Jin - Learn Chinese: opinions? (link to mp3 inside)

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http://www.holla-front.com/media/audio/Jin%20-%20Learn%20Chinese%20(Radio%20Edit).mp3

First mainstream Asian-American rapper's first single. Hit or miss? It's already hitting the radio, and even if it doesn't become popular, it's sure to prick up some ears.

― ron phlegm, Wednesday, 10 September 2003 18:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I guess you'll have to copy and paste that url. Also, the song is produced by Wyclef.

― ron phlegm, Wednesday, 10 September 2003 18:30 (twenty-two years ago)

uh, kinda whatever. old das efx (jamesbrown) sample. borrows other peoples flows. totally playing up the race issue. kinda novelty hit status if anything.

and what about the *cough* mountain brothers? did they ever get big?

― JasonD (JasonD), Wednesday, 10 September 2003 19:10 (twenty-two years ago)

whose flows does he borrow? man, Jin definitely sounds way too much like Eminem, and even like 50 in some of the early rhymes. he probably realized he couldn't completely ignore the race thing (like the MBs do, but they've remained under the radar because their music isn't particularly noteworthy and they wouldn't market themselves as a stereotype), so it sounds like he's trying to just confront it and make being Chinese as cool as being black is, to mainstream audiences. that's pretty admirable, but this sounds like it could go either way; you have Jin reppin' Chinatown and some wicked sounding Cantonese, but then they use these corny Asian-sounding melodies.

i have a soft spot for the MBs' first album, but their new one is really awful middle-of-the-road backpacker rap. there's honestly nothing good about it.

― ryan kuo, Wednesday, 10 September 2003 23:31 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah it's pretty damn funny that he says "i ain't ya 50cent i ain't ya eminem, i ain't ya jigga man" but he sounds like he's trying really hard to be them. even sounds like snoop for a second. i just listened to it again and i'm disliking it even more.

i know there's this big buzz around eastern melodies in songs, so i guess this is coming out at a perfect time, but i don't know.... even R.Kelley's "Thoia Thoing" sounds contrived and exploitive, but there's something so stupid about it that i kinda like it?

and what's the deal w/saying he's the first asian rapper. this is just so silly. isn't one of the dudes from Lartyrx japanese or something? what about one of the dudes from BEP, isn't he 1/2 filipino?

― JasonD (JasonD), Wednesday, 10 September 2003 23:54 (twenty-two years ago)

don't forget about southstar from smilez and southstar!!

― joshd, Thursday, 11 September 2003 02:11 (twenty-two years ago)

hes the first MAINSTREAM asian rapper, hes with ruff ryders !! i like him a lot, as i said in my earlier jin thread, this song is good though i wish it was more subtle like peel off, he doesnt need to make the chinese thing the entire focus

― trife (simon_tr), Thursday, 11 September 2003 02:20 (twenty-two years ago)

the beat kinda wore on me after a while. something about the snare. is this really on Ruff Ryders? i would've hoped for something more ... jiggy.

― ryan kuo, Thursday, 11 September 2003 03:31 (twenty-two years ago)

I like the song, although I'm not sure mainstream America is ready for an Asian American rapper. It's hard to imagine white kids bumping this really loud in their cars. Ruff Ryders seems to think he's gonna do well though. He's the main picture on their new website and listed second only to DMX: www.ruffryders.com

― ron phlegm, Thursday, 11 September 2003 12:36 (twenty-two years ago)

how more MAINSTREAM can Black Eyed Peas get? they're on tour with Justin Timberlake.

― JasonD (JasonD), Thursday, 11 September 2003 15:16 (twenty-two years ago)

bep are mainstream but theyre more dance pop than hiphop

― trife (simon_tr), Thursday, 11 September 2003 18:32 (twenty-two years ago)

three months pass...

OMG , Jin is so fine I love his song Learn Chinese I'm like seriously in love with it. His style is kickin

― Renee, Wednesday, 17 December 2003 19:05 (twenty-two years ago)

man who the fuck does this guy think he is? hes a pussy. he has to steal and use other peoples name just to make a song. thats bull shit and he eats that shit. man go back to china and get some real talent over there and take ur bitches to. we dont need them we got our own. if u really want to make a good song go to some one else cuz u aint got shit to sell. motha fucker.

