him become 1st on Barack Obama's Top 8 list on MySpace.[16]
On April 16, 2007, Jin made a tribute song to the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre called "Rain, Rain Go Away".[17] Recently Jin has decided to make his November 1, 2006 Internet album put together by Roy P. Perez© and his team of producers at Romeo Ent., I Promise, available in retail stores. It will be out on October 23, 2007.[18]
Jin released a new song through his MySpace page. The song is titled "Fill In The Blanks", and Jin encourages his fans to record their own verse into the song.
2008–present: Catch Adventures
Jin has done a collaboration with an Malaysian MC Point Blanc track titled "One Day".[19] The Music Video can be viewed on YouTube.
He has recently released a demo song called Worst Enemy which has garnered over 130,000 views on his Myspace.[20] He also put the song Welcome To The Light Club on his Myspace page.[21] Jin is a Christian, stating in his song "Welcome to the Light Club" he was baptized in 2008.[22] He has featured in Far East Movement's "Millionaire". He has done a track over a DJ Premier joint titled "World Premier". He is also collaborate with producer Trendsetter aka Mark Holiday.[23]
Jin currently resides in Hong Kong. He stars frequently in commercials there, and making numerous appearances on TVB like Big Boys Club. He is also seen as an important part of recent Asian Hip Hop trends.[24]
He has recently thrown out a Hip-Hop Census in honor of the 2010 Census and Chinese New Year 2010. As said by Jin, this mixtape is open to anybody and will be mixed from the general population along with Jin. He released a mixtape entitled "Say Something", on May 15, 2010. Jin has released an album with his friend Hanjin in 2010.
On July 10, 2010, Jin collaborated with Mandarin singer Hanjin Tan (Chinese: 陳奐仁) to release another Cantonese album 買一送一. Jin also released a music video for his English single "Angels".
In December 2010, Jin joined forces with Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang to release a Christmas music video entitled "Rap Now 2010", which he performed for free. The video featured a number of lines ending with "Act Now!" (起錨), echoing a Hong Kong government slogan.[25] A CNN report described the video as an "official eyesore" and "a politica message thinly veiled as a Christmas card", and further criticised Jin's rapping as resembling "awkward nursery rhymes", in contrast to his earlier performances.[26] However, local newspaper The Standard, in response to critics, stated in an editorial that "Tsang, like the millions who post videos of themselves or their loved ones, only wants to have fun."[27]
On March 7, 2011, Jin released a music video for a song from his upcoming English album entitled "Charlie Sheen," collaborating with artists Dumbfoundead and Traphik/Timothy DeLaGhetto. Jin released an EP titled "Sincerely Yours". Jin released his new single called "Shoot For The Moon" on June 4, 2011.
On February 12, 2011, MC Jin and his Chinese American wife, Carol, got married in Puerto Rico.[28] On May 16, 2011, Jin released the track "AIYA" featuring label-mate, Toestah. He released a video on his youtube channel consisting of hundreds of pictures of fans holding the aiya logo.
On August 8, 2011, Jin released an all Cantonese album, "Homecoming" in Hong Kong. And has since released several singles and music videos on youtube.
Jin also announced that he is working on his next English album for 2012.
Other activities
Responding to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Jin participated with Jackie Chan and numerous other celebrities in a special three-hour charity concert on 1 April 2011 to help raise funds for Japan's disaster recovery effort.[29][30]
AIYA!
AIYA! is Jin's catchphrase and has been used by him many times recently. It is also a typical phrase or interjection used by Chinese people that simply means "Oh my gosh!" An image/logo has been created recently that was designed by Tom Ngo. The Logo could be printed out and then you could take a picture of yourself with it and get into the video for his song "Aiya!"(featuring Toestah).[31] The catchphrase and its logo have been used in many places related to Jin. An "AIYA!" shirt will be available soon. Jin also refers to his fans as his "AIYAfambam" or as the "AIYAmaniacs".
Discography
Studio albums
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Collaboration albums
Songs in
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Mixtapes
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EPs
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Possibly cancelled or renamed albums include 'The Mixtape Album' (mentioned in 100 Grand Jin booklet/cover); and also 'The Voice'.
