Having seen his Andrew Yang-supporting raps go viral recently, RADII favorite MC Jin just dropped a new video on his YouTube channel, in which he goes back to where his fame began: absolutely killing it on 106 & Park‘s Freestyle Friday.
The video sees Jin watching back footage from week one of the legendary rap battle segment, when a young Asian-American MC popped up and shocked the audience with his extraordinary flow. Jin would go on to be declared champion seven weeks in a row on the show, with many labelling him the first Asian-American rapper.
Reacting to myself on Freestyle Friday from 2002. (Week 1)
Full video: https://t.co/9j2b7cZJ1T pic.twitter.com/pzpO4eAq8W
— MC Jin (@iammcjin) November 12, 2019
In the video, the full version of which you can watch below, Jin offers up commentary on the battle and raps along with both himself and his opponent Hassan, including to lines such as “If you make one joke about rice or karate / N.Y.P.D. be in Chinatown searchin’ for your body.” Ouch.
Jin’s appearances on Freestyle Friday not only had an impact in the US, but also in China. As Fan Shuhong noted in her history of hip hop in China, “Although Jin has only found mainstream recognition in China in recent years, the reactions of participants on last year’s Rap of China series when he was revealed as a masked contestant spoke volumes about the respect he still enjoys in the community.”
In addition to appearances on Rap of China (he returned to perform as part of this year’s finale), Jin has featured in a number of TV shows in China in the past few years and has increasingly built a mainstream profile in the country. Most recently, he was on the Chinese version of The Masked Singer:
“Do anything interesting this weekend Jin?”
“Not much, picked up some stuff at Costco, did some laundry.
Oh, and I went on the Chinese version of The Masked Singer.” ✌️❤️ pic.twitter.com/Infc2UcGt0— MC Jin (@iammcjin) November 10, 2019
With his success in China and his Yang Gang bangers, Jin is having something of a moment on both sides of the Pacific. And we’re here for all of it.