― Edgar, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 00:54 (twenty-two years ago)

jin this guy is just a hater! please dont take back chinese bitches :-(

― sounds like chi ali, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 01:02 (twenty-two years ago)

dam ruff ryders wtf were u guys thinkin, u cant bring a chinese guy into this game. thnk about it, i know emenem did cuz hes white, but for him he has talent. unlike this chinese wannabe gangsta. that wtf.
well those r my two opinions. lates

― edgar, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 01:03 (twenty-two years ago)

"we got our own" fuck off

― sounds like milk from audio two, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 01:06 (twenty-two years ago)

dam fagit ass bitch, y the fuck u got to steal the beat from ying yang twins. get ur own talent. wyclef u know better than to join with a fagit ass bitch thats from china. we already got gangstas in hip hop and rap, we dont need no wannabe chinese here. so fuck off bitch and take ur ugly chinese hoes with u punk ass bitch. we dont need to learn chinese, but u need to learn how to be gangsta u wannabe. u heard. alright then. bitch who the fuck u think u r. go suck ur mommas dick bitch. and dont fuckin mention crips in ur songs again u got it bitch.

― edgar, Wednesday, 24 December 2003 22:28 (twenty-two years ago)

OK FIRST OF ALL, ALL YA'LL HATERS NEED 2 BACK THE FUCK UP! JIN IS HOT & YA KNOW IT, SO STOP PLAYIN. I RESPECT THAT HE IS CONFRONTING THE RACE ISSUE, THAT HE'S TELLING EVERYBODY THAT HE AINT TRYIN 2 B HOV OR EM. HE'S HOLDING HIS OWN, SO RESPECT OR MOVE ON!!!!!! ----HOLLA

― MEAN ONE, Thursday, 25 December 2003 19:15 (twenty-two years ago)

bite my dik fag

― play 4 real, Thursday, 25 December 2003 19:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Like they all say HaTeR will alwayZ HaTe and the player will alwayz Play soooooo Y hate

― waizOne562, Tuesday, 6 January 2004 19:02 (twenty-two years ago)

edger..... man wtf u fuckign trashed the asain race constatnly. IF u don't like it say it and move on don't fucking talk trash about it everyday. And personaly jin is jin he ain't special becuse he is asain, but he ain't trash just cause he is asain. so back off Mother fucker.

― ******, Thursday, 8 January 2004 23:34 (twenty-two years ago)

YO DOG, DON'T SWEAT THESE ROUND-EYES, YA HEARD!

― General Tso, Friday, 9 January 2004 01:22 (twenty-two years ago)

That's Oval Eyes to you!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 9 January 2004 01:23 (twenty-two years ago)

YOU WICK WICK WACK! TIME FOR THE CHIGGA INVAZN, TOTAL DOMINAZN BY D AZN PERSUAZN!

― General Cho, Friday, 9 January 2004 01:35 (twenty-two years ago)

There are so many better Chinese Rappers out there--go back to HK and learn some something from Jay Zhou (He is the best). Jin will be a one time hit if he keeps trying to be Jay-Z...

― $$$$$$$$$$, Wednesday, 21 January 2004 14:00 (twenty-two years ago)

two weeks pass...

I think that Jin's "learn chinese" video kicks ass

― renee, Friday, 6 February 2004 16:49 (twenty-two years ago)

JayZ aint chinese..aint yo notcied

― rei, Friday, 6 February 2004 16:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Jin's song is pretty awesome. He is a great rapper but no need to focus on race too much as a rapper..I am black, and I think he is a pretty awesome rapper.

― lakers, Tuesday, 17 February 2004 20:55 (twenty-two years ago)

two weeks pass...

I am chinese and I think Jin fuckin sucks! Its not the race, or copying ppl, i just think he cant rap at all. He trys to ryhme cover with...... cover? wtf??? hes just bad. And he dedicates his hole damn song to being chinese. I think he sucks, and needs to stop trying to much.... before he hurts him self....

― Soloman Tong, Tuesday, 2 March 2004 23:44 (twenty-two years ago)

From my Pazz and Jop ballot:

>>Similar to hip-hop in making-fun-of Asians department: *Lost in Translation.* (Beautiful movie despite that purty girl not having a frigging personality and all, but I almost didn't go, since the trailer basically was all about how those wacky Japanese people pronounce R's like L's-- brilliant, huh?) I'd like that cool new hit "Learn Chinese" by Jin tha MC even more if, after Jin's actual Chinese part, he would've sampled Missy doing her fake Chinese in "Work It" then sampled Timbaland saying "I can't understand a word you're saying." (Or, as a Houston friend of mine suggested, if he'd sampled Yao Ming answering Shaquille.)<<

― chuck, Wednesday, 3 March 2004 00:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Somebody upthread was at least half right when they mentioned Jay Chou (Zhou?) - he certainly did it before Jin, not to mention the American born Vaness Wu from Taiwanese boy band F4. Check his verse on the remix of 'Crazy In Love' floating around (I got it included on a bootleg of Dangerously In Love that I picked up in Bangkok). There's also LMF (short for Lazy MotherFuckers) who just broke up, but big on the Hong Kong rap-rock scene.