Music videos
Year | Video | Director | Video Link(Youtube) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | "Learn Chinese" (featuring Wyclef Jean)[32] | Jin – Learn Chinese emimusic | ||
"Senorita"[33] | Jin – Senorita emimusic | |||
2005 | "Top 5 (Dead or Alive)" | Todd Angkasuwan | Uses a collection of people voting for their top 5 rappers. | |
"Come Closer (Kohl Aaja)" (with Juggy D) | Juggy D feat Jin – Come Closer (Kohl Aaja) 2Point9Records | |||
2006 | "FYI"(featuring Young Mac)/"100 Grand Jin" | Todd Angkasuwan | Jin ft.Young Mac - FYI CraftyFan | Two songs. |
2007 | "Yo Yo Ma" (with Sphere) | JIN Yo Yo Ma CarlChoi | Contains a mix of languages including English, Japanese and Cantonese. | |
"ABC" | Todd Angkasuwan | Jin 歐陽靖 'ABC' MV universalmusichk | Cantonese. Contains a short appearance of the producers of the song, Far East Movement. | |
2008 | "搵兩餐"(featuring Ken Oak) | Daniel Wu / Jason Tobin | Jin 歐陽靖 '搵兩餐' MV universalmusichk | Cantonese |
"飲啖茶" | Evan Jackson Leong | Jin 歐陽靖 '飲啖茶' MV universalmusichk | Cantonese | |
"香港Superstar" | Jason Tobin | Jin 歐陽靖 '香港Superstar' MV universalmusichk | Cantonese | |
"上堂時間" | Jin 歐陽靖 '上堂時間' MV universalmusichk | Cantonese | ||
"喂喂搵邊位" | Kim Chan | Jin 歐陽靖 '喂喂搵邊位' MV universalmusichk | Cantonese | |
2010 | "Angels"[34] | Hosanna Wong | JIN "Angels" Official Music Video (2010) AyoJinTV | |
"The A List"[35] | Carl Choi/Jin Au-Yeung | Deleted from Youtube. | ||
"711" (featuring KT) | "711" – MC Jin feat. KT ayojinhk | Cantonese. Filmed in 7-Eleven. | ||
"It's About Time" | Romago Presents: MC Jin "It's About Time" ayojinhk | Cantonese | ||
2011 | "Charlie Sheen" (with Traphik & Dumbfoundead)[36] | Kevin Boston | "CHARLIE SHEEN" (Official Music Video) Jin x Dumbfoundead x Traphik AyoJinTV | |
"人氣急升" | Kevin Boston | MC Jin人氣急升MV ayojinhk | Cantonese | |
"Aiya!" (featuring Toestah) | AIYA – Jin feat. Toestah AyoJinTV | Song repeated twice to fit all pictures in. | ||
"Shoot for the Moon" | Carl Choi | JIN "Shoot for the Moon" Official Music Video (2011) AyoJinTV | Song edited for video. Uses various images and video from his life and career. | |
"發咗達" | Benny Lou | MC Jin發咗達MV ayojinhk | Cantonese | |
"立立亂" | Evan Leong | MC Jin立立亂MV ayojinhk | Cantonese | |
"紅館見" | MCJin紅館見MV ayojinhk | Cantonese | ||
"When The Lights Come On" (featuring Joseph Vincent) | Duno Tran | "When The Lights Come On" (Official Music Video) - Jin feat. Joseph Vincent AyoJinTV |
Filmography
Film | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
2003 | Jin: The Making of a Rap Star | Himself | Documentary about him | |
2 Fast 2 Furious | Jimmy | Minor Supporting Role | ||
2004 | The MC: Why We Do It | Himself | Documentary | |
2007 | Beef IV | Himself | as a recording artist | |
No Sleep Til Shanghai | Himself | Documentary about him | ||
2009 | Split Second Murders 死神傻了 | |||
2010 | Gallants | Chung Sang-mang | Major Role | |
Bruce Lee, My Brother (aka: Young Bruce Lee) | Unicorn Chan | Supporting Role | ||
1040[37] | Himself | |||
2011 | Turning Point 2 | Yeung Lap Chin 楊立青 | Minor Role | |
2012 | The Man with the Iron Fists | Chan | filming/post-production | |
20?? | Street Struck: The Big L Story | Himself | Documentary. unknown release date. | |
Television | ||||
Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
2002 | 106 & Park | Himself (as a Competitor and Guest) | As Freestyle Friday competitor and guest | |
2004 | Himself (as a Judge) | As Freestyle Friday Judge | ||
2009 | Cooking媽嫲 | Himself (as Host) | ||
2010 | Show Me the Happy | Himself | Episode 25 | |
Jade Solid Gold 勁歌金曲 | Himself (as Host) | |||
Big Boys Club | Himself (as Host) | |||
2011 | Himself (as Host) | |||
Stairway to Dragon | Himself (as Host) | |||
Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir! | Himself | |||
Lives of Omission | Officer Yeung Lap-ching | |||
Kung Fu Supernova | Himself (as Host) | |||
Top Eats 100 | Himself (as Host) | |||
2012 | Highs and Lows | TBA | filming |
Awards
Acting Awards | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Award | Nominated Work | Result | Notes |
2011 | TVB Anniversary Award for Most Improved Male Artiste [38] | Show Me the Happy, Big Boys Club, Stairway to Dragon, Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir!, Lives of Omission, Kung Fu Supernova, Top Eats 100 | Won | |
TVB Anniversary Award for My Favourite Male Character | Lives of Omission | Nominated |
Rap battles
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Year | Competition/Event | Opponent | Result | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | Grab the Mic 2000 | Montu | Win | |
Infinite | Win | |||
RK | Win | |||
2001 | 106 & Park's Freestyle Friday | Hasan | Win | as the challenger |
Sterlin | Win | as the champion | ||
Skitzoe | Win | as the champion | ||
Skyzoo | Win | as the champion | ||
Lucky Luciano | Win | as the champion | ||
Logan | Win | as the champion | ||
Sean Nicholas | Win | as the champion | ||
2004 | JUMP OFF/Jin's 'The Rest Is History' Concert | Saint | Win | |
JUMP OFF | Professor Green | Win | ||
Fight Klub Mixshow Power Summit | Shells | Win | ||
2005 | Smack DVD | Verse | Win | |
Mixshow Power Summit | Professor Green | Win | ||
Fight Klub | Iron Soloman | Lose | ||
Fight Klub | Serius Jones | Lose |
Further reading
- Jay, Jennifer W (2008). "Rapper Jin's (歐陽靖) ABC: Acquiring spoken Cantonese and transnational identity through restaurant culture and Hong Kong TV" (PDF). Proceedings of the 20th North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics: 379–391.
