Jin Tha MC, the cocky Chinese rapper with a trademark crooked smile and sideways cap, has mastered walking the talk.
Signed to Ruff Ryders/Virgin and best known for winning Black Entertainment Television's (BET) 106 & Park Freestyle Friday rap contests seven consecutive times, he's proving to be every bit the 'Asian Eminem' he's been labelled.
At the recent Seventh Annual Mixshow Power Summit in Puerto Rico - the hip-hop equivalent of dance music's Winter Music Conference in Miami - he verbally ripped apart his opponents in the much-hyped Fight Klub MC Battle.
Outwitting the other young hopefuls, Jin reaffirmed his title as one of the world's best freestyle rappers. The win earned him US$50,000 and a Chevrolet Cobalt (that he, ever the good Chinese son, gave to his mother).
Last week, the 22-year-old released his debut album, The Rest is History, cuts from which he'll perform in Hong Kong on November 5, as part of a promotional Asian tour that takes in Shanghai, Singapore and Taipei.
The album has been a long time coming. It's been two years since Jin became the first Asian to sign to Ruff Ryders, home to artists such as DMX, Eve and Jadakiss. The release, with guest collaborators including Just Blaze, Kanye West, Styles P, Swizz Beatz and Twista, showcases his clever and humorous freestyle-rapping talent.
He takes a more earnest and less offensive approach than many of his contemporaries, forgoing subjects such as guns, drugs, money and women. Instead, Jin has carved out an Asian edge in the African-American hip-hop world. His ethnicity has become his strongest weapon in rap battles.
When an opponent called him a rookie who should stick to making fortune cookies during a BET round, he retorted: 'You wanna say I'm Chinese/ Sonny, here's a reminder/ Check your Timbs [shoes]/ They probably say 'Made in China'.'
And cue in his album's opening track Learn Chinese, featuring Wyclef Jean: 'Every time they harass me I wanna explode/ We should ride the train for free/ We built the railroad.'
Catch his acting debut in John Singleton's street-drag flick, 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), and you'll get a good idea of his free-flowing style.
Born in Miami, Florida, the son of Hong Kong immigrants, Jin grew up working at his parents' Chinese restaurant. At 14, he taught himself to rhyme-rap, and at 16, told his parents he wanted to pursue a career in music. They tried to steer him towards college and a respectable white-collar job. But after September 11, the family moved to be closer to relatives in Queens, New York - and Jin was dropped into the heartland of hip-hop.
And, as his album so aptly explains, the rest is history.
Jin Tha MC, The Rest is History Asia Tour 2004, with DJ Jay Weezy, Nov 5, venue to be announced on www.djweezy.com, $200 advance (from 8FIVE2, tel: 2573 9872), $260 at door.