My problem with most of these is the fact that Cantonese/Hokkien seems to force rappers to straighten out their rhythms, and it makes them sound really square. But hey Chuck, you like early hip-hop, so maybe you should check Jay? Or have you?

― Dave M. (rotten03), Wednesday, 3 March 2004 01:25 (twenty-two years ago)

(ps I just listened to this single. ouuuch. bad verses, and that sample is tired)

― Dave M. (rotten03), Wednesday, 3 March 2004 01:29 (twenty-two years ago)

never heard jay chou/zhou, but i like these guys a lot:

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0044/kogan.php

― chuck, Wednesday, 3 March 2004 17:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I am asian, I speak chinese, and I don't feel it necessary to press my language on anyone else. Jin makes the asian culture look corny as hell. Due to him there is going to be a bunch of asian kids trying to push bricks and talk like they are superior than everyone else. The last thing we need is a group of drop out asian kids who live with their parents and think that they can make it in the street when they didn't even have to in the first place. When I hear Jin's song, I get embarrassed, If he has to be a thug, atleast he can be a man about and not look like such a shit talking, coward ass fag wagon. He had no hard ships in life, he has nothing worth rapping 4. He should get married to Ja-rul instead of dampening RR's name.

― Darrell Stevenson, Saturday, 13 March 2004 18:11 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.musicomh.com/interviews/linkin-park-2.jpg

Mike Shinoda and the X-Cutioners' "It's Going Down" was quickly forgotten by everyone it seems (Except me, who still considers it one of the best songs of 2002).

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 13 March 2004 18:22 (twenty-two years ago)

i think if anything jin makes for an easy scapegoat for asian people who live in reaction to the alive-and-well-even-without-jin asian bling youth. i mean its just the omg white kids listening to dmx shocker all over again. i don't even rate jin much and the 'orientalized' girls on the bridge irk me, but if you're asian you probably know asian kids have been hanging 2pac posters on their wall for like a decade now. were they all coward ass fag wagons?

― scissors (Honda), Saturday, 13 March 2004 18:32 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, i don't really mind Jin's persona at all, it seems authentic as far as "asian bling youth" goes (and 1000x more than the suburban contingent). it's just Wyclef's damn beat that drives me off the wall, it trivializes the effect completely.

― ryan kuo (ryan kuo), Saturday, 13 March 2004 18:51 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah well, when was the last time wyclef did anything of interest. and the answer is not 'party to damascas'.

― scissors (Honda), Saturday, 13 March 2004 18:54 (twenty-two years ago)

The asian culture IS corny as hell.

― ModJ (ModJ), Saturday, 13 March 2004 20:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Mike Shinoda and the X-Cutioners' "It's Going Down" was quickly forgotten by everyone it seems (Except me, who still considers it one of the best songs of 2002).

SO awful.

― djdee2005, Saturday, 13 March 2004 21:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Jin Is great.

― jameica jones, Monday, 15 March 2004 16:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Just heard "It's Going Down" on the radio today (right between Soul II Soul's "Back To Life" and Prince's "Little Red Corvette"!). I'm not alone!

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 22:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Maybe I'm sick of Asian people listening to my music, brandishing my culture, trying to what they think I am, speaking more ebonics than I do, wearing horrid clothing and attributing it to hip hop culture and then feeling all great because they have one black friend. Quite frankly, I find Jin to be vapid and annoying. Jay Z, Nas, Talib Kweli, they talk about how hip hop can influence our culture positively. Jin is riding the wave of bad rap production and not even representing the people who gave him his inspiration in the first place. Asian people can ride his dick all they want, I guess it's all they have. But I have better thing to listen to, like the Roots or Black Eyed Peas.

― Watanabe San, Monday, 29 March 2004 16:00 (twenty-two years ago)

That last post was pretty funny -- And it's great how he saved the punchline for the very end, too!

― chuck, Monday, 29 March 2004 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

i think jin is doing his thing and he's going to make an impact regardless of what all you point fingers at.

have you listened to his freestyle sessions? pretty dope.

i think too many people are taking these lyrics literally and the joke's on you. do you overanalyse eminem lyrics as well?

if you don't like him, don't listen. you should expend you energy on positive things in your life. not looking like a hater with no life on the internet.

it's very obvious jin is having fun with his lyrics to any rational, educated person. all of you who are ranting about racial issues should:

1. take a deep breath
2. think hard
3. think a little bit more
4. you can post now that you have a semi-intelligent response free of vulgar language.

it particularily makes you look ignorant when you repeatedly curse. it's the year 2004, hiphop is now a universal language which can be used as ENTERTAINMENT and/or EDUCATION. lighten up.