References
- ^ Kanaal van ayojinhk. YouTube (2010-03-08). Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ Music in Hong Kong – Venues, Events and Music Listings – Time Out Hong Kong | The Changing Face of Cantopop: MC Jin. Timeout.com.hk (2011-07-25). Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ MC Jin – 立立乱 MV. Asian Hip Hop Times (2011-09-25). Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ a b [1][dead link]
- ^ a b Kanaal van AyoJinTV. YouTube. Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ Jin tha’ MC: Putting Asia on the Hip-Hop Map. APAmusic (2001-09-11). Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ East West – The Asian American Lifestyle Magazine – Jin: Freestyling to the Top. Eastwestmagazine.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ Birchmeier, Jason. "Jin – Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- ^ a b Coates, Ta-Nehisi (November 21, 2004). "Just Another Quick-Witted, Egg-Roll-Joke-Making, Insult-Hurling Chinese-American Rapper". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-05-07.
- ^ San Francisco Bay Guardian Arts and Entertainment. Sfbg.com (2004-10-26). Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ Billboard.com – Artist Chart History – Jin
- ^ shooting
- ^ shooting
- ^ Jin The Emcee : Rap, Hip-Hop Interview. Riotsound.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ MC Jin in Shanghai.
- ^ jin_june 5th NYC Obama organizing speech. YouTube (2007-06-07). Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ rainraingoaway.mp3. theemcee.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ Jin Re-Issues 2006 Internet Album To Stores | BallerStatus.com | NEWS. BallerStatus.com (2011-11-18). Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ Materealize Presents: Point Blanc ft. Jin – One Day. YouTube (2008-07-27). Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ Myspace. Myspace (2008-09-21). Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ Battle rapper Jin finds the Light. rapzilla.com. 29 August 2009
- ^ Daily News – : Jin The MC Becomes Christian Rapper. Allhiphop.com (2009-09-03). Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ Myspace. Myspace. Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ Rise of Asian Rap and Hip Hop. PopularTrash. Retrieved on 2012-2-14.
- ^ "曾荫权拍MV贺新年活力四射 手舞足蹈唱Rap", Xinhua News, 2010-12-20, retrieved 2011-09-17
- ^ "Donald Tsang's hip hop Christmas greeting and other official eyesores of 2010", CNNGo, 2010-12-10, retrieved 2011-09-11
- ^ "Tsang video critics may be off-key", The Standard, 2010-12-20, retrieved 2011-09-17
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
hongkongmorning1
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Japan Earthquake Song Music Video – The Official Website of Jackie Chan. Jackiechan.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ Jackie Chan and HK celebrities to raise funds for quake victims in Japan. News.xinhuanet.com (2011-03-25). Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
- ^ Jin-Aiya(featuring Toestah) MV. YouTube
- ^ Jin-Learn Chinese. YouTube
- ^ Jin-Senorita. YouTube
- ^ Jin-Angels. YouTube
- ^ Jin-A List
- ^ Jin, Traphik, Dumbfoundead-Charlie Sheen. YouTube
- ^ http://1040movie.com/
- ^ TVB awards list. Jaynestars.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-25.
External links
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![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- 1982 births
- American rappers
- American expatriates in Hong Kong
- American musicians of Chinese descent
- American rappers of Asian descent
- American actors of Asian descent
- American Christians
- Converts to Christianity
- Living people
- Virgin Records artists
- People from Queens
- Rappers from Miami, Florida
- Ruff Ryders artists
- American musicians of Hong Kong descent
- Hong Kong people of Hakka descent