R3SP3CT : VanCity - BC - CANADA

― R3SP3CT, Wednesday, 31 March 2004 08:51 (twenty-two years ago)

People should use the term 'fag wagon' more often

― Sym (shmuel), Wednesday, 31 March 2004 10:49 (twenty-two years ago)

lol I bet R3SP3CT is really a member of Sweatshop Union

― LC, Wednesday, 31 March 2004 10:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Dude, juz chill out! everybody is trying their best in their own ways to get a buck! so y not juz do ya own thang and leave the poor guy alone!
ANYWAY, THE APL SONG BY BLACK EYED PEAS WAS SO GREAT.. LIVE IT UP FILIPINO!

― lil gale, Friday, 2 April 2004 02:30 (twenty-two years ago)

yo i'm from britain and ive only seen jins lyrics but i aint heard da song so tell me wot 2 excpect. by da way dat edgar dude is a joker.

― mark, Friday, 2 April 2004 15:57 (twenty-two years ago)

will, ya know how white and blackpeople are, they really dont like asian in the game, cuz they scare they might get crush.

― moneylee, Sunday, 4 April 2004 19:37 (twenty-two years ago)

i think he's alrite but his beat is crap.

― mark, Monday, 5 April 2004 17:24 (twenty-two years ago)

hongkong and taiwanese wannabee 'hip-hop' artists are all gay fags just like the ladyboys in thailand.

these asian american so called 'rappers' try' to make it in the far-east cos they'Re a joke. got no respect for poZers.

jin ain't one n i got respect for that.

― aSiAnZ, Monday, 12 April 2004 00:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I hope none of these comments are any racist crap cause hella stuff i'm reading is talkin shit about asians.

― Griever, Friday, 16 April 2004 00:08 (twenty-two years ago)

If anyone saw him on BET's Freestyle Fridays back a ways, he absolutely cleaned up. Watch them (you can get video or mp3 versions off Kazaa or others like it). Actually watch them, and tell us he doesn't have creative talent or the ability to think on his toes.

He comes up with good stuff. "Learn Chinese" is FAR FAR FAR from greatness, but it's his first single. He's got potential to make it in the industry and contribute more than just racial crap hopefully.

I do agree that groups like BEP and the Roots have a good message though. That's not gonna be Jin's angle I doubt but lets give the guy a chance and see what comes after this.

― Maxx, Thursday, 22 April 2004 08:12 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

Amusing:

Rapper Jin has revealed that he is throwing in the towel on his rap career
& is putting his job as an emcee on hold. "No more studio for me," Jin
said. "Maybe what needs to be focused on is what I have accomplished with
my time as opposed to what I haven't accomplished yet." The rapper
recently released a song explaining his decision titled "I Quit."

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 22 May 2005 01:57 (twenty-one years ago)

>The rapper
recently released a song explaining his decision titled "I Quit."

But Bros once released a single of the same name, and then didn't.

― rwillmsen (rwillmsen), Sunday, 22 May 2005 02:10 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.musicomh.com/interviews/linkin-park-2.jpg

THE RAP GAME IS NOT FOR PUSSY ASS SUCKAHS

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 22 May 2005 02:12 (twenty-one years ago)

― etc, Sunday, 22 May 2005 22:42 (twenty-one years ago)

wow, i'm glad someone else picked up on the fact that lost in translation is in fact both racist and sexist.

― malorie bourgeois (m bourgeois), Sunday, 22 May 2005 23:08 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

This thread has to hold some type of record for the number of times it was reawakened by Googlers versus the popularity of the actual star in question. Jin lasted a full year and a half between his big debut single (which nobody remembers now) and this "I Quit" that Ned cites above. And yet we get six Googler revives! Beautiful.

― Doctor Casino (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 02:34 (nineteen years ago)

such a shit talking, coward ass fag wagon.

― Marmot (marmotwolof), Wednesday, 13 September 2006 03:03 (nineteen years ago)

nine months pass...

I was just watching a repeat of Girls Of The Playboy Mansion, and I swear I saw Jin partying it up at Hugh's New Year's Eve bash.

― Dom Passantino, Monday, 18 June 2007 21:34 (nineteen years ago)

seriously how did "fag wagon" not become a meme

― marmotwolof, Monday, 18 June 2007 21:38 (nineteen years ago)